reality check?

[@llli*sprocket]

My 5 month old went from being home with dad all day to being at a daycare near my office. She started Monday so this is her third day. I've kept logs of my pumping output and what she's taken from bottles while I'm away from her. When she was with dad, a typical schedule was that I would nurse overnight and in the morning and then leave the house around 8:30. Sometimes I would nurse her last at 7 am, sometimes closer to 8 or 8:15. Then I would get home around 5 and often she'd be ready to nurse when I walked in the door. So I would be gone usually around 8.5 hours. In recent weeks she was taking usually around 14 oz from bottles but sometimes closer to 12 and a few times she took 16 oz.

At daycare, I've been arriving with her around 9 (trying to move that back closer to 8 but we're all still adjusting to the new morning routine), nursing her then, then they give her a mid-morning bottle, I come to nurse her when they call me as she gets hungry around lunch time, they give an afternoon bottle and then I pick up at 5. Looking at her feeding log, it amounts to more than 2 bottles they give her, eg they give her 2.5 oz at 3 pm and then another 1 oz at 3:30 when she still seems hungry, but it amounts to getting roughly 2 "feedings" at daycare that aren't from me.

So on Monday she took 7 1/2 oz for the day at daycare and then yesterday she took 6 1/2 oz. Does this seem about right? I was just kind of shocked because it is less than HALF of what my husband was giving her, but it is 3-4 oz per feeding, with feedings being spaced about every 2-3 hours, which seems about right to me.

I do think that my DH was a little bored and she was often fussy with him which prompted him to overfeed. At the daycare they are much more active and busy and she is napping better (shockingly) and they know how to keep her happy without shoving a bottle in her mouth every 30 minutes. But I was so shocked by how much less she's taking in bottles that I asked them this morning if it seemed like she was taking a reasonable amount and they kind of said "yes but we can offer her more if you want"and I think they interpreted it as me being critical and thinking that they weren't feeding her enough. I really just wanted their expert opinion. So I wished I hadn't brought it up because I don't want them to overfeed her.

What do you think? DOES this seem about right? Should I clarify with them that they seem to be on the right track? They did point out that she's getting 3-4 oz for each of two feedings and that they can give her more but that would amount to a 5-6 oz bottle and that is a lot. And so I clarified that I definitely agreed that she doesn't ever need more than 4 oz at a time and if she's hungry again later they can offer her more. Was that the right thing to say? Any guidance here would be great. I just want her to be fed appropriately. Thanks

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

If I understand you correctly, between 9 and 5 you are nursing her three times and she's getting ~7 oz from the bottle. Does not seem that they are underfeeding her. Let's say that she's getting 7 oz from her three nursing sessions (3 oz, 2 oz and 2 oz), then that's 14 oz over the 8 hour period - ie same as what she was getting with DH. Sounds like you have a good DCP that is in tune with breastfed babies! No harm in telling them that you are happy with how things are going, having a good relationship with your baby's caregivers is always a good thing.

[@llli*sprocket]

Yes, that's basically right except that when I was home, I was nursing right at 5 or 5:30 as well. Also, I should note that we haven't been nursing after waking and before leaving the house this week. I will nurse her if she seems hungry upon waking, but so far since we started at daycare, she has been waking up around 8, we leave the house at 8:30-ish and just nurse when we get to daycare. We do co-sleep and she nurses whenever she wants overnight. I'm not fully awake when she latches on so I am not sure when but I think she's getting a couple of snacks between, say, 2 am and 7 am when I get up for the day.

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

Oh, I see what you're saying - with DH she was getting 14 oz PLUS the 5 pm feeding. But I remember your thread about that and as you also say here, it sounds like feeding was the main activity going on with DH and LO when he was watching her, there may have been an overfeeding situation there whereas now there isn't. I mean, 14 oz/8 hours = 1.75 oz/hour which is still on the generous side. And it sounds like your DCP is pretty in tune with your baby - she's active, busy, sleeping well - does not sound like she is hungry.

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

Also you don't know exactly how much she is getting when you're nursing. For example, maybe she's getting 3 oz each time so it's a total of 16 oz.

[@llli*sprocket]

OK, thanks. It sounds like what she is getting is reasonable. I won't worry too much then. I failed to mention in my original post that one thing that compounded this concern was that on her second day her teacher had kind of casually remarked that she doesn't seem to have a lot of wet diapers. I tend to change her when we arrive at daycare (we use cloth at home so I bring her in a cloth and put on a disposable at daycare after we nurse) and then change her after she nurses at lunch. So maybe her teacher just feels like she isn't changing her a lot because I'm doing a couple of the diaper changes. She had 2 wet and 1 poop diapers yesterday at daycare and 3 wet and 1 poop the day before. She has also pooped at home one or two additional times both days. This doesn't seem like a lot to me but we use cloth diapers and tend to change her a lot. They use disposable and I think they just change everyone in more or less a rotation unless there is a poop. I don't really mind if she goes 2-3 hours between diaper changes if she's just wet, which seems to be the routine there.

Today I nursed here at a few minutes before 9 when we arrived at daycare. She took 3 oz at 11:45 and then they called me at 2 to go nurse her. I will pick her up at 5 so I'm not sure if I should pump again. I imagine she'll take another bottle before I get there this afternoon. Maybe I'll forget pumping before I leave work and just pump on the way home in the car if she has had a bottle, and if she hasn't, then she'll be hungry when I get there and we'll nurse before hitting the road.

I read on Kellymom that if she gets 8 feedings per day, each should be just a little over 3 oz. So if she gets 5 feedings at daycare (3 from me and 2 from her teachers), let's say one before dinner, one while nursing to sleep at 7-ish pm, one when we get into bed at 10, and a couple of small snacks overnight, that's about right, right? Is it fair to assume that when I breastfeed her, she's getting around 3 oz? When I pump I generally get about that much, sometimes 4 oz. I use a hospital grade pump and it seems to empty my breasts about as well as she does. I'm probably overthinking this!

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

So she's getting at least 9-10 feedings/day, and you're getting 3-4 oz when you pump, usually pump is less efficient than breastfeeding so LO is probably getting on average 3 oz/session (if she nurses from both breasts with each feeding session - does she?) - maybe a little more in your morning sessions and a little less in your evening sessions - which would put you around 30 oz for the day which is plenty!

In terms of the diapers, I think it can be hard to tell with disposables, they're so absorbent - LO might pee two or three times into it before they change it. But she's having at least 4 wet diapers over the 8 hours which means probably at least 10 over 24 hours which again is plenty. (Teachers may not realize that you are doing a couple changes too - nice for them!)

One of the LLL leaders posted this link on another thread, I read this earlier today and found it really helpful, I think it might help you answer some of your questions:

http://www.clinicallactation.org/art...8&journal_id=5

[@llli*sprocket]

if she nurses from both breasts with each feeding session - does she?

Good point. I generally do nurse her on both sides. My left produces about 1/4 of what my right side produces, so if I start on the right, she might not take the left (but she'll still get probably close to what she would get if she drank from both sides). If I start on the left, she will always take the right also. I almost always start on the left and offer her both because I want to help out my left side as much as possible. The only time I only offer the right side only is if I'm nursing in public and just want to get it done with a minimal amount of clothing shifting around. Or when nursing in the middle of the night--I just worry about getting a boob into her mouth, any boob.

Thanks for the reply and for the link!! Very helpful.

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

You're welcome. It can be confusing to figure out when you're alternating between breast and bottle, but it sounds like you are on track.