I have a dentist appointment tomorrow and I have to leave my 6 week old baby with someone. I have only breastfed, so I have no idea how much she actually eats. I have a bunch of pumped breastmilk, so I was wondering, how much is enough to leave for her? I'm planning on about 3 hours. Thanks!
At six weeks she should be somewhere in the 4 - 6 oz stage . . . (I made a practice of occasionally bottle feeding the breast milk to make being away easier). Might be a good idea to leave 2-six oz bottles (depending on if you just fed her before dropping her off) just in case you run late.
P. P
I would say a max of 6 ounces, if she takes the bottle at all. If she's never had a bottle, she may not be thrilled about the first few.
Congratulations, I have a 3 month old boy and breastfeed as well. He is eating right now about 4 ounces(I pump at work), and when he was that little he was eating about two ounces. You can try to do a bottle feeding today to see if your baby will take the bottle, put like 2 1/2 ounces in there and see how much your baby will drink, that way you will know if you need to leave more or less. Mine was eating every two hours as well so you might want to leave two feedings just in case it goes over. I always like to leave extra cuz you never know what might happen and you don't want to leave your baby starving and the babysitter worried. Good luck
Hi K.:
Hopefully you have offered your baby a bottle at least once before you go to the dentist to know that she will take it? If not, she will be more willing to take a bottle from someone else than from you. A typical 6 week-old will eat anywhere from 2-4 ounces.
R. Elkin, MOT,OTR/L,CKT
Does she eat every hour, every two hours? I would pump from both breast and that would be one feeding. So, If you pump 3oz from each breast, then give at least 6oz each feeding. Always take more breast milk, just in case. I have watched little babies and when mommy is not there, they tend to want to eat a little more. Not all babies react this way, but I have had a couple that did and it was good to have the extra milk available for them. Take at least 3 bottles, I would say no less than 4oz each.
Good Luck
Hi K.!
Good for you! I nursed both my kids and wouldn't trade the experience. If she was an average weight when born (6-8 lbs) probably 6-8 oz is all she'll need. You can keep your pumped milk in the freezer for approximately 3 mos. If you have more questions, you can always go to www.lalecheleague.com and they have lots of good info.
God bless you!
L.
I think that 4 oz. should be plenty, but I wanted to suggest that you only put 2 oz. or so in each bottle. If she takes 2 oz and wants more, the sitter can give her the second bottle; but if she only takes half of a 4-oz. bottle, then you have to throw the rest away after an hour or so.
3 hours "feels" like a long time at this age, but she will be fine!
4 ounces should be plenty
for only 3 hrs, 8oz wiil be way more than enough.
I would definitely try giving her a bottle today to see how much she'll take. I have a 5 week old who was 4 1/2 weeks premature and he can eat 3 ounces in a matter of minutes, so it all depends on the baby.
How much do you pump and in what amount of time? For example, if you pump about 4 ounces in 15 minutes, and it takes your baby about 15 minutes on each side to get full, you can probably safely say that she eats around 4 ounces. This is because your milk supply adjusts to what your baby eats. Hope that makes sense.
The rule of thumb is 1/2 oz. for every pound that your baby weighs.
For instance, a baby that weighs 10 lbs, would need 5 oz. of breast milk in her bottle.
I would say 3-6oz. Depends on if baby is a big eater.
Feed her shortly before you leave, than leave a 3-4 ounce bottle just in case. If she has not had a bottle before she may not even take it, but she will be OK for 3 hours.
Hi I have a two month old and I would think if you have maybe 8 ounces. I breastfeed as well. My little girl would only drink about 4oz (if that much at a time) when she was that little. It is amazing how long a 4oz bottle can take for a newborn. You might even try feeding her right before you leave and she might not eat while your gone.
Breastfeed the baby before you leave and leave about four ounces in case you are delayed. The baby may choose to wait to eat until mommy is available and refuse the bottle anyway.
K.,
As you probably suspected, there's no way you can measure what they eat from the breast. I have a 2 month baby girl and she eats like 4 oz. every 3 hrs. She gets very full because sometimes she spills a little bit. So...use your judgement!!!
It's probably too late, but I would leave 2 2oz bottles. When my babies nursed, it seemed like they drained me pretty good, but whey they had bottles it wasn't that much. Guess they just have such small stomaches.
Good luck.
3 oz. would cover even a hearty appetite for a 6 week old.
Hi K.,
Most babies eat every 2 - 4 hrs. At 6 wks, my baby ate every 3 - 3 1/2 hrs. It really depends on the baby. He is almost 7 mos. now and he still eats on that same schedule. If you have 4 oz bottles just leave about 2 bottles with the sitter. And if you just want to be sure leave 3 and that should be okay if you will be gone only 3 hrs. If your baby still sleeps alot then he may sleep the whole time you are gone.
Take care, M.
It is impossible to know since you are breastfeeding. I would just leave as much as you have pumped. Probably 1-3 ounces per breast per feeding. I have nursed 3 children and gone through this a few times. If you don't have enough, it's ok. Your baby will just eat when you get home. Have a nice few hours of ME time at the dentist.
Good Luck,
F.
Hi K.,
My baby boy is now 10 months old and I just stopped breastfeeding him in January so I know how you feel. Since I had to leave him at daycare around 6 weeks old (sigh), I remember telling the daycare center to give him about 4 oz every 3 hours. Hope that helps!
