My son is going to be 12 weeks tomorrow. Saturday is his first overnight with Grandma and Grandpa. I have been pumping for a long time, in anticipation of this. Now that it is almost here, I realize that I have NO IDEA how much frozen milk to leave with my mom. Does anyone have any advice for me? I have well over 60 oz in the freezer. Oh, and he is fine with the bottle and when my husband feeds him he will take between 3 and five oz. Thank you.
Each baby is going to be different, but here's a general guideline to help you - always prepare to take extra just in case. Even though it says formula feedings, it is a good guide of what a typical baby will ingest at his age:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/f...
For some reason, I recall ~24oz over a 24 hour period, in general.
If he takes 3-5oz when your husband feeds him that is probably how much he eats per feeding. If you are feeding him every 3 hours I would figure out how many feedings they will have to feed him and then I would leave an extra 1 or 2 just to be safe (in case that's the only thing that consoles him) Just make sure your parents freeze the supply in case they don't use it, it's better to have too much than not enough...
You should give your parents 5-6 ounces of frozen milk per feeding he will miss with you. I say 6 because you say your son eats between 3-5 and I have noticed over the years of pumping and freezing (going on four years, I know) that sometimes we lose a little in defrost or sometimes my girls would eat more when I was not around. Have a blast. My youngest will be a year old and we still haven't had an overnight... jealous!!!
Hi B..
What I would do is have about 4 oz. for every time he wakes up, and double that for the moring and the bottle to get him down at night. So I would have an 8 oz bottle to go down, 2 four oz bottles int eh middle of the night and an 8 oz for the morning. So 20 total. At that age he will probably not take that much, but better to have too much than not enough. I also wouldnt put it in the bottles. have your mom defrost on an as-needed basis. Good luck and have a fun night out!
Depending on the amount of times that you have to nurse, they would normally, my guess take in about 4oz. You could fill up as many btls. as you think that his grandparents are going to need and go from there. Even making up a few more. I am assuming at this age that he is nursing about every 3-4hrs. So say you fill up an ice cube tray, using two to three cubes I would think that would make up about 4oz. I believe every cube is about 2oz. Measure with water and pour into tray to see how much water it holds first. Then take it from their. Even if they have more in the btl. it is better than having less and having a fussy baby. You can even send over the frozen tray as they are going to have to warm the btl. anyways, thereby giving them enough of what the little one needs. Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful evening. Knowing that you have wonderful people taking care of your little one takes so much stress off of you. Take care.
I would make a number of 4 oz. bottles. Once they start drinking from a bottle if they don't finish it has to be thrown out, so to avoid wasting any keep the portions small. (you could always have an extra bottle your parents can pour a little at a time from if yours son still seems hungry after the initial 4 oz.) As for how many, you know best how ofter your child eats. Just send a bottle for each feeding period and then a couple extras just in case.
well, count by saying he'll drink 5 oz. let's say you'll be gone 24 hrs, and he will drink every 3 hours. so 8 feedings 5 oz each that's 40. but if you are anything like me you'll pack all of the 60 oz plus a can of formula just in case :)
