Overfeeding with Bottles of Expressed Milk?

[Mandermeln]

I returned to work last week now I am pumping during the day to leave bottles for the babysitter.  My LO will BF for his first morning feeding, takes bottles when I'm at work, then refuses to BF for his bedtime feeding - presumably because he doesn't want to work at it after he's been bottle feeding all day.  He will BF for the MOTN feeding too.
My issue is that my babysitter insists that he is hungry and gives him a 5.5-6oz bottle of expressed milk every 2.5 hours (4 bottles a day).  Doesn't that seem like too much when you add in a MOTN & morning BF, a 4oz bottle before bed (I keep it to 4 bc I don't want to overfeed him!) and a 4 oz Dream Feed. 
So, 30oz of expressed milk a day plus 2 BF sessions?? 
I don't know what to do... I obviously don't want him to be hungry but it doesn't seem right...
LO is 15 weeks and around 12-13 lbs (haven't been to the doc in a while, so estimating). 

[Proud Mammy]

Oh gosh!!! To me that sounds like far too much milk!

Check out this link to Kellymom regarding how much your LO should be taking per day:
http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

Also google paced bottle feeding to see how a BF baby should be given the bottle.

Is your childminder simply feeding when Baby cries, or when Baby shows actual hunger cues?

How often during the day would you BF if with LO? Every 3.5/ 4 hours approx? Your childminder really shouldn't be feeding that much - that regularly, to my mind anyway.... 30 oz & 2x BF!!
Also, that's quire a bit of pressure on you to produce that much with pumping sessions!! Hats off to you.

I would HAVE to speak with childminder and explain bottle feeding a BF baby to her...print articles if you feel they'll be helpful to the situation.
Best of luck.

[Mandermeln]

She tells me she's trying to keep a 3 hour schedule but he's not making it that long.   I feed him about every 3.5 hours when BFing.

I just tried feeding him with a bottle based on what the paced bottle feeding articles say and he seemed quite content with 4 oz. I think I need to explain this technique to her.

Thanks so much for your advice.

[*Ali*]

You already have great advice from Proud Mammy.

I agree that does seem a lot and is likely why LO isn't hungry at BT. 32oz a day is really the top end for a BF baby as per the Kelly mom website.

Is LO short napping for the sitter?  I'm wondering if that is why she is struggling to stretch feeds to 3hrs.  Normally a 4mo baby would be asleep 2.5hrs after a feed assuming they are doing 1hr45-2hrs A time followed by a decent nap.

Do you think LO is looking for comfort rather than a feed?  Does he have a paci or lovey to have when he needs to suck?

[Mandermeln]

So I explained the paced feeding to her today and she was very receptive. He only had 5 oz bottles instead of 6 and gave him the paci after feeding in case he still wanted to suck. He moved more towards a 2h 45m schedule today. So thank you so much for that advice.

Here's my next issue. He's getting off EAS with her. He's short napping in the morning so it's turning into EASAESAE etc. So should she be feeding him when he wakes up instead of trying to wait for 3 hours to feed him? His awake time is about 1.5 hrs. Much longer than that and he's completely OT.

[*Ali*]

No I would run the feed times independently to the sleep if he is doing short A times and short naps.  Are you sure the short naps are not due to needing a longer A time?  1.5hrs is very short for his age. Personally I would try to increase his A time and get a longer nap.  Even adding 5-10mins every few days may help and would give his body time to adjust without suffering from OT.  If he is awake for too long before his next feed he is going to be hungry sooner.  It's like you waking an hour earlier than usual in the morning. Chances are you would want breakfast earlier than usual too. We'll, I would!