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Offline chargerfans

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« on: October 25, 2005, 19:37:16 pm »
My son is 3 1/2 months. He is breastfed and has had 1 bottle a day (expressed milk) since he was 5 weeks old. Now that I am back to work full time he has the bottle for his 7, 10 and 1 feedings. He is not too thrilled about it but eventually drinks it. He may take up to 1 hour to eat 4 oz. He typically eats 12-15 oz while I am at work. Then I nurse him at 4 and 7 and any nighttime feeds.

He isn't usually too hungry during his 7 am feed (even when I nurse him). When he switches to a 4 hour routine in the next few weeks how do I ensure he is eating enough? How much should he be eating? They go from 5 feeds to 4 feeds but if he isn't eating much at 7 should he make up for it at 11?

His usual sked is 7, 10, 1, 4 and 7 feedings and then dreamfeed at 10. He usuallly is up by 2am for his next feeding and may be up again by 5 or may last until 6. He also has been waking during or before his dreamfeed since I came back to work. He gets a bottle from my husband during the dreamfeed.

Is he just not getting enough food during the day so he wakes up hungry at 10 before we can even feed him?
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Offline Isom'smom

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« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2005, 01:14:29 am »
IMHO, if he's not hungry every three hours, start working your way to the four hour schedule.  His appetite should improve.....gotta pat/shush....brb

Crystal
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Offline wes' mom

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« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2005, 01:46:48 am »
Hi, my son is almost 4 months and we are trying to switch him to a 4 hour schedule as well.  (I'm also a working mom, pumping like crazy!)  I've been told to do it gradually to see how he takes to it, making up for the ounces lost out of that one feed throughout the rest of the days feedings. 
It's strange because he seems to have lost complete interest in eating lately.  The more moms I talk to with babies this age have said the same thing about the eating habits.  It doesn't seem to have affected his sleep so far.  (I probably just jinxed myself)
We also do a dreamfeed, but at 11.  For a while he was waking up, like he knew it was time for that feeding.  He did that for about a week and then stopped.  Also, when he would wake up to eat around 2 or 3am I tried the pat shush thing to see if he would go back to sleep without a feeding and it worked.  I was worried to try it at first, thinking I was depriving him of food.  But I figured if he really was hungry, he would have really been upset.
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Offline kzener

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« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2005, 03:20:34 am »
When I went back to work I had a ton of questins about how much I should be pumping, how much he should be fed in a bottle, etc.

I found the Kellymom website to be really helpful. Here is a link to some milk calculators.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html

I found that my DS would take 5oz a feeding when he was away from me, but then started to nurse less an less.  This seemed to support the theory that he takes in a standard amount a day.  I had my mom and husband cut back on the amount they gave him in the bottle during the day and he has started to take a lot more from me on the other feeds.  (which of course helps the milk supply)

I don't know about you, but I've really had to hunt to find information about breastfeeding, pumping and working!
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Offline chargerfans

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« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2005, 14:42:23 pm »
He has really been doing well. He started out with 3.5 oz bottles, then 4, then 5's and now we are into 6. I wasn't sure if he could eat all 6 but somedays he finishes 3 bottles and sometimes he only drinks 2 1/2. Usually on Mondays he eats less. I figure he is a little confused. He had me all weekend and now he has this bottle again so he just holds out until I get home. Once I am home he goes to town! He has been doing really well though.

I also pump the same number of times I would be feeding him if I was at home (3). I get quite a bit of milk in the am and then it decreases throughout the day. He still nurses twice from me before bed - even if he had a bottle an hour or so before I get home. I think its mainly for comfort and to reconnect for that feeding.

His night wakings are sporadic - somedays he is up 3 times somedays he is up once. You  just never know. Thanks for the websites
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Offline chargerfans

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« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2005, 14:44:01 pm »
He sort of just started to put himself on a 4 hour routine. Somedays he is 4 hours on the dot and others he only goes 3, maybe 3.5. Usually with me on the weekends he goes 4. It's amazing how smart they are!
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Offline Rachel's Mum

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« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2005, 15:46:28 pm »
That kellymom info is really interesting, thanks for putting that link up.

Do me a favour if you're reading this...  will you read my post about supplementing with formula?  I was going to post it in here, but figured it wasn't really appropriate.  I would appreciate your advice though - it seems like you know lots about pumping and working...
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