How much expressed milk to give? LO guzzled 2oz in under 5 minutes!!

[cherrylola]

My little boy is 12 weeks and my partner just gave him his very first bottle of expressed breast milk, almost 2oz, but he took it so quickly even though we used a slow teat! He usually feeds for 45mins to an hour!
I expressed last night (stored in fridge over night) and it took me about 20 minutes to express only 2oz.
My LO is 12 weeks and just under 11lbs.
I wanted to try it now as I have to be away from him for the day on a couple of weeks.
How much should I be giving him per feed (he feeds around 8 times in 24hours on demand)? And is it ok that he is taking it sooooo fast from the bottle? Will he know when he is full like he does on the breast?
Sorry for so many questions, this is my first baby. Thanks in advance!

[HazleNutt]

DS is 10 weeks, drinks 4-5 oz each time we bottle-fee and yes, finishes a bottle in the matter of minutes.

[cherrylola]

Thanks. How do you know how much to give, or does your LO know when to stop?

[throckenholt]

They guzzle it because it is very easy to suck out of a bottle (compared to a breast). And no - they don't know when they are full (in my experience) - nothing more soul destroying than having a baby throw up a bottle full of expressed milk that they guzzled down a few minutes previously - especially when it ends up all over you !

Best to give them say half the amount you expect them to take - then wind them and give them a break of a minute or two, and then offer them the rest.

In a day, I would demand feed from a bottle as well (if he will take it cold so much the easier), but just decant it into say 2-3 oz portions and just warm each one as needed - then you don't waste lots that has been warmed and not drunk. So feed - and if seems hungry again in an hour or two then give some more.

I would find out how much you would expect to feed a similar sized baby with formula in a feed, and use that as a guide. It is so long ago since I expressed for mine that I can't remember the volumes.

[smaths]

There is a calculator on the kellymom website for how much expressed milk to feed [http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/ here]] - looks like you should aim for around 3oz or 4oz at a maximum for a feed

[smaths]

Crap sorry about the link fail - silly phone kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

[HorryIsUpduffed]

At 3wo DS1 had 30-35floz expressed milk a day, over six to eight bottles, so 3-4oz at a time.

[JRsandCoffee]

If expressing takes forever try expressing off one while feeding off the other, when I was expressing I could get four- five oz off one in five - ten minutes but only if feeding on the other side..... Otherwise a couple of ounces at most in a depressingly long time!

Second the Kellymom recommendation!

[cherrylola]

Thanks everyone, ill try the 3/4oz as suggested by the kellymom site, thanks for the link. Ill also try expressing whilst feeding, hopefully that will speed thing up a bit!!