Not sure if my DS is taking enough expressed milk

[suzym1984]

Hi!

My DS is 17 weeks and I breastfeed at night and give bottles of expressed milk during the day. Some days he will drink 8oz at a time from a bottle, and other days (like today) he doesnt take much.

Today he has had 15oz from 3 bottles (6oz, 5oz and 4oz) and will no doubt wake for one or 2 feeds (from breast) through the night. Does this seem enough? It just seems that 3 bottles in the day is not much?

A breastfed baby only takes around 25oz a day, they don't increase their intake with age the way formula fed babies do. If you divide 25oz by the number of feeds he has a day it should give you an idea of a typical feed. 8oz seems like a very large amount to me!

There's some good info on the kellymom website about expressing and bottlefeeding ebm.

Would it be better to try less but more often? Thereby increasing the overall volume, and probably reducing the wastage? I agree with RM that 8oz sounds like a massive amount in one go for a bf baby.

Thanks for the replies! I know, I was surprised he took 8oz but he was just steadily drinking! he doesnt drink that much very often, most times it is 5 or 6 oz.

That kellymom site has been helpful, thank you.

I try and offer him a bottle every few hours but he not interested, and he never cries for food. very strange!

Oh, and hes on the 75th centile so not exactly wasting away!