How much milk for a 7 month baby?

[clanger]

This might seem like a daft question but I shall be going back to work in about a month. I would like to try expressing as I shall only be working 2 days a week. I'm not very good at it - only get about 1 oz although the tips posted have been really helpful. I'm using this to try to get ds2 used to a bottle which is not proving very easy.

Ds2 will be 7 months when I go back to work but hasn't yet started solids - will do so when he's 6 months - so may only be on 2 meals when he starts at nursery. How much milk will he need a day (8am to 6pm)at 7 months? He feeds a lot at night (!!!) so hopefully he won't need so much in the day but my nursery will want enough in the freezer in case he gets hungry (which is fair enough). I vaguely remember ds1 had three bottles at this stage of about 8 oz each (and he wanted feeding a lot in the night) which would mean expressing 48 oz a week which I just don't think I could do.

Any thoughts?

I'm going back to work when dd will be just over 7 months. We havent succeeded with the whole bottle thing and so have left it now. It took me some time to express more than an ounce and I can now get around 3-4 ounce and so have frozen some.
I was told by a bf counsellor that as she'll be started on solids (just) then as long as give food with milk in it and try a beaker of water/milk she should be fine. Just make sure you feed her lots when you're with him.
Keep going on the expressing, I get far more out if I start when dd is feeding on the other so I get the let down. if you expressed and got 2- 3 oz a day from now on you'll have loads ready to give. They keep in the freezer for 3 months.
hth

Clanger, dd at nearly 7 months is doing fine at nursery (8.30-5.30) on two 4oz bottles of EBM plus meals which often have milk/dairy in them. She feeds hungrily when I pick her up, then at bedtime, then once in the night, then in the morning, (sounds like your little one) but won't take any more than what I supply in bottles. Obviously every baby is different but I'd be surprised if you need 48oz a week. It is taking me about 20 mins to express the 8oz on a daily basis at work.
Bron, I think you will be able to get away with it. DD is often going for 4 hours without a feed in daytime even when I am with her. It might lead to a fairly brisk improvement of his solids technique also...good luck.

Many thanks. Marina I hope ds2 is like your dd. I think I could manage 16oz a week, even with my current technique! I spoke to my HV today and she hadn't a clue - just kept going on about needing 900ml a day which sounds an awful lot - it's 2 pints i think. Still others will know what I think about HVs.

Bron I have been trying alternate sides as you suggest and although I haven't managed over 1oz yet I have found it to be more effective. Still I haven't been able to freeze any yet because I've been trying to give it to ds2 in a bottle. Result none in ds2's tummy and none in the freezer. I think I may leave the bottle for a couple of days and freeze some milk just to have started.

Clanger, my dd sounds exactly the same as Marina's and I express once at work. Do you feel the 'let down' when you express? I get aout 1-2 oz of foremilk before I feel the let down and then it really comes fast. If I don't feel the let down I don't get anymore than 1-2 oz and none of the hind milk (looks much creamier). I have to be really relaxed and look at a picture of dd (and ds). It doesn't help if I think boss is about to walk into room. Hope you manage to express enough for your ds

Hi,
My ds is nearly 8 months and i work 2-3 days a week.I only really have been back at work 3 weeks.I panicked like mad about what to do and when to express and how much to leave ect, but honestly it will work itself out !
If you really want to continue bf youll find your own routine and relax into it in no time.I know each baby is differrent, but i try and bf ds about 6.30 at home.He woofs down 5-6 ozs of ebm for the childminder at 10.30 ish.If he doesnt get quite hungry though first, he does tend to just chew the teat.
He then has lunch at 12.30 and about 1-2 ebm to follow.He then waits for me and i feed him about 5.30 !He catches up during the evening and on my days off.I make sure i never work 2 days together.I also made myself a rule that i would never give ds a beaker.I went cold turkey and just left it up to the childminder !So he associates bf exclusively with mum.
One day i really panicked because he just didnt want any ebm from his childminder, but she mixed some into his dinner and he was fine !!I now know he will drink when hes thirsty, but just prefers to wait for me. A tip for expressing is to insert a hard sterile breastshell into your bra on the other side to the one you are feeding from.At first you will only collect tiny amounts, but done regularly i often collect 3-4 ozs per feed now-I my freezer is full !Also i really wouldnt worry about the 3 month thing.I have frozen ebm for all 3 of mine for much longer than that and they are all very well.
Good luck and hope it all goes well.

Clanger - you will be surprised at how quickly your little one may take to solids when starting at 6 months. My dd started at 6 months and was on 3 meals a day by 7 months! Remember that you will need to express while you are at work and that will replace what you use at nursery so you will not need as much as you might think before you start work. The tips that have been given here already are good. If you get a feed in before you drop him off and a feed or 2 in the evening, you can up the breastfeeds on your days off. It will all work out in the end. I would forget trying him with EBM from a bottle just now and start a bank of milk going now. At 7 months he may well be better with a spout anyway than a teat.

Am feeling more positive now. I managed 2 oz very quickly a couple of days ago but am having problems finding all the bits you need to store milk in the freezer - got the bags and then discovered you need a bag holder or something. They make it so complicated! I got my pump several years ago when I had ds1 and it didn't come with all of that and I couldn't find it when I went to the shop yesterday.

Motherearth I think you're right that it will sort itself out. I remember various stages with ds1 which seemed really complicated before I did it - eg potty training, solids etc but the reality was fairly straightforward. The only thing that wasn't was the bottles and I did have to go cold turkey on that one.

Thanks very much for your thoughts.