When will my DD milk requirement peak?

[gxt]

Hi everyone,
I currently feed my 11 week old DD pumped breast milk through a bottle. I’ve got to a stage now where I’m mostly able to cut out the formula (she may have 1 or 2 bottles a week now rather than all night feeds being formula)

On one hand I’m super proud of myself because I can sometimes find pumping really tough and experience mood swings, cry, rage etc while pumping. On the other I’m concerned she will start needing bigger feeds and I won’t be able to keep up with her and will have to use formula on a regular basis while I try to catch up.

so I guess I just want to know at what age does their milk consumption peak in terms of how much they take per feed etc?

hope that makes sense?
thanks

Gosh I remember how exhausting pumping was!
I also managed to nearly catch up (around 10 weeks) at some point, but after 1-2 weeks I had to start using formula again due to my daughter milk consumption. I was so proud of myself but for me it didn't last long.
I guess it's really depends on the baby how much more they will drink. My daughter peak was around 5 months when she started to have 200ml each feed. Expressing is a huge commitment which you are doing very well!
Hopefully you can keep up with the breastmilk, but try not to be upset if you can't. Your baby is getting the breastmilk which is important, there is nothing wrong with topping it up with formula!
Sorry I couldn't be helpful, but I remember how exhausting ( mentally and physically) these times were for me.

Calorie requirement, therefore milk requirement, only goes up. Peak for milk will just before solids establish - probably around 7 months.

Thank you both for your responses.
my girls’s been on the same amount (110ml/feed) for a while but I guess I’d better keep working on increasing my supply if I can. There’s a lot of conflicting info online and most of it is for formula feeders so don’t necessarily trust what they’re saying to be relevant to pumpers.
If I can’t keep up I’m happy for her to have formula I’m just trying to keep things as simple as possible for my own convenience (ie not having to pack formula as well as pumps when visiting friends for the weekend etc).

Between 1 month and 6 months the quantity of breastmilk a baby needs doesn’t tend to change much (other than briefly for growth spurts) this is because the milk itself changes. It sounds like you’ve done really well, pumping is hard work!

Remember you can always top up with formula if you need to as a back up.

https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

Is there a reason you don't feed directly from the breast sometimes? The hormones released from directly feeding her from your breast will help your supply and your milk composition will tailor to her exact needs. If it's not possible for any reason then no worries but just a suggestion. Pumping is HARD, I did it while mine were in NICU & found a new empathy for dairy cattle 🐮

The best way to increase supply is to express / feed baby. The more milk you remove the more you'll make.

If expressing is a long term thing, invest in a good pump. My cousin really likes her Elvie and she gets a good amount out.

You also need to take care of all the parts. Some bits like the flanges will need replacing during the year.

I've read similar to PP that the amount doesn't vary from 4 weeks to 6 months..

It won't go up, it stays roughly the same from 1 month to 6 months, then reduces as baby takes more solid food.