?s about pumping for a 10 mo starting daycare

[lulu1213]

Hi there,

I read the other recent post on this forum about pumping for a baby starting daycare and got some good info, but i still have some questions...

How do i know how much to pump? My DD will be 10 months old when she starts daycare next week: 9 hours a day / 3 days a week. Up til now we've been nursing on demand (she nurses about 8-10 times in 24 hours). She nurses once before bed, twice during the night, and once in the morning when she wakes up. The other times are during the day, either before she eats, or just whenever she decides she wants to.

DD takes two naps a day and has only just now started sometimes not wanting to fall asleep on my breast, so i'm thinking she'll need a bottle before each nap, and maybe one before each meal (lunch + snack).

I was thinking 4 x 3-4 oz bottles (sippy cup) per day, depending on how much i can pump. She's light (13-25% for weight for her age) and is not eating everything yet (we haven't started dairy yet due to family allergy issues).

I'm getting the vibe from the daycare director that she's expecting me to wean DD 'soon', given her age (actually it's not a vibe, she pretty much said so). I don't want to make too much work for the daycare with the bottles; I don't want them to force me to wean! - would a bottle fed baby of her age be doing about the same? When can I slowly start cutting down the number of bottles I send along with her without putting her at risk nutritionally? Are my estimates about right?

The planning of it is giving me a headache, especially since I have absolutely zero support for (extended) breastfeeding IRL. I looked on kellymom and there is a calculator, but i just want to get some testimony.
thanks for any input

[lulu1213]

I forgot to ask how many times I can expect DD to want to nurse during the night.

[svs79]

Well I had to go back to work much earlier with my DD, but here is my 2 cents. I think you are good on your estimates. I was able to pump twice a day at work, and was also very fortunate to be able to go home and nurse over lunch hour (when DD was at home with DH). On other days when she was at daycare, I was able to pump over lunch hour in addition to the other two. That seemed to work for me, although I did have to use Fenugreek to help increase my supply after I started pumping.

I think it is just a fact that breastfed babies eat more often than formula fed babies, since the breastmilk is so much easier for them to digest. While this may mean a little more work for your daycare provider, they should be supportive that you are doing the best for your DD!

Also, my DD started nursing more frequently at night after I went back to work. But, that worked out okay since we were co-sleeping...

Good luck with everything!

[tibeca]

The average baby (without solids) consumes around 25-30 oz of breastmilk a day. If you assume your baby ate nothing but bm, and was separated for about 1/3 of the day, you should expect that she'll want about 10 oz total of bm per day. Offering bm in a sippy cup during/before meals should not make "difficulties" for your day care. also, a bottle before each nap doesn't seem unreasonable either. If your day care provider becomes "that" unsupportive, perhaps its time to find someone different.