Baby drinking all I can pump--how to persuade caregiver not to use freezer stash? - Page 2

[Spiralshell]

I had this problem with my DP's mom -- when she watched the baby he'd take twice as much milk as when my mom watched him. My mom is masterful with the binky and the swaddling and shusshing. His mom usually went for the bottle and dove into the freezer ALL THE TIME. It took a while for us to sort that out.
I second lots of the advice here like more frequent LITTLE bottles of an ounce or two.
Good luck!

[beebalmmama]

I watch a 2 month old and she has about 11-12 oz for a 9 hour day. If she starts getting hungry within an hour of when I expect her mom, I will give her an ounce or two to tide her over. I would think especially if your baby is a comfort nurser they might take more milk if it's offered, even if they don't need it. As other pp's suggested, I would talk to her about what she tries to do for her to help calm her when she's crying/fussy.

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My current daycare baby ate 2 to 4 ounces three times a day. (at that age) He's here from 7:00-4:30. (12 oz in 9.5 hours)

Now, he eats two meals, and three four ounce bottles. Sometimes, he eats less milk, because he's loving the food.

The baby before him ate FOUR 6 ounce bottles every day. He was here from 7:00-4:00 every day. (24 oz in 9 hours)

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by nextcommercial

My current daycare baby ate 2 to 4 ounces three times a day. (at that age) He's here from 7:00-4:30. (12 oz in 9.5 hours)

Now, he eats two meals, and three four ounce bottles. Sometimes, he eats less milk, because he's loving the food.

The baby before him ate FOUR 6 ounce bottles every day. He was here from 7:00-4:00 every day. (24 oz in 9 hours)

Is this breastmilk? Just curious.

[atnightingale]

This is not advice per se, just some info that may or may not be applicable as you problem solve this. Your LO may or may not take to the slower nipple if you have overactive letdown as well as oversupply like I did. My DD would not comfort suck on anything and found the young baby low flow nipples frustrating and useless. She was used to being flooded with milk. (There was also some issue with reflux that led to freq nursing.) So you may also consider More frequent smaller bottles with the same nipple, then also sucking on something else, taking walks etc. For what it is worth I also pumped 20 oz or more when I was at work and DD would occasionally go through it like you describe, but more often would settle for less.

Take this all with a grain of salt as we had to go to fairly extreme lengths with DD (we ended up cup feeding). But be aware that a baby used to oversupply may have expectations you will need to work with.

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Originally Posted by Ellien C

Is this breastmilk? Just curious.

Yes. I do occasionally get into the frozen stash. But, not often.

[blake201]

Thanks everyone for your helpful responses! Here's the update:

I got home after my last post, spoke to my mom again and just tried to emphasize over and over how important this was--that baby was being overfed and that she couldn't possibly need that much milk. I asked her to try other comfort methods as much as possible, and to use the slowest flow nipples (we use the Playtex dropins bottles, which were recommended by my LC).

My mom claims she didn't really do anything differently the next day, but that Zora just chose to drink only 8-10 ounces.

THe week after that I had a vacation, so I nursed on cue all week and didn't pump once (LOVED IT). I found that I was HORRIBLY and PAINFULLY engorged ALL the time, no matter how frequently baby nursed. which leads me to think that I had way overstimulated my supply by pumping that much at work every day!

And now I'm back at work and pumping again... and baby is only drinking 8-12 oz per day and is making up for it by feeding more frequently in the evening and during the night. Again, my mother claims she is not doing anything differently than before, so I have no idea what is going on, but I hope it continues. I'll monitor the situation in case it changes again.

Oh, and just to answer some of the questions--my mother never props the bottles with her. She tries to imitate breastfeeding as much as possible and always holds and cuddles Zora while she feeds her.

[Ellien C]

That sounds great. So glad it's working out for you.

[texmati]

Great update! Especially if baby is nursing more in the evening!

[blake201]

Yeah, she's continuing the trend so far--reverse cycling, I think it's called? I'm wondering if I can cut back to pumping just twice per day since now I'm getting SO much extra...

[texmati]

Originally Posted by blake201

Yeah, she's continuing the trend so far--reverse cycling, I think it's called? I'm wondering if I can cut back to pumping just twice per day since now I'm getting SO much extra...

If I were in your shoes (and I was) I'd wait a bit (maybe until she's 5-6 months old) before cutting back a pumping session, unless it was really cutting into your work day/schedule. but eventually, you can cut from 3 to 2 and then to none around a year old, if you want!

[craft_media_hero]

3 months could be a growth spurt.

You already have some good advice here.

I was just going to suggest slow-flow nipples and smaller bottles, too + paci and make a rule for mom not to feed after 5:00 as has already been said.

[MovnMama]

Originally Posted by blake201 

Yeah, she's continuing the trend so far--reverse cycling, I think it's called? I'm wondering if I can cut back to pumping just twice per day since now I'm getting SO much extra...

I second the motion to WAIT and not cut back on pumping. If I were you, I'd focus on really getting a situation that is pleasant and comfortable with the pump. Solve the thrush and other issues. Also I second the Gentian Violet suggestion - works wonders.

You never know when that freezer stash will come in handy! ...if you're like me, later on it will be nice to go on a date or out with the girls periodically and do a "pump and dump" guilt free since you have the big stash! Or, later on, you could decide to donate it, and wouldn't that feel good?