How much milk in a bottle..?

[Fuschia]

Those who have followed our tongue tie saga might be interested in an update - at 5w old we are now breastfeeding from 7am>7pm (almost literally, each feed takes an hour and it's an hour on, 30 mins off... he needs the tongue tie rechecked I think)

From 7pm>7am I give us both a rest and he has bottles of ebm. It has been 2.5oz, recently 3oz. He has 7 bottles (7pm, 9,11,1,3,5,7) He usually finishes all the bottle though at 3am he sometimes takes just an oz. A few times he has ended up having 2 bottles back to back (5oz over an hour) at 1am and has slept to 4.

I am clueless about bottlefeeding, and I know feeding ebm is different to feeding formula anyway (is digested in 90 mins)

I don't want to overfeed him... the idea of trying to get him to take the last mouthful like a little foie gras goose upsets me for some reason. The surgeon who snipped his tongue said a baby on breastmilk needs about 2/3 of the quantity a ff baby would have... but he should be fed every 3/4h (not every 2h!) My babies bf the normal way fed every 2h for ages anyway so I'm not fussed but I wondered if those with any knowledge/experience think he should be fed less frequently at night or should have more milk in each feed.

He is taking 20oz or so every night, and I think average breastmilj consumption is 25oz in 24h (range 19-30) so he is having a lot of ebm I know.. just in tiny feeds.

[GinaG3]

Fuschia, how long have you been in this pattern with him? Having read what you've said I'd be inclined to try giving more EBM at slightly longer intervals and see how he does. Would definitely get the tongue tie rechecked aswell!! If he is averaging around 25oz in 24h I'd say thats not bad at all, if you could get it more toward 30oz that would be great and you may find he is a bit more satisfied and sleepy.

Unrelated to tongue tie but my daughter was unable to latch for 2 months and the nights were horrendous feeding. I sympathize with you a million times over. Hope you can get a 3 hours night nap in soon..

[Fuschia]

Gina, he bf all day as well.. I think he takes well over 25oz overall, it's just can only measure the nightime ebm. At 3w old on 100% ebm he was on about 25oz... he is satisfied overall I think, just in the day time he wakes from short naps of about 30-60 mins mostly to feed again (that's how I know his latch isn't great)

[poppy]

Hi Fuschia,

Gosh, I really sympathise with all those breastfeeds, not to mention all that expressing as well. My son had tongue tie and until it was fixed I too was constantly breastfeeding - it's exhausting!

I'm sure you're planning to anyway but I would definitely get your son's tongue-tie rechecked, as that may sort out the feeds in itself. My son needed his tongue-tie re-snipped at about 5 weeks - they either hadn't quite got it all the first time or it had rehealed a bit despite following their guidance for aftercare to the letter. My heart sank at the thought of sitting through that clinic again but the second time they asked me to come along towards the end so it wasn't so bad and it was only after that that finally the hour-long feeds reduced. Good luck!

[Fuschia]

Thanks Poppy. I am planning to get him an appt asap. He is 5 weeks. Posterior tongue ties are notorious for healing back, apparently

[buggie]

Fuschia - have you tried using nipple shields when br/feeding during the day?? Used them myself as the bugglet couldn't latch on (due to being diddy rather than tongue tie) and they really helped - especially the medela ones... bit evangelical about them as was only a friend suggesting them that I tried them, no MW/advice online mentioned them and yet without them I wouldn't have been able to br/feed - we had stopped using them by the time she was 9wks old, but guess you'd be able to stop as soon as the tongue tie is resolved.

Best of luck - sounds like you're having a rough time of it xx

[Fuschia]

buggie, nipples shields got us through from day 9 or so (had stopped bf totally) to a week or so after his tongue was clipped (3w and 2 days approx) but I found them very fiddly (not enough hands)

Might be worth trying again I suppose... if it helped speed up feeds!!!

[buggie]

The Medela ones came with instructions which I found helpful as other ones I bought didn't have any (instructions were pretty much lick and stick!!) and found they would stay on (esp once nipple sucked into them1!

[Countjc]

Hi Fuschia

sorry to hear of your ongoing problems with the Tongue tie.

My son was on just EBM from 5 weeks as the op didn't work well for us. I seem to remember him having 7 bottles in 24 hours of about 4-5 ounces each time in the early weeks and then more like 6-7 ounces at 10 weeks but just 6 bottles then. I was also concerned about overfeeding but health visitors assured me he would be sick if he ate too much, which on occasion he would.

So as not to waste breastmilk, I used a larger storage bottle in the day and would decant out 3-4 ounces and then top up if he looked like he wanted more.

I remember using the some equation that worked out quantities for formula and he was always on a few ounces more each day when it was breastmilk. Interestingly he did take less when I switched to formula.

Hope that makes sense and helps, writing on my phone. Pm if you need more info and good luck with it.

[Fuschia]

I also store milk in bigger bottles and decant bit by bit... but he can't take more than 3.5oz and usually wnats just 2.5

12 feeds a day is rather time cosuming...