# How much milk does your 6 week old drink?



## Adaline'sMama (Apr 16, 2010)

So, I have given DS a few bottles, just to try it out. I dont work, and am not planning on bottle feeding regularly, but Im pumping to store and freeze for either emergencies or if someone watches him and I go out. In a week DH and I are going to dinner, out for a drink, and then to a show and we will be gone for about 7 hours. We will only be about 3 blocks away from my mom, but I plan to just give her frozen milk to thaw out and give him. How much do I send? I guess Im also just trying to gauge how long the milk I have stored would last him in case anything happened. I have about 75 oz stored ( I had more, but when DD was sick I gave her a bunch of it.) So,especially if you EP or formula feed, how much is your 5-10 week old baby eating in one day?


----------



## htovjm (Nov 9, 2011)

We had initial breastfeeding problems, so I was pumping and bottlefeeding. This page from Kelly Mom was pretty helpful on estimating milk volume intake: How much expressed milk will my baby need? Surprisingly, babies from 1 month to 6 months take about the same amount of milk, regardless of weight (not counting growth spurts). That's about 25 oz. per day.

That was pretty true for our DS, who ate between 22 - 27 oz. per day between 4 - 6 weeks old. He had above average weight gain. Maybe send 8 - 10 oz. for 7 hours? But of course you know your babies own eating patterns. If he cluster feeds in the evening, perhaps you should send more? Oh, and formula fed babies eat different volumes compared to breastfed, so don't base the amount on what formula fed babies eat.

Also, you probably already know this, but it's worth mentioning. Anytime your baby gets milk from another source, you should pump at least the same volume. Your working with supply and demand here and you still need to send the message that baby had some milk. It will also help keep your stores up! Good luck -- and enjoy your evening out!!!


----------



## cat13 (Dec 8, 2010)

Ever since I went back to work at 8 weeks and even now at 6 1/2 months, DS will take 1 to 1.5 oz per hour that I'm gone. You can give this handout to your mom about how to bottlefeed the breastfed baby, it's a really helpful resource that my DH put on the fridge (he cares for DS while I work). So, maybe you can send like 8oz defrosted, along with a few bags of frozen milk in case your DS needs more. Just be sure she knows the proper way to defrost milk (ie: no microwave, stove top, no shaking, etc).

As I'm writing this, I realize that DH and I desperately need a date night!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Adaline'sMama*
> 
> So, I have given DS a few bottles, just to try it out. I dont work, and am not planning on bottle feeding regularly, but Im pumping to store and freeze for either emergencies or if someone watches him and I go out. In a week DH and I are going to dinner, out for a drink, and then to a show and we will be gone for about 7 hours. We will only be about 3 blocks away from my mom, but I plan to just give her frozen milk to thaw out and give him. How much do I send? *I guess Im also just trying to gauge how long the milk I have stored would last him in case anything happened.* I have about 75 oz stored ( I had more, but when DD was sick I gave her a bunch of it.) So,especially if you EP or formula feed, how much is your 5-10 week old baby eating in one day?


You can look at the milk calculator that PP linked to above, but honestly I wouldn't even start down this line of thinking. Sometimes when a car pulls out in front of me, or I read about an accident, I can find my mind wandering down all the 'what ifs' that are out there, but I just pull myself back in to the moment. I'm not saying that planning isn't important (I do have life insurance, etc), but this can lead down a dark path too. Forgive me if this is too intrusive, I really don't mean any harm.


----------



## mambera (Sep 29, 2009)

Yes, my bf babies have both also taken between 1-1.5 oz pumped milk per hour that I was gone.

Btw I wouldn't bother giving previously frozen milk to a sick child. Freezing kills the white blood cells anyway. If you're specifically giving it to ward off illness - and I have no knowledge of whether or not this works on an older child, but still - it makes more sense to give fresh than frozen.


----------



## Adaline'sMama (Apr 16, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cat13*
> 
> Ever since I went back to work at 8 weeks and even now at 6 1/2 months, DS will take 1 to 1.5 oz per hour that I'm gone. You can give this handout to your mom about how to bottlefeed the breastfed baby, it's a really helpful resource that my DH put on the fridge (he cares for DS while I work). So, maybe you can send like 8oz defrosted, along with a few bags of frozen milk in case your DS needs more. Just be sure she knows the proper way to defrost milk (ie: no microwave, stove top, no shaking, etc).
> 
> ...


Lol. I see what you mean. Really, I was thinking more like "Im pretty sure Im going to have to have some dental work done that requires drugs." And "emergencies" more along those lines. Recently I had a stomach bug and DH had to feed DS with a bottle.
That is a good handout, but my mom breastfed and since I also have a two year old that just quit nursing she know all the rules about handling breastmilk.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mambera*
> 
> Yes, my bf babies have both also taken between 1-1.5 oz pumped milk per hour that I was gone.
> 
> Btw I wouldn't bother giving previously frozen milk to a sick child. Freezing kills the white blood cells anyway. If you're specifically giving it to ward off illness - and I have no knowledge of whether or not this works on an older child, but still - it makes more sense to give fresh than frozen.


Really? Ive never heard that. So when moms EP their kid isnt getting all the antibodies and stuff? It seems like so many people freeze and thaw breastmilk on a regular basis. I guess it make sense, I just thought the whole point of heating properly/ not shaking was to keep all the good stuff alive.


----------



## MadelinesMama (Mar 3, 2011)

I think most people who EP (including myself) don't give exclusively frozen and defrosted breastmilk so they are still getting all the good stuff from fresh milk. I personally only give frozen milk a couple times a week and it's just to keep my stash rotated.

My child isn't a big eater during the first half of the day, but in the afternoon and evening he consumes tons, so you will have to take that into account when you decide how much to leave also. If I left him in the morning I could leave 5 oz and it would be more than enough. If it was the evening I would have to leave more like 12oz.


----------



## cat13 (Dec 8, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Adaline'sMama*
> 
> *Lol. I see what you mean. Really, I was thinking more like "Im pretty sure Im going to have to have some dental work done that requires drugs." And "emergencies" more along those lines. Recently I had a stomach bug and DH had to feed DS with a bottle.*
> That is a good handout, but my mom breastfed and since I also have a two year old that just quit nursing she know all the rules about handling breastmilk.
> Really? Ive never heard that. So when moms EP their kid isnt getting all the antibodies and stuff? It seems like so many people freeze and thaw breastmilk on a regular basis. I guess it make sense, I just thought the whole point of heating properly/ not shaking was to keep all the good stuff alive.


Glad I didn't offend, and sorry I misinterpreted. I've been talking to some friends with PPD lately, so that's in the forefront of my mind.


----------



## cat13 (Dec 8, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mambera*
> 
> Yes, my bf babies have both also taken between 1-1.5 oz pumped milk per hour that I was gone.
> 
> *Btw I wouldn't bother giving previously frozen milk to a sick child. Freezing kills the white blood cells anyway. * If you're specifically giving it to ward off illness - and I have no knowledge of whether or not this works on an older child, but still - it makes more sense to give fresh than frozen.


I'm not sure this is fully correct. From what I've gathered, there hasn't been too many studies on the effects of freezing of breastmilk, but the ones that have been done show decreased levels of white blood cells and other factors, not an absence of them. This is a link I found from Kellymom with some of those studies. You're definitely right that fresh is best, but frozen is a great second choice.


----------



## mambera (Sep 29, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cat13*
> 
> I'm not sure this is fully correct. From what I've gathered, there hasn't been too many studies on the effects of freezing of breastmilk, but the ones that have been done show decreased levels of white blood cells and other factors, not an absence of them. This is a link I found from Kellymom with some of those studies. You're definitely right that fresh is best, but frozen is a great second choice.


So that link has 17 pages of studies. I eyeballed the first couple of pages and found nothing about cells surviving a freeze-thaw cycle.

Honestly it would be odd for anyone to choose to do that study (and even odder to find someone willing to fund it), because it's common knowledge among biologists that most cells can't survive a regular freeze-thaw without special procedures. The expansion and crystallization of all the water in the cell shears the membranes and lyses the organelles. If you want to freeze down a cell line you have to add glycerol or DMSO to prevent that from happening.

Antibodies are just proteins and will typically survive a freeze-thaw cycle reasonably well. (But if the milk was frozen a while back, it probably doesn't contain antibodies to the current illness anyway.) But live white cells? Nah.


----------

