Breast milk consumption at 4 months

old mama

Sadly TTC didn't work for me but I have a question for breast feeding/pumping moms...I am babysitting for teen parents of my kids. Their daughter just turned 4 months old and is healthy...beautiful rolly polly little gal. Mom provides me with frozen breast milk. The baby just screams like she is starving for me with a 5 oz. bottle. Dr. had us add 1 tablespoon of rice cereal which helped for a while. I offer her a pacifier, try to distract her with play, attention ect. Do you think she is getting enough? Mom has taken on more hrs. and is having trouble keeping up and I don't think she eats healthy herself. But, like I said baby is growing and appears well.

K&H

5 oz for how many hours?

kelleymel

K&H wrote:

5 oz for how many hours?

Yes! My daughter drinks more than 5oz between 2-5 am every night and she's 2 weeks old

blkbrd3

Some babies have a meal cycle all their own too. For example from about 6 am to 9 pm Thomas will drink about 10 to 12 oz total. He prefers small, brief meals. From 9 pm to 5 am he'll drink 18 to 24 oz. At night he likes larger meals that gradually get smaller as the dawn approaches.

His daily intake hasn't really changed between 2 1/2 months and now.

MNmommas

I'd drop the rice cereal stat. What you might want to consider is that she is taking it in too quickly and needs a slower nipple size. At 4 months, she should be at a level 1 at the most if 5-6 ounces doesn't seem to satisfy her. Sometimes it's the sucking she wants more than the milk, so doing that and/or lots of pacifier access might help. We actually used a preemie nipple (level 0) for awhile with R because she was drinking my milk in too fast when DW fed her.

blkbrd3

^^^ I agree.

Shanny

I don't know why - but I am shocked that there are pediatricians still recommending rice cereal. That would have me looking for another doctor.

I agree with all of the advice you've gotten and hopefully you can steer these young parents in the right direction!

mel

What is the reason for the cereal? Does she have reflux? Is she screaming during or only after the bottle?

Zen

Friends of mine have a 4 month old baby whom they spoon feed oatmeal until she gets fussy and then ... they add it to the baby's bottle. I told them why that's not a good idea anymore but that fell on deaf ears. In the end though, the baby is healthy and happy and well cared for and loved.

We used to start babies on cereal at 2 months. Now it's 5-6 months (if at all). I don't think there's real concern at 4 months. Not current thinking but ... not necessarily bad thinking.

sara291

My BF babies never took more then 3-4 oz at a time. Even Emela at 10-months still won't take much but I know Z at 3.5-4 months suddenly started drinking 5-6 oz at a time & then ate less often. Z was also a tiny thing. I don't understand the cereal reason & wouldn't do it. If all else fails formula what the mom can't keep up but I wouldn't be offering cereal.

michelle.malott

My breastmilk supply tanked pretty fast when I went back to work, pumping just didn't get quite enough out to keep up with my daughter. We supplemented with formula, and we used the evil rice cereal as well. If mom is open to supplementing, then that would help. Just have to know that when you start down the supplementing road, you're making a decision to start weaning off breastmilk. For us, we started supplementing at about 3 months, and totally stopped breast feeding at about 6.5 months. I'm not really into long term breast feeding, so I was fine with it, but everyone is different.

syoung0204

Yes! My daughter drinks more than 5oz between 2-5 am every night and she's 2 weeks old

Oh good, I'm glad it's not just ours eating that much! I was starting to think mom was making skim milk or something.

old mama

I am feeding her about every 31/2- 4 hrs. and like I said her dr. told her to add the 1 tbs. of rice cereal. She was screaming when she realized that bottle was empty...I have tried giving her pacifier after and other non feeding things. The cereal helped for a while. She often gets sleepy after feedings so it has helped she will settle down for a cat nap. Of course she is only getting the rice cereal when her father or I feed her. A wide variety of answers. Mom doesn't have any day shifts this week and her father will watch her for evening shifts. We will see how she does for me next week. I am just glad mom is breastfeeding her not just because of the health benefits but because she has a lot to learn about caring for a baby and I couldn't see her measuring formula, cleaning bottles ect. I am keeping my mouth shut and hoping she just picks up things from what she sees me do...it is a good thing babies are tough...but teens don't want to be told what to do...so walking on a tight rope with her. If I ever saw her do something that would really harm the baby I would speak up LOUD..

gprime11

Q could eat 6oz at 4 months about every 4 hours. He can down 8oz now at 9 months. He's a pig. He used to cry frequently after being fed and I always thought he was still hungry but figured out it was reflux. Eating soothed his reflux but eating a lot would make it worse afterwards. He outgrew it eventually, but it was definitely frustrating. Maybe something for her to bring up with her dr.