Counting Ounces

I don't really know how much milk my child gets while nursing. I know there is a formula for weighing them, feeding them and then weighing them again, but I never did that. I assumed they were always eating until full. So, as a pumping mom, how do you know how much to put in the bags?

My younger daughter is happy with five ounces, even at 10 months old. My older daughter was getting between six and eight ounces at this point.

Each child is going to be different.

Many people I know make a few size bags and the combine them to get the right amount. I did it differently. I knew by about 6 weeks she would need roughly four ounces per feeding. So for the first few weeks, I made four ounce bags. By the time I went back to work, I increase them to 4.5. Shortly after that, I moved up to five ounces.

When my day care would report that she still seemed hungry after a feeding, I made smaller bags for them to supplement the larger bags as needed. Then, I just started making my bags larger.

We went off her cues. I didn't go by any charts or what everyone else was doing or even what her sister did.

Work with your childcare provider, tweak what you do and you will find the right combination.