51: Wondering How Much Breastmilk is Enough?...
Most of the volume recommendations out there for newborns is for formula, which is different from breastmilk. Breastmilk is a living food, which varies nutritionally between mothers, and even times of day. Early milk (colostrum) is very calorically dense and packs a lot into a small volume to provide what your baby needs during the early days. But what if you are a pumping mom, and your baby is taking expressed breast milk from a bottle? That’s what Jessie wants to know this week. She asks, “What’s a normal amount of breastmilk for my 10 day old LO to eat? I see lots of information for how long a newborn should breastfeed, but not how much they should take in a bottle. All I can find is formula recs.”
Jessie, thank you for your question. It’s a really good one! Now I have a general, easy to do formula to figure out how much breastmilk your baby is expected to drink. HOW-EV-ER. Just like with formula, it’s so easy to get stuck hyperfocusing on your baby finishing the bottle- we forget to watch their cues. You see babies, especially newborns, do not eat on a perfect clock schedule or the exact same amount every feed. They have cluster feeding, growth spurts, higher rest days, and everything in between.
So here’s what you can do. Take the formula I’m going to give you, get a general ballpark, and then focus on your baby’s cues and bodily signs they are getting enough (like their output, behavior, and growth). This way, you have an idea of how much to offer and if you are generally in the range of average intake- but your eye is on the prize. The prize being your baby having a positive mealtime experience, gaining feeding skills in a supportive way, and avoiding the issues that come with pushing to finish bottles or feeding too fast. (If you aren’t familiar with infant cues or newborn eating patterns you may benefit from taking my newborn feeding course, it’s got everything from proper positioning to how to prepare a bottle properly to troubleshooting common issues.)
When you follow your baby’s cues and know what normal newborn behavior looks like, it’s much easier to identify where they need support and get the right help if indicated. But for healthy full term babies who are drinking expressed breast milk you can multiply their weight (in pounds) by 2.5. And that number is the number of ounces they need.
Weight (lbs) x 2.5 = approximate ounces of milk/24 hrs*
(*for a baby without weight concerns)
For example: baby Carter weighs 7 pounds, and he’s past the initial colostrum phase and his mom wants to know about how much he might need: 7 x 2.5 = 17.5 ounces of breastmilk.
The good news is he can divvy that up however works for his belly. Now if you take that number and divide it perfectly by the number of feeds some books recommend (such as fewer but larger feeds) it will likely end up in reflux or frustration. So remember that every baby is unique and each mother is different. Knowing your baby’s cues and the general norms are extremely helpful in order to feel confident but still maintain some flexibility.
At the end of the day, if your baby is gaining and growing, having adequate wet and stool diapers, normal states of wakefulness and sleep for their age, and you and the pediatrician feel they are doing great- but they aren’t having exactly the number of ounces according to your calculation- let’s not worry too much on it.
It’s also important to remember that your baby will be growing and this number will most definitely change.
So Jessie, I hope that was helpful. Take your little one's weight in pounds and multiply it by two and a half. That should give you a ballpark of breastmilk in ounces. And I’ll also suggest starting off with small bottles, maybe only a couple of ounces for your 10 day old. If they are always finishing it and looking for more then increase by offering 1/2 oz larger bottles. This will avoid wasting any milk unnecessarily since it’s only good for so long once it’s out and his saliva has made contact with it, and it will keep you focused on their cues rather than the bottle being emptied:)