Return to work blues

We had a mom call the office asking for advice to increase her milk supply.

A review of the medical records on her 8 week old baby failed to identify any previous concerns about her supply. He was growing well and she was pumping and freezing milk to be prepared for returning to work.

Upon talking to this mom, she had been back to work a week and her daycare provider said she needed more milk to be sent with the baby. They were running out and mom was frantic about how she could keep up with the amount of milk he needed.

She was regularly pumping three times at work and was sending about 18 ounces of expressed mother’s milk with him to daycare. He was at daycare about 9 hours each day.   The daycare provider was giving 4-5 oz bottles (appropriate volume) and running out of milk. Daycare was also concerned about the quality of the breast milk because he was spitting up after feedings.

This baby was average sized, about 5 kg and was growing appropriately. A baby this size needs between 25-28 ounces a day to grow. Mom was nursing before dropping him at daycare and then when she picked him up he usually wasn’t very hungry for a couple hours. He then nursed a couple times in the late evening and woke one time at night to nurse.

As we questioned mom more, the babysitter was feeding him soon after he arrived, then every 2 hours. If he slept three hours, she would offer 4 oz and if he was still hungry, give him two more.