older baby

[nacha]

okay. i have been back to work for about 4 weeks now. my ds five months, 26 weeks so basically 6 months, is drinking about 5 ounces while i am away. i pump any where from 8 to 12 ounces a day. i am away from him for about 9 to 10 hours. now usually at lunch we will meet and he nurses for maybe at most 10 minutes. he is so busy at this age so its hard to get him to really nurse. i am honestly scared to weigh him. his last docotor appointment he was 15 lbs 2 ounces. my concern is i am producing about double of what he is taking in a day. that makes me think that he is not getting enough.

[mirellevvi]

Hi there,
Well, if he is growing and he seems to be well off, then he is getting enough, however I have a question: have you started him on solids yet? If he is eating only breastmilk he should be having anywhere between 25-45 ounces. Now the fact that he is only eating 5 ounces might mean that he is getting the rest of his daily take during the other times that he nurses? Which brings another question: how often does he nurse when you are there?

Since you are able to pump a nice amount of milk, it suggests to me that you are nursing him often when you are with him, and your body responds to the stimulation and makes the milk.

At an older age babies also become much more efficient in taking the milk out of the breast in a much shorter time. So if he used to feed for 15-20 minutes on each breast to be 'full' now it might take him 5-10 minutes to do the same. Also another thing that you have already brought up is the fact that this is the age of distraction, so it is perfectly normal that it's hard to keep him focused.

What might help when he comes by on lunch is to find a quiet place where there is minimal noise, light, people, etc distractions and see if that works better.

Your next appointment should be soon, as usually babies get their 6 month check up and I'm sure that he will get his weight checked. if he is growing well then don't worry about him not getting enough because if that was the case he would not be developing as he is.

Marta