Molly,

How many bottles is the baby getting when mom is at work and how much at a time? If he takes almost 7 oz bottles, then that's massive. Breastfed babies aren't typically taking more than 5 oz bottles. Does he sleep through the night or breastfeed at least once during that time?

She should breastfeed baby on both breasts before work instead of pumping the opposite side. Is there any way she can get at least one more pumping session in while at work? By law, she has to be given enough sessions to keep her supply up. Maybe she can add in pumping sessions on her drive to and from work. Mom can add in some pumping sessions on her days off too. Baby really shouldn't need more than 32 oz max for the whole day. How many times per day does he eat on her work days? She started supplementing early so I'm wondering if baby had latching problems from the beginning. Also, 45 min is a long feeding especially for a 6 month old. Baby should be hungry and ready to breastfeed when mom picks baby up from daycare/comes home. He should be left with a few meal bottles and a couple "snack" bottles of just 2 oz in case he is hungry an hour or 2 before mom can breastfeed. He may be a big baby, but he could also be getting overfed with bottles.

She can go back to doing skin-to-skin when she is at home to increase her supply. She can also watch a video or look at a picture of baby while pumping at work. If she is having trouble with let down with pump, then can she keep her flanges warm in a heating pad before pumping? The heating pad placed on her neck/shoulders may help the letdown too during the pumping session.

As far as solid foods, has he only been offered purees or soft cooked food as well? Some babies don't want to be spoonfed and do better feeding themselves using the baby led weaning method. I'm sure if he was eating some solids throughout the day he could make up some of his calories with that instead.


Hope this helps!

Adria Bell, BS, IBCLC

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