HOW MUCH MILK DO I NEED TO PRODUCE?
When a baby is breastfed, they will vary their intake of milk each time they feed. Plus, the duration of breastfeeding doesn’t always correlate with the amount of milk they drink. But, on average, a breastfed baby drinks about 19 to 30 ounces daily (24 hour period) - let's say 25 ounces on average.
(An interesting fact: babies drink about the same amount of milk daily month 1 through month 6.)
So - how do you know how much milk to produce while pumping? Here's some quick math:
Estimate the number of times that baby nurses each 24 hour period. Then divide the 25 ounce average by your answer. This gives you a rough idea for the amount of expressed milk your breast milk baby needs per feeding.
Example: If your baby nurses around 8 times per day, you can guess that baby might need roughly 3 ounces per feeding, every 3 hours (25/8=3.1).
As the baby gets older, they drink fewer times, but more quantities. Do the math:
Month 2: about 6 times per day – 4oz per bottle
Month 3: about 5 times per day – 5oz per bottle
Of course, each baby is different. You can adjust up or down depending on how much they need. My firstborn drank about 25oz per day for 6 months, but my second baby drank 30oz until 7 months (she was insatiable!). Once you introduce foods, you may notice that the amount of milk your baby needs changes (or not!).
This math is also a good way to track how much milk to pump if you are planning on stocking up, or leaving milk for baby with a caretaker when returning to work. In fact, I was able to calculate based on how much I made daily versus how much was consumed how much I would need to store to reach my goal of having enough breast milk to reach my baby's 1st birthday. (I'm a nerd, I know.)
HOW LONG IS MILK GOOD FOR?
Freshly pumped milk can wait sit for 4-6 hours (unless the surrounding room is over 75 degrees) before needing refrigeration.
THIS 4-6 HOUR WINDOW IS KEY! If your baby is going to consume the milk with 4-6 hours, DON’T fridge it unless you’re storing the excess milk you pumped. No one wants to be heating up milk when your fussy baby doesn’t like to wait. This is especially important during nighttime pumping and feeding sessions!
Imagine this: Baby eats and sleeps right around at 9pm. I'm due to pump around 10, so I make about 15 ounces. I store the extra 9, and leave 6oz in a bottle. I take a quick power nap, and baby wakes up at 2am for her night bottle. Voila! Bottle is ready, baby eats, and she's back to sleep - no waiting, no fuss. I pump again at 2am, store the excess, and keep a bottle ready for that 6am wakeup call. Milk's ready, baby's happy, and no hassle!
Also - freshly pumped is also the best milk to take with you if you’re running errands, going to dinner, etc. Remember, it will keep for 4-6 hours (below 75 degrees), so you could even take two bottles with you for a whole afternoon out with baby and never have to worry about reheating.
Speaking of which - if you do have to reheat milk from a fridge, reheated milk is only good for about an hour. Try not to heat it up too far ahead of your baby’s demand, or you'll have to put it back in the fridge. Plus, you can only reheat refrigerated milk twice (and only if the baby hasn’t yet started the bottle - germs and all that). So if you have a limited supply, try to time it out the best you can so it's not wasted.
Finally, all bottles should be consumed within an hour of your baby starting to drink to avoid bacterial growth on/in the nipple.
A NOTE ON MIXING YOUR MILK:
If you are lucky enough to produce multiple bottles during a pump session (my record was 22 oz in one session!), you might notice that some of the milk is very white/blue and some is more cream/yellow.
The first kind is FOREMILK – the lighter, sweeter but less nutritious part. The second kind is the HINDMILK – darker, and full of nutrients.
This is why you should pump 20 minutes – to get to the good stuff. Once you are done with pumping, and if you've filled more than one bottle per breast side, be sure to mix the bottles together before serving or storing. This way you can ensure your baby will get the best mix of your supply. (Foremilk heavy bottles usually result in greenish poops.)
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