Introducing one expressed bottle. How many ounces to aim for?

[NAJS17]

Hello,

my little girl is 12 days old. I already have an 18 month old. I am breastfeeding this time but I am new to it as I formula fed my boy. The first feed of feeding was difficult, but I feel like we have turned a corner now.
my husband is giving one bottle of expressed milk in the evening to allow me to go to bed early and get a few hours of undisturbed sleep before the night shift and to ensure I’m still fit to play with my toddler.

my question is how many ounces would you aim to give her during this feed as I don’t have a clue how much she is getting while feeding from me.

thank you.

Hello, congratulations on your baby, do look up paced bottle feeding if you haven’t already.

I’ve seen advice not to offer more than 4oz to a breastfed baby but that was generalised and not for a newborn so I won’t comment on the amount. Also bear in mind at this age sucking is a reflex so they may carry on feeding from a bottle once full so please if baby takes loads don’t think that means you aren’t making enough milk.

Lucy Webber Feeding Support is a great breastfeeding page on Instagram if you’re on there she’s worth a follow

Agree with everything the PP has said and congratulations on your new LO!

I’m not sure on the amount for such a young baby. According to this from Ameda by 10 days their stomach should have reached the size of a large chicken egg.

Between 1 and 6 months BF babies take an average of 25 Floz in 24 hours so it’s pretty normal for an expressed Fred to be between one 1 and 3 Floz, depending on how long it is since they last fed.

I would give one of the BFing Helplines a call as a BFC should be able to advise you better on how much to give st this age

Just to add to excellent advice above, remember not to compare your baby with formula fed ones. BF babies usually take in less volume of milk per feed than if you were formula feeding so 2oz of expressed breastmilk might seem like hardly anything especially compared to a formula feed but it is enough for a baby this age

2-3 oz. But I would be careful. You risk affecting your supply and baby developing a bottle preference. It really isn't recommended to give bottles so early on.

I think you’re right on babies who are combi fed often developing a preference for one type of feeding and some may then reject BFing.

OP if this is a concern you could get DH to try cup feeding which is much more appropriate at this age