How Much Breast Milk in Bottle?

I sent mine in several smaller (2 oz) bottles, along with some very small 1 oz bottles. This was because the center she attended had a policy about not reheating or reserving milk. So if I sent it in bigger amounts, more ended up getting thrown away. They could always warm a second (or third) bottle, but I hated hearing some milk was thrown away.

Her intake stablized around 4 months, but I still sent the smaller bottles.

It varies so widely for each child that I'm not sure if you will get an answer that helps you out all that much. For example, my daughter would have been completely satisfied with only breastmilk and no other snacks until she was a year old because she has always been very petite. A good rule of thumb is that your child will take pretty close to what you are currently pumping for each feeding, possibly an ounce or two more because baby's sucking is much more efficient than a breastpump. When she was born she nursed every hour and fourty-five minutes for several months.

I'm wondering what this question is for? If it is for a babysitter, or daycare? Also, how old is your baby? The intake changes and your doctor should have the "average".
For the babysitter, you can always guess and then have some back up if the baby sucks it down. You can also feed your baby a bottle and see how much he/she eats to get an idea of where to start.
My son was born at 8lbs 12oz. At 10 weeks we started with 4 ounces. Sometimes he would take it all, sometimes less, but I tried to get the daycare to NOT throw away the uneaten milk like they do with formula, and to use it in the next bottle. That daycare thought he needed more and bumped him up to 6 oz one day!! That was a huge jump and my son took it, but then spit it all up. I hated that waste. I also changed daycares. As he got bigger, and as he decreased in the number of feedings, I would increase the ounces.
I personally didn't feed on demand, or have the daycare do so as I needed to know how much milk to bring with me, and how often to pump. If I pumped before picking him up and he was hungry, or wouldn't pump and he was just fed, it made it too difficult. Plus, I just believed in schedules and my son thrived that way. Plus, each of his daycare classes from about 1 year on have schedules, so it helped with the transition. Good luck, and let me know if you need any further information.
He never seemed to be getting the "recommended" amount, but I don't really know how much he was getting from me either. He has always been "well fed" and was about 23.5 pounds at his 1 year checkup.

When I started bottling breastmilk for my baby at 2 months, we just started with 3 oz and he still was hungry so went to 4 oz. He stayed at 4 oz until he was aroun 3 1/2 mo's and then he was acting hungry still, so we bumped it up to 4 1/2 and then 5 oz. I would just start with a small amount and feed him at home so you know if he's still hungry and add an oz until he's satisfied. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Since 9 months, we've been aiming for 18-24 ounces a day, divided by the number of feedings. Baby was underweight at 9 months. She's almost a year now at 18 pounds. I'm not sure for younger ones.

Hi A.,
I am not sure about the details for my first son, but my second is now almost 12 weeks old. When he has a bottle of breastmilk, he takes about 5 or 5.5 oz., and he currently eats 5 or 6 times a day. He increased from 4 oz. a feeding in the last three weeks or so. He weighs somewhere around 12 lbs. right now. With our first son, I know that 8 oz. was the most he ever took in a feeding, but I can't remember when he stabilized at that amount... maybe around 5 months? At that point, he probably was eating 4-5 times a day... about every 4 hours. (He went 9-12 hours at night without a feeding by then.) Hope this is helpful!

It's a little to put it into an exact amount. Remember that breast milk goes through babies a lot faster than formula so it's going to be very different than a formula fed baby. I only did a bottle of breast milk once in a great while with baby #1....like if I was going on a date with my hubby or something. But my daughter was a very big healthy girl at 4 months she was 17 lbs and 24 3/4 inches long. And for her at that time she would drink about 4 oz of milk from a bottle and she still ate about every 2 to 3 hours. The key is to just always feed on demand. So if you are only going to feed by bottle just make sure you have plenty of milk stored up so she can have a bottle as often as needed. I also remember by the time my daughter was 6 months. she was pretty stabilized in her feedings. by this time she wouldn't take bottles anymore so she was only breast feed but she was about every 3 hours on the dot. I hope this helps some. Again just remember that the best way is to feed on demand when they are little and they will get on there own feeding routine as they get older.

You know, every baby is totally different. My other children were taking 4-6 ounces of breastmilk per feeding through about 9 months. This baby (he is 5 months) has been taking 8 1/2 ounces per feeding. He eats 5 times a day! I mostly nurse him, but I teach an early morning aerobics class twice a week (bottle while I'm gone) and we usually take a bottle to church so I don't miss out on the meeting when the baby is hungry. Anyway, I based my amounts to feed him on how much came out when I pumped with my Medela and it was 8 1/2 ounces. At first I thought "this is way to much!" but he is hungry if we don't feed him that much. My son is average weight at about 16 pounds (55%) and above average height (85%) so a little bigger than normal, but not much. I hope this helps. Good luck!

My daughter was 8 pounds at birth. And was gaining about a 1/2 pound a week for the first two months or so.I nursed for at least two weeks before i started any pumping. When I first started pumping i would just store as much as i could get out. 2 sometimes 4 ounces at a time. I only used it when I went out on a date or something.
By about a month and a half I stared getting her on a schedule. By three months it seemed to be fairly set although it still shifted. I started having my mom watch her one day a week for several hours while i work. And on weekends for a date. By around 3 months my daughter would drink about 4-5 ounces from a bottle. Sometimes more though so I always sent extra milk with my mom. I fed her seven-eight times a day. So she was probably getting around 28-30 ounces a day by three months.
During her growth spurts she ate way more. One time around 3&1/2 months she ate over 12 ounces in one sitting without spitting up! She drank two 6 oz bottles of pumped milk and then she nursed on top of it a little. So its hard to say becaue the amounts shift depending on their needs but I would say that my daughter was probably consuming somewhere between 24-32 ounces a day by three and a half months.
But it's not split evenly of course. My daughter would eat the most in the morning and evenings. During the day she could probably get by with 4 oz. and would want like 6-8 ounces in the evenings.
Now she is four and 1/2 months weighs about 17 pounds and is 25 inches long. She eats six times a day with two feedings clustered together in the evening before bedtime. Now I can pump 4 ounces from each side. If she has already eaten then i get about four - six ounces in the morning. So I store my milk in 4-6 ounce amounts and she seems to do great with that. i would say an average amount during the day is 5-6ounces though and sometimes more.
Sorry if that is not super helpful. But it is hard to put it into exact quantities. Babies are good about getting what they need. If you offer them too much they (at least mine will) not finish it or turn away or get mad that I keep trying to give it to her. If i give her too little she lets me know:) A book that i read (called on Becoming Babywise) says that by 4-6 months (i think) babies should be consuming about 32 ounces a day divided by number of feedings.

My son, 8 months, takes 3 4oz bottles while I am at work (8-5:30). He drinks them about every 3 hours and the amount has been the same since I went back to work at 3 months. Now that he is eating some solids, there is sometimes an oz. or 2 left in his bottle when I get home. When I'm home I breastfeed on demand and I'd say he eats about 8 times/day total. When he was younger he'd eat 8-10 times/day.

I'm not sure how much he weights now, but at his 6 mo. appointment he was 18 lbs. 27 inches.

I remember my baby eating about one ounce per month of his age, every 2-3 hours. So 2 ounces when he was 2 months, 4 ounces when he was 4 months, etc. He stabilized at 6 ounces when he was 6 months old, and still eats that amount at 11 months, every 3-4 hours now. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Sorry I'm not more specific on weights, but my little guy was on the lower end of the charts, so a bigger baby might need more. What I started doing was giving him more than I thought he would want for a few days, to see where he would stop, and that helped establish his amount.

My son is 7 months old and we're having a lot of trouble getting him to drink liquids, so I've been talking to my pediatrician about how much breastmilk he needs. She said 20 oz a day is enough liquid for him, but not enough calories, but since he eats solid foods, 20 oz + solids three times a day is fine. So - hopefully that gives you an idea depending on how old your child is. If I were you, I'd just ask your pediatrician. Good luck!

Most moms store and serve 2 to 4 ounces ar a time to avoid waste. Remeber, babies can't do long division, so your feeding are not likely to be evenly spaced. ;) They also hit growth spurts so often you're not likely to see any real "stabilizing." If you nurse on cue, you can watch for 5-6 wet and 1-2 soiled diapers a day for reassurance and then skip the mental work of ounces/timing/etc. It requires a bit more faith, but overall much less work. Call your local La Leche League Leader for free and accurate help with this sot of question. You can find her at www.lll.org. Best wishes!

I have an almost 3 month old. He currently weighs about 13 pounds. He gets fed about 6 times a day including middle of the night (which I REALLY hope will soon be just 5 times a day!). The other day when my mom tended so my husband and I could get out on a date he took about 8 ounces of pumped milk in a bottle, granted that was his last feeding of the day. My best guess is that he usually takes about 6 ouncees per feeding (thats how much I can fairly easily pump if I pump at meal time). To be safe, I usually freeze my milk in 4-5 ounce portion and pull 2 of them out for times like that... thaw one at a time and only use the 2nd if needed.