Less is more

Feeding Aria has been an interesting ordeal over the last month. I mean it's probably only interesting to me, but I feel week have made finally some good progress.

Around the beginning of June, Aria's teacher's said that she was able to eat 4oz in each bottle, 4 times a day. It seemed like a lot, but I pushed hard to try to pump that much. Then, she got two viruses. She lost her appetite a few days for each but was back to nursing every 2 hours. When returning to pumping though, I noticed that I just couldn't keep up with the 16oz per day.

Over the last two weeks, I have been using up ever bit of frozen milk that I had to keep up with the 4oz/4 times per day. I'd also been using every trick in the book to boost milk supply. Extra pumping sessions, compression, etc.

At the same time as I struggled to keep up, Aria's teacher's were telling me that she was spitting up a lot. A lot means 3 out of 4 oz would come back out. What a waste. Here I am struggling and its all on her clothes! My first thought was that it was something I ate, which actually the least likely cause, but...I digress. In hind sight, I should have recognized it sooner, but basically her teachers were overfeeding here. The 4oz/4 times per day was just a temporary growth spurt and not a new level to maintain.

So, we told her teacher's to dial back each bottle to 3 oz and we went back to the newborn nipples (one size down). The result? Success! Not only was she completely satisfied with 10-12oz (something I can manage to produce in a normal day), she didn't spit up all over herself.

I think the teachers assumed that a kid is going to eat until full. However, I think Aria is a such an efficient feeder. She can quickly finish a few ounces but still needs to be held and have some sucking time. So, she sucks for non-hunger reasons.

The one positive side effect is that my milk supply is boosted a few ounces now. So, perhaps, I can restock a few packets in the freezer.