Community› The Bump Message Boards› Babies: 0 - 3 Months
Babies: 0 - 3 Months
New Discussion

Supplementing

purplegem11purplegem11 member
in Babies: 0 - 3 Months
Is anyone supplementing with formula? I seem to be breastfeeding on demand and LO is still hungry. If you are how much are you doing and how often? Did your supply ever come in where it was enough?
[url=http://www.thebump.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=UBB&utm_campaign=tickers][img]http://global.thebump.com/tickers/tt18db8f.aspx[/img][/url]
Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
Report Reply to Post

Re: Supplementing

  • bobobbobob member

    We started supplementing at 3 weeks b/c she was always hungry after; we were worried about nipple confusion and such, but didn't have a problem.

    The doctor told us to start limiting bf time to 15 mins per side to try to train her to suck better/faster (sometimes she'd be at the breast for over 40 mins a side!) then supplement with formula or bm. And to pump after bf, which should help bring in more supply.

    I thought this would take too much time, but actually limiting her then pumping ended up being more efficient for us. I try to give her bm as much as possible, but realistically, she gets 2-4 4oz bottles of formula a day, depending on my supply. This also helps keep them fuller longer, so less feedings.

    My supply is still on the low side, but this has helped; this last week, there were several feedings where she didn't need supplement.

    Report Reply
  • anonsouthernbellanonsouthernbell member
    imagebobob:

    We started supplementing at 3 weeks b/c she was always hungry after; we were worried about nipple confusion and such, but didn't have a problem.

    The doctor told us to start limiting bf time to 15 mins per side to try to train her to suck better/faster (sometimes she'd be at the breast for over 40 mins a side!) then supplement with formula or bm. And to pump after bf, which should help bring in more supply.

    I thought this would take too much time, but actually limiting her then pumping ended up being more efficient for us. I try to give her bm as much as possible, but realistically, she gets 2-4 4oz bottles of formula a day, depending on my supply. This also helps keep them fuller longer, so less feedings.

    My supply is still on the low side, but this has helped; this last week, there were several feedings where she didn't need supplement.

    that is extremely bad advice your pedi have...all that will do is to tell your  body to make less milk...babies naturally become more efficient around 2-3 months.

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • anonsouthernbellanonsouthernbell member
    In the beg bf babies will seem like they are constantly eating.  This is a great thing as there are numerous gs and it helps establish your supply.  Instead of keeping track of how much your LO has been bfing look at his/her diaper output.  How many wet dipes? How many bms?  (Right now our baby is helping your body to "create" prolactin receptors.  This is what your body will use to produce milk for the entirety of your bfing relationship w this child).  There is a great bfing board on llli.org s website.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
    Report Reply
  • lexmtownlexmtown
    When DS acts like he is still hungry after nursing for more than an hour then I give him a supplemental bottle of formula (2 oz).  He only seems to need this every other day or so.  I didn't do that until he was 3 weeks though and I have been pumping in addition.  Today I gave him a supplemental bottle of 2 oz (he only drank 1), but I pumped 4.5 oz throughout the day.  So make sure you pump if you do supplement.  
    <a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="D
    Report Reply
  • jill_aitoro7jill_aitoro7
    I nurse and supplement as needed to satisfy, but with the knowledge that it will indeed deplete my supply and lead to me transitioning to formula exclusively pretty early. I had a terrible time nursing with my first, so this was my compromise. As long as I have anything to give I will, but when I can't anymore I'm okay with that. But if you want to nurse long term, try to keep it to a minimum and pump to compensate.
    Report Reply
  • bobobbobob member

    "that is extremely bad advice your pedi have"

    That's just one pedi's opinion; I don't think it was "extremely bad advice". She is a medical doctor after all.

    It seemed to work for us, but every person/baby is different. My supply has actually gone up. If you pump afterwards, the body will still make more milk; maybe not as much as baby's suck, but it'll still help. It just didn't work for me to feed for over an hour and still have a hungry (and exhausted; sucking takes energy) baby.

     

    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"