If you BF and switched to formula

Jamie718 · May 2014

Did you LO's go longer in between feedings? I'm ok with cluster feedings in the evening, but now they seem to be doing it all day. It's not just a growth spurt either, it's been going on for awhile. Sometimes they only go 30 min between feedings and I'm exhausted. I want to keep BF, but I'm not sure if I can stay sane if this goes on much longer. They were on a 3 hr schedule coming home from the hospital and that was totally doable, but I have a 3 yr old who I feel is getting neglected because I'm constantly feeding a baby

Also if you switched to formula, which one did you use? Baby B was in the NICU for 2 weeks and was on mostly formula, but now that I BF she throws up the formula when my DH tries to feed her at night, so I'm nervous to try to switch because they don't seem to like formula.

whitehousem · May 2014

I feel your pain. My boys are only 17 days old and I'm having a hard time keeping up with BFing, pumping, and bottle feeding (not to mention mastitis and raw nipples). They almost always want/need a supplement after BFing, so the process takes at least an hour. I have a 2yr old and I feel like I have zero time for her. We started formula in the evenings in order to stretch out feedings and get more sleep. We usually get a 4+ hour stretch. We use the generic for Enfamil gentalese... We used this as a supplement with DD and liked it. I'm trying to stick it out but the idea of just bottles and no pumping def is appealing at this point. I pumped for DD for four months and built a two month stash, but I just don't have the time for that this time. I want to enjoy my kids!!! Maybe you can give a supplement after BFing? Either breast milk or formula. I told myself I wouldn't beat myself up this time if it didn't work out, but it's been an emotional ride and I will def feel guilty giving it up. It's tough to figure out what's really best for your family. Good luck to you!

Jamie718 · May 2014

The hard part is they seem full when I'm done feeding, so I doubt they would take a bottle. We did that when we first brought them home, but they haven't done that for awhile. I told myself I wouldn't feel guilty either and I pretty much expected to BF for the first bit and then switch, but they seem to enjoy BF so much and the fact that they don't like formula makes it so hard. I'm not sure if I need to try a few different ones to see if I can find one they like or what. I just got off the phone with my friend that has twins and she used the generic for Enfamil gentlease as well so maybe I'll give that a try.

My girls are 6 weeks so I'm not sure if I stick it out just a bit longer if they'll start going longer between feedings, or if they're more likely to keep this up for a long time. I wish I had an idea of what they usually do because that would definitely influence my decision.

24karat · May 2014

We started out EBF, switched to supplementing with formula, and now are about to go FF only. Personally, I would consider waiting a bit if your desire is to primarily BF. It's tough with BF twins (even if you tandem) and I wouldn't rule out a growth spurt just yet. The spurts tend to happen every 2-3 weeks and at 6wks, it is pretty normal and 3 hour stretches are great. Formula won't really help them go longer between feeds since their stomachs can only hold so much.

What we did that helped is I would BF one baby and bottle feed (formula or pumped BM) the other at the same time. The next feeding I would alternate babies or tandem. That sped up the feedings so I had a little more time with my toddler. Sometimes I would pump and bottle feed both so DD and I could have time together. She liked helping feed them so it became our family time.