Losing My Milk & Babe Won't take Formula!

Mommaleena

Hello Everyone! Just looking for a bit of advice. My baby boy is 11 months old now and about a month ago I started "trying" to supplement him with formula because my supply had significantly dropped. So many woman ask "Are you sure? A lot of woman think that it has when it really hasn't...bla bla bla". TRUST ME. I promise you all that it really has. I can't even pump an ounce out of BOTH breasts whereas before I could pump anywhere from 6-8oz out of EACH. Nursing has been extremely important to me so my diminishing supply has gotten me quite depressed. I've tried bringing my supply back up by taking fenugreek, pumping after feedings, etc. but nothing is working. Baby drains me in under 5 minutes and gets frustrated because he is still wanting more. So I've been trying to introduce formula and he won't take it. He hates it and I swear to God he hates me for trying to feed it to him. He's also suddenly become SOOOO possessive over my boobs. He constantly rips my shirts down and helps himself whenever he possibly can. I thought that him wanting to nurse off of me CONSTANTLY would have brought my supply back up but sadly it hasn't. I definitely don't think he's getting enough from me and that really concerns me. My doctor told me that it would be ok to start introducing whole milk so I've started doing that in hopes of him liking it more than the formula. He won't take that either! He takes a few little sips and then pushes it away and gets pissed off. I just don't know what to do anymore. I know he's not getting enough from me. He's currently drinking more juice than milk right now and he only gets a few ounces of juice/water in a day. The only reason I started giving him juice/water in the first place was because I knew that I wasn't producing enough fluids for him. Ugh...this is so exhausting. Does anybody have any advice for me?! 

harmonicbabe26

First of all - don't give baby juice. Juice should be treated as replacement for fruit, not as hydration. Use water for hydration.

As for transition to formula/whole milk, try mixing it with breast milk and see how thay goes. First an oz or so, and then slowly increase the ratio of non-BM as baby gets used to the taste.

Nrieskamp

Hi, First, congratulations on having breast fed so long, and having so much! I have struggled from the beginning with producing enough milk. At my max I only had 1.5 oz out of both. I struggled with finding an alternative also. Milk sharing did not work in my area, as there was too much demand. I found a goat milk recipe that she has been on since I took her off of the formula at a month as it gave her terrible vomiting, constipation and gas pain. Hannah has been on the following recipe since 1 month, supplementing my low supply: www.mtcapra.com/...goat-milk-infant-formula-changed-my-daughters-life It comes really close to the nutritional content of breast milk, and it doesn't taste bad like the formula. I tried it to see why she spit it out. Hope this helps. I live in Europe now, and it is really common to see goat milk formula here. I still make my own, but I use fresh milk when at home. Also, I don't recommend the molasses for the carbohydrates. The turbinado, coconut sugar, or brown rice syrup worked much better and don't make the milk brown, and have a lower glycemic index/more vitamins. Good luck with everything. Nicole