EBF using formula for babysitters?

l4rk

Hey Ladies,

My milk is well balanced with LO these days, but I'm starting to worry about my very measly freezer stash. I've only ever pumped recreationally, and only had 8 or so bags even in my pumping prime. But now I'm down to only 5 bags and lately I haven't been able to replace what gets used because LO eats much more than I can pump.

Does anyone have experience with using formula very sporadically, only while LO is with a babysitter? I'm talking maybe twice a month. Is this a thing?

grkgdss00

It's definitely a thing, and works just fine. As long as LO takes bottles well, you should be fine. I will say, my LO kind of gagged the first time we gave her formula - definitely not as tasty as BM, But took it from grandma just fine.

katiedid0907

I do! I maybe use it 3 times a week. So we actually have to throw it out before we finish the whole container. You may want to try to mix with bm at first to get lo used to it, but my son had no issues with it. It's also nice to get them used to formula for emergencies. 

ChrissyD1203

I do this too, but I also mix formula with her cereal so she actually gets a little each day (pumping has never worked out for me- so this is the only option).

l4rk

Thank you, @grkgdss00, @katiedid0907 and @ChrissyD1203!

erynashlee

I've had to leave my son for a week when he was six months &I Wasn't able to pump enough for him to last that week but fortunate for us we discovered the gerber gentle ready to use formula (it's with an orange background) and he loved it. With cereal mixed and just by itself. It says on there it's for supplementing and to be like breast milk. I won't lie, I tasted it because I wanted to know if it was all chalky like the other mills and this one is sweet like breast milk. If you could try this I definitely recommend it.