Does BM and formula have the same # of calories??

flbeachcouple

LO needs more calories according to his pedi. He did not gain any weight this past month. Dr. suggested supplementing after each feeding w/ 1-2 oz of formula. However, I forgot to ask if I could just use my freezer stash. I am a SAHM and rarely use our frozen milk.

Jilybean17

As far as I know BM actually has more calories than formula. I don't see why you couldn't just use your freezer stash but would you be pumping after feedings too?

cristinamvila@hotmail.com

I saw your post and it really made me curious too. (I'm pg w/ my 2nd, I BF my 1st and will with this one too...) So I looked that up on Google and this is what I found: 

 https://www.parentingscience.com/calories-in-breast-milk.html

I hope it helps!  

Cristina 

Basic nutritional information

According to a British report, each 100 mL of mature breast milk (i.e., breast milk produced after 21 days of lactation) yields approximately? 70 calories? 89.97 g water? 7.4 g carbohydrates (primarily lactose)? 4.2 g fat? 1.3 g proteinThese are the averages of samples taken repeatedly over a 24-hour period (Department of Health and Social Security 1988).Within each breast, milk composition fluctuates during the day. For example, fat content may vary by as much as 2g/mL over 24 hours (Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences 1991). This causes significant variation in the calories in breast milk.To some degree, milk composition varies by diet as well. The numbers above reflect the average milk composition of British women. Analyses carried out on other populations?consuming different diets?may yield slightly different results. For instance, an analysis conducted in India produced an estimate of 3.4 g fat per 100mL (Gopalan et al 2000).But the greatest source of variation is found between individual women.Within a given population, individual women may range in milk fat content from 2g/mL to 5g/mL (Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences 1991).

Because fat constitutes the majority of calories in breast milk, this means that some women produce more calorie-dense milk than others. Moms producing fewer calories in breast milk will need to nurse their babies more frequently. 

deltagirl79

When we needed to start supplementing to bring DS weight up our pedi suggested starting with EBM. We didn't do forumla until my freezer stash was gone. If your pedi specifically said formula you may want to clarify, but I think you should be fine with the EBM.

Mama2MyBabies

can I suggest adding a scoop of formula to pumped BM in a bottle.

My LO is on special formula, but when he is allowed to have BM that is how we have to do it to make it high calorie. 

dusk42

Mama2MyBabies:

can I suggest adding a scoop of formula to pumped BM in a bottle.

My LO is on special formula, but when he is allowed to have BM that is how we have to do it to make it high calorie. 

Just check with your pedi about this.  Concentrated calories (like a higher ratio of formula to water) can be hard on the kidneys, and the amount of water taken in will be off. 

scottipino

Formula is designed to have the same calories as BM.  Both on average have 20 calories per ounce.  

Mama2MyBabies

I do this for my LO & it was started while he was in the hospital by the NICU. It is a very common practice for preterm babies as well as babies who have a hard time gaining weight. It is also used for babies who have medical issues & are in need of high calorie milk. It is so common that they actually have medical sheet to show you have to mix it the proper way.

Here is how to make NeoSure 24-27 calories for example, there is a sheet like this for every type of formula.

 https://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/FormulaCalorieIncreaseneosure.pdf

*To the OP: Contact a Pedi Nutritionist, they can normally be found at your local hospital up in the NICU. They can tell you what formula is best to mix with your brest milk. *