Returning to work-question for those who BF and FF

erin1205

As of right now, I EBF.  I will return to work in the beginning of July.  I've been pumping and get a pretty good amount when I do, but haven't been able to stock much up.  I am a nurse on a busy hospital floor, and I know when I get back to work, if I'm able to pump once a shift, I'll be lucky.  Knowing that, I'm sure my supply will start to go down a bit, and I anticipate that I am going to need to supplement with formula for DS.

My questions are, if you introduced formula to an exclusively breastfed baby, how did you do it?  How did you choose which formula to use?  DS tends to be gassy and I don't want to wreak havoc on what already seems to be a sensitive digestive system.  Should I introduce a small amount of formula now to kind of work his system up to it?

ETA:  I should add that I'm not concerned about the bottle factor as DS has been getting one of pumped milk occasionally from DH.

Starfish113

Right now we mix formula with BM. Sometimes she gets straight formula if I didn't pump enough. She doesn't seem to react any differently if she has mixed or straight formula. If he has a sensitive digestive system, you might want to try Similac Sensitive. We switched to that yesterday because she was pretty gassy. So, maybe try mixing at first, and then switch him over? He'll probably be fine either way!

erin1205

Good call with the mixing, thank you.  I'm thinking I'll start soon just to get him used to the taste.