July 2011 Moms

use formula & breastmilk?

I'm planning on BF but also incorporating some formula since the beginning also to get her use to it, etc. Anyone else doing this or have done it? does it usually work well with the baby?
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Re: use formula & breastmilk?

  • I do this.  It is really because I have to though.  Gabe requires 2 bottles a day of a 22calorie formula. 

    Honestly, I'd worry about your supply if you were supplementing with formula, especially at first.  Unless you are planning on pumping when your H is giving a formula bottle.  Feeding (or pumping) 8-10 times a day for the first 6 weeks I was told to do.  Even now I pump 7-9 times a day. 

     Supplementing isn't  a bad thing, I just would encourage you to pump while supplementing so you get a good supply established.

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  • imagekatie4253:

    Honestly, I'd worry about your supply if you were supplementing with formula, especially at first.  Unless you are planning on pumping when your H is giving a formula bottle.  Feeding (or pumping) 8-10 times a day for the first 6 weeks I was told to do.  Even now I pump 7-9 times a day. 

    This! I had to start giving formula because LO was under the billi lights, he's 3 weeks old now and my supply is low because of it and we have to supplement.  

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  • There's no need to get her used to it.  When the time comes to wean from the breast,  you can do so smoothly and gradually.  What's most important at the start is establishing your supply by exclusively BFing for at least 6 weeks, hopefully longer.  If you pump and let DH give LO a bottle, you have to pump at that feeding anyway to not risk your supply dropping.  Remember that your BBs make as much milk as they think you need, so if you give formula but don't pump, your girls are going to think you don't need the milk and stop making it. 
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  • Ditto what Katie said.  I don't think you necessarily have to worry about getting baby used to formula, just a bottle, if that is the route you want to go.  In that case, pump and have DH feed an expressed bottle.  Either way, each time baby gets a bottle (be it formula or breast milk) you will need to pump so your supply doesn't take a hit.  Its so easy for your supply to get off track in the beginning and hard work getting it back up to par.  
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  • I did this with my ds.  They actually encouraged me to at the hospital until my milk supply was up.  My ds was 8'13 and a big eater from the start, so it helped keep him satisfied. 
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  • imageAmya:
    I did this with my ds.  They actually encouraged me to at the hospital until my milk supply was up.  My ds was 8'13 and a big eater from the start, so it helped keep him satisfied. 

    Newborns stomach size is the size of a shooter marble.  The colostrum is enough for them, regardless of the size of the baby.  Lots of doctors and nurses are not educated on this.  A lactation consultant would have told you a different story.

    I loved the nurses at the hospital (I was there for a long time), but there were several nurses who kept saying, "oh, you must be hungry" or I'd overhear them talking (in an annoyed way) about how the mom wouldn't let the baby be supplemented.  It was clear they didn't really know what they were talking about.  

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  • We did this w/ DD1, but not intentionally. She was a preemie, and since my milk hadn't come in, they immediately gave her a bottle and formula to get her to gain weight. I was perfectly fine with this b/c her health and weight were a big reason for her NICU stay, so whatever was best. I pumped and we gave her that then I was able to start breastfeeding when she was a few days old. She never learned to latch, so we had to use a nipple shield, which decreased my supply, but we just supplemented with the formula. I breastfed her for 4 months before switching completely to formula and have no issues that it's the way we had to go. I'm am trying EBF DD2. 
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  • I did this with DS.  No problems whatsoever.  I mostly gave him expressed milk during the day and formula before bed and in the middle of the night.  Also if I was out where I couldn't warm up the milk, I would give him formula. 
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  • I did it with my last baby. I wasn't producing enough milk and he liked to eat a lot a bedtime, so I would nurse him then give him a little extra with formula. It filled him up and he started sleeping through the night (5-6 hrs) at 8 weeks old. It also helped later if we were places I didn't feel comfortable nursing in. Then I could just make him a formula bottle. He did great with both.
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