Supplementing

babydawson

I have been supplementing formula since Beck was two weeks. He has been SO much happier and is growing at a healthy rate now. Last Friday when I went to the clinic to meet with the lactation consultant we weighed him, I fed him (for 40 minutes), and we weighed him again. He only gained one ounce! The LC said she didn't feel comfortable with me weaning him off the supplements yet. Then last night I was going to feed him right before he went down for his long night sleep but my breasts felt really soft. I had DH give him a little more formula than we normally supplement and I pumped just to see how much was in there. I got hardly any on one side (not even enough to cover the bottom of the bottle) and almost one ounce on the other side. I have been taking Fenugreek to increase my supply but it doesn't seem to be helping that I can tell. Sometimes I feel like my breasts are full but not always. He stays on each breast about 20 minutes and I can see milk when he pops off.

Has anyone else gone through this? Any suggestions? My LC is out of town for a week.

gervaisj6

I have been exclusively pumping since DD was born. I started supplementing more last week. I give her 4 oz of BM and 2 of formula in the morning, and the rest of the day, she gets 4 oz of BM, and 1 of formula... She eats more, and sleeps longer feeding every 2-3 hours was making me CRAZY. So now she eats more and sleeps in about 4-5 hour stretches. I always offer BM first then formula. The only thing I hate about formula, is it makes them poo like crazy, and I know it is because of the additives, and preservatives. How often are you pumping? I pump every 3-4 hours anywhere from 15-30 min. I pump till they are empty. My first pump of the morning, I usually get 6-8 ounces. The rest of the day 4-6 , and at night 2-5. I will tell you, REST helps uoy produce more milk. Naps, however you can get it. It helps de stress! I have oatmeal every morning-I hate it, but here is what I do to make it better...add butter, brown sugar, toasted pecans, and cinnamon... You can eat oatmeal cookies too! I drink 3 cups of mothers milk tea, I drink 32 oz of water every 3-4 hours, and limit caffiene to one cup of coffee a day. Kellymom.com is a good site. Sorry for the paragraph, and typos...I am on my phone.

gervaisj6

Oh, and I started supplementing to help build a stash...and my ultimate plan is to give DD all BMW.when I go back to work and formula at night.. If I give her formula at night...it knocks her butt out. I know they say that formula won't make your baby sleep more, but it makes my baby sleep more...oh And the oatmeal cookies, Earthfare has some nice organic oatmeal and chocolate one that are quite tasty...LOL

babyruth88

I wasnt having very much success. I had to exclusive pump due to dd bei g in nicu for the first 8days she got spoiled by a standard flow nipple etc. I just stopped pumping and began drying up. Today is day 4. Keep at it though lady. Alot of times i would think i was emptyand still keep pumping just for the time and i would end up getting another 1/2oz. It does get frustrating

livinreality

Remember your baby is more effective than a pump! Just because your breast are soft does not mean they are empty, they are just not engorged.  

Just keep up the good work and offer the breast as much as possible, even sucking w/o milk can help supply.  

livinreality

Also medela has some kind of supplementing kit where you put formula in a bag, put baby to breast and put a tube in the baby's mouth, it worked great for a friend. 

bellelamb

Are you pumping after each feeding?? If not your body thinks lo is getting enough it doesn't know you supplementing.  If you want to increase your supply you need to pump when ever you offer a bottle. Also your breasts should feel soft if they're hard your engorged which signals your body to make less.