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Eco-Friendly Family
Mother's Day, 2011
Organic formula help please
Okay, so now that I'm done crying and hating on myself, I need help. Mari was born 7 lbs 6 oz, lost more than a pound in the first three days, and is still at 6 lbs6oz and starting to show signs of dehydration in adition to jauntice. It's supplement time, and I'm too damn stubborn to give her more of the Similac samples that our pedi gave us.
So between Earth's Best, PediaSmart and Baby's Only (the 3 we can get easily and quickly), which should I have M buy, and if we're supposed to be giving her 1-2 oz 8x a day, will one container of powder get us through today or do we need 2?
Thanks so much and check the bat cave in about 5 minutes for a link to a few pics from Monday 
Mother's Day, 2011
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Organic formula help please
I have no suggestions...I only have hugs to offer, as well as support. That sounds a LOT like DD. We were able to stop supplementing pretty early once the jaundice was gone and she was gaining well. Especially considering the birth trauma you described, I wouldn't be surprised if your milk didn't take a while to come in fully. Will you be using a SNS system to supplement? Look into it if you can.
((hugs))
And I'm glad you're dine hating yourself. It happens, and you can work on BFing 100% after she's over the jaundice hump.
Aww, thank you!
And it's so good to hear that you can go from supplementing to EBFing... I was really afraid that it never happened, so thank you for that!
Mother's Day, 2011
It's totally possible, and kellymom has great info for when you reach that point. I know I cried A TON over the whole business and here I am 2.5 years later annoyed by how much she still nurses, LOL.
Bug,
Do you have LLL leaders you can call? You need as much support as you can get--don't hesitate to ask for it. I bet your milk just isn't in yet (it can take up to a week). Every nursing mom cries at some point--you just got it out of the way early, lol!
Once your milk comes in, you can pump after feedings to up your supply and supplement with that.
((hugs))
We also had to supplement in the beginning. E lost a bunch of weight and her bloodsugar was way low. She's EBF now.
Don't beat yourself up. It happens to the best of us.
I would opt for Baby's Only. I can't totally remember why but something about one of the ingredients makes it better. A LOT of women go from supplementing in the beginning to EBF. It is very, very possible.
Good luck mama. We all cry sometimes. I cried a lot. I didn't make it more than 2 hours without crying those first few weeks due to DS eating problems. He is 7 months old and still EBF. You can do it!
Do you have an SNS, Bug? I have a lot of friends who have had really great luck using one for supplementation in the beginning. It keeps baby on the boob while supplementing, which helps your milk come in & helps maintain your supply.
I don't know anything about organic formula but I thought I'd throw that out there. (((hugs))) mama! The beginning is some rough stuff. You'll get through it. Promise!
We use Baby's only now that my supply tanked at 8.5 months to practically nothing. My daughter likes it. I chose not to use Earth's best and parent's choice because of the type of sugar they have in them. My daughter transitioned well while supplementing and drinks it now just fine.
I had to supplement for a bit then EBF for 7 months then my supply just plummeted beyond repair. I would recommended baby's only to anyone and everyone.
Huge hugs. We also liked Baby's Only - I remember what pp must have read also - something was different (and better) than Earth's Best. But really... the way I figure, anything that doesn't have HFCS listed as one of the top ingredients is a good bet! (Granted, I ended up using Similac Sensitive after trying lots of other stuff because it was the only one that didn't upset ds' crazy sensitive stomach. So, I'm not one to judge about what formula is better... just that I wish I'd found an organic formula that worked.
DS had significant weight loss after birth as well. Our pedi's didn't make us supplement, but we had to go for wt checks like every other day. It took more than 2 weeks for him to gain back to his birth weight.
Crying, like everyone else said, is very normal. If you're not crying about one thing, it's another. But really... it's like any other job you've ever had in your life - there is a HUGE learning curve and you MUST cut yourself some slack. You already know what a careful and conscientious person you are - you can't be too hard on yourself right now - you'll do a great job!
I think I've missed some of what's going on and I have no formula suggestions but I want to add myself to another supplementor who went to ebfing. Noel was getting maybe a bottle a day for at least a couple of months but then he was ebf for another couple and mostly ebf with limited solids for a couple more. He nursed until he was 16 months. Try not to beat yourself up about it.
I think the key is to nurse nurse nurse even with the supplementing. Always offer breast first. This will minimize the drain on your supply and demand situation and help when you are ready to drop the supplementing.
And (((hugs)))
Check out this article- it reccommends Baby's Only, due to it having minimal soy protiens, etc.
https://alphamom.com/parenting/iso-soy-free-baby-formulas/
And Congrats on the baby!
Baby's Only is made from brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup like the others. It's what we use when we need to supplement.
Tales of the Wife
I second the suggestion of the SNS. We had to supplement in the beginning too - DD was born full term at a puny 5 lbs 14 oz and lost 9% of her weight in the hospital and my milk didn't come in until after we were home for a couple days. She definitely showed signs of dehydration to me and was crying all the time to be fed which was a lot of stress on me since I didn't get more than 6 hours of sleep total over the 3 nights we were in the hospital.
The SNS worked like a charm and once my milk came in, she was nursing like a champ.