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Georgia Babies
KT&John
member
Article on 50/50 BF/FF
KT&John
member
Slw, this made me think of you. Also, ironically enough, after posting a few weeks ago about when to start dropping feedings my supply tanked again and this is pretty much what I am doing now. The idea of doing both boggled my mind..but it does work!
https://kckidsdoc.com/another-mommy-war-casualty-enough-is-enough.html
DD- 9
DS-6
c/p- April 2016
missed m/c- 6w5d; discovered 8w2d- September 2016
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Article on 50/50 BF/FF
Awesome article! I swear, combo feeding saved my sanity and I have no doubt that both of my kids still got all the benefits of BF- not 50% of the benefits- ALL. If I could have exclusively BF, I would have... for the cost savings alone. But it simply wasn't possible for me and I'm so glad my pedi (who was VERY pro-BF) told me that I could do both. I had no idea. I think so many people think that if you introduce formula, that's it... your milk will dry up in a week. NOT TRUE. I understand why LC's are so militant in the beginning to get that supply established, but I feel like they need to do a better job of educating women about combo feeding after that initial phase. I think overall, we would see more women BF for longer if they understood how it really works. Even my MIL who EBF all 3 of her kids wishes that she had been able to do what I have done. Her daughter is expecting her first right now, and she has basically told her to do what I did... she agrees that its the perfect balance. If anyone has questions, please feel free to ask away. I feel like I had the most perfect BF experience and I will gladly share details with anyone!
***Twin fraternal girls born at 35w6d in 12/2008***
This is what I did for the last few of months that I breastfed. I just couldn't pump enough to get him through the day.
We did this the last couple months, too. She usually had one or two formula bottles, plus one breastmilk, then BF morning and night.
Absolutely!
It has been SO MUCH easier for me to accept this as the best solution this time around. With, C, and working full time and not pumping enough I needed to start supplementing around 4.5 months. Like the article said, I felt defeated and by 6 months I gave up pumping the measly amount I was getting and fed formula..and I was happier and less stressed that way. Perspective is very helpful
DD- 9
DS-6
c/p- April 2016
missed m/c- 6w5d; discovered 8w2d- September 2016
This is gonna be long....
Obviously, I was more prepared to follow this path with Sophie since I had done it w/ Gavin. It was all trial and error w/ him. My milk took forever to come in (5 days) w/ both kids so they both had to be supplemented in the hospital. I was super strict about it though and used a syringe/tube to squeeze the formula into the corner of their mouth while they were at the breast. But once my milk came in I was mostly BF and we would top her off with a little formula from the bottle if she still seemed hungry. Gavin was a little different since he was in the NICU and had other issues.
For the first 2 mos, I would say that she was only getting 2-3 oz of formula a day- very minimal. Then, as I was preparing to go back to work, we started giving her a little more. Basically, I would nurse and then immediately offer 2 oz. Those little newborn Similac nursers were perfect- she used those until she was like 6 mos old- if I bought a big can of powder, it would go bad before I used it all. She usually only took 1 oz but it was just enough to know she was full.
Of course, you know I'm lucky that Sophie goes to daycare at my office so I usually just went downstairs to nurse instead of bothering w/ the pump. But my schedule could easily be adapted for pumpers. After I finished and took her back to her room, her teachers would offer her a small bottle to top her off. Around 5-6 mos, she was really getting into the daycare nap schedule so it was more important that I let them give her bottles on time instead of me coming at odd hours. So at that point we switched to offering her the bottle first and and I came twice a day for "snacks". Once we hit this routine, my sanity really came back in full force :-) It was so easy:
I nursed early in the morning before we left
bottle at daycare
nursed for mid-morning snack during my lunch break
bottle at daycare
nursed for mid-afternoon snack
bottle at daycare right before I picked her up
nursed at home before bed
The key is to make it through those first 6-8 weeks mostly BF to get your supply established, then adding a little formula to the mix won't mess with your supply too much at all- by that point, your body knows what to do :-) And the other thing is do not to stress about it. If you have pumped milk to give... great. If not, give formula. I found that my supply went up and stayed up as long as I wasn't counting ounces. When the pedi asked how much she was eating, I told them that we BF and supplement. I estimated the number of oz she was getting and all else was breastmilk. As long as she was gaining weight, they were satisfied.
Around 8 mos, she started self weaning. Gave up those snacks at daycare. She kept nursing morning and night and heck- she would nurse around the clock on the weekends. We just gave bottles in between if she seemed fussy. We kept going but she was slowly decreasing on her own- spacing out feedings a little at a time. And about 3 weeks ago (10.5 mos) she finally gave it up completely. She barely takes bottles now at all- she only wants solids. I'm going to keep up the formula for a while since she's so tiny. With Gavin I was already transitioning him to milk by this point.