BF Moms who Supplement

Carrie3102 · July 2013

So, I had decided to do the whole BFing thing after all (which surprised me as it was NOT a good experiance with DD) I just didn't do it in the hospital, gave him formula there, then when my milk came in at home, I began nursing him.

So, here's the deal, he's up nearly hourly at night, so last night to get a "break" I gave him formula during the overnight, and nursed him for his first feeding at 8 am today. Then after he was finished I pumped as well, I got 4 oz! (that's a lot in one pump session for me). I will continue to nurse him every 2 hours today.

I'm no BFing expert, so I'm asking you ladies no one in my family BF, so I've got no resource and the LC at the hospital is a PITA and no help at all, should I not do this, how are you supplementing? Should I nurse every feeding anyway and then if he still seems hungry feed formula?

I currently nurse about every 2-3 hrs for 40-60 minutes (20-30 each side), I only give formula during the day if after 60 minutes he's still acting hungry, then I'll give one ounce of formula. At night when DH was off we did 2 nursing sessions and one formula feeding overnight, but now that he's back at work I had just been doing normal nursing sessions, but I was just exhausted after Sunday night, so that was why I did formula only last night (he eats that much faster and I get more sleep)

My nips just can't take more than 60 minutes nursing and neither can my sanity.

cwhitloc · July 2013

Why are you nursing for an hour? Is there a problem with the baby staying awake or latching? That seems exhausting. I would not supplement especially when they seem hungry. During growth spurts, babies tend to eat hourly at night when your supply is at it's best and sleep during the day. It's best not to supplement during that time since it's the baby's way of upping your supply. I check for growth spurt times and just try to sleep during the day to get prepared for the long night ahead. Good luck

Hilaboo86 · July 2013

I almost supplemented too. And i have given the occasional bottl, bot regularly. Honestly if you do give formula while doing that I'd pump. There have been a few times I didn't pump but most of the time I did. Also it gets easier! I'm rounding week 4 and I feel much better about it now. And my nips have finally stopped aching. Good luck! Also when she hit birth weight I am now feeding on demand, so that makes night time easier too.

Fitnessteach2010 · July 2013

My pedi said supplementing is fine. I had a c section so my milk was delayed. I had no choice but to supplement. Now, she only gets BM, but I'm not sure Ill be able to pump enough for daycare.

Carrie3102 · July 2013

I feed him per the instructions given to me. 20/side. If he seems especially hungry I feed him longer. I've never woke him to eat he's up on his own every two - three hours. No problems latching or anything. He has been falling asleep lately after 10 minutes but if I lay him down he's up five minutes latrr hungry still so I just ensure he EATS for 20-30 minutes each session

He's past his birth weight and my pedi says it's fine to supplement him with formula but I was looking for how those who do supplement did it.

bobcee · July 2013

I had to supplement at first with DD due to her losing weight from a poor latch, my supply being low and her falling asleep when I'd nurse her. Typically I'd nurse her first, then give her a bottle if she still seemed hungry. I would try pumping after a nursing session while DH gave her the bottle. I'd always get most from the pumping session in the morning. Once she got a hang of the latch and my supply increased we stopped supplementing though, so long term I'm not sure I'd have the stamina to nurse, bottle feed, and pump at once....

If you do supplement, I'd probably at least try to pump during those times to regulate supply to what your LO needs. If you plan on supplementing long term though this may not matter since you can just nurse or formula feed depending on whether you have the supply at the time or not.

Carrie3102 · July 2013

Thanks for the input ladies!

Carrie3102 · July 2013

Thanks ncchnat. That's pretty much what we've been doing but I'm going to have to stop giving him the pumped milk eventually so I can start building my stash for when I go back to work.

How long does Muppet generally nurse?

Jasmineeelizabeth · July 2013

The lactation consultant I saw said try to limit feeds to under 30 mins, and to make them as efficient as possible to save my nipples. An hour every time, and that often is an awful lot of nursing and then to supplement and pump sounds exhausting. Is there an issue with the latch? You could try breast compression during feeds to make sure your baby is getting more milk as well.

https://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8:breast-compression&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

Are you planning on long term supplementing if nursing gets easier?

missyjg · July 2013

ncchnat said:
Every time Muppet acts hungry, he gets the boobs first. Then once nursing is done, if he still acts hungry, I give him a bottle with whatever I pumped in the previous session and then a bottle with formula.

ETA: I've been supplementing since he was four days old and probably will until he is weaned. My supply sucks and nothing I've tried has made it any better.

This is pretty much our story too.

MrsWilson2013 · July 2013

First of all i skipped all the replys so i dont know if anyone has said anything like this but...

My LO is 4 weeks tomorrow and I exclusively pump and feed her about 2.75 oz of BM in bottles every 2-3 hours with the exception of her 11ish pm and 3ish am bottles, which I give her about 2.75-3.25 oz of formula. When she takes those bottles she goes 3-5 hours before she eats again, the MOST IMPORTANT thing is I still pump right after those two feedings because my supply would dwindle if I didn't.

As long as your LO is getting fed, that's the MOST important thing. Just make sure that you pump for the feedings your supplementing if you want your supply to be sufficient. Keep up the hard work mama, your doing right by your baby

NICU RN · July 2013

Nursing for an hour is too long. Baby should get most of what they are going to get within 30 min. My LC said limit feedings to 30 min and then supplement with expressed milk or formula after. If you skip feedings by not nursing at all it will hurt your supply.

Tammyhull82 · July 2013

i sup in the hospital befor my milk came in and she is about 2 weeks old now ans she had some formula today for the first time since the say she came home cause she is cluster feeding right now and i cant get enough milk out to fill her yet. but i pump so its seems easier for me. good luck

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