Formula or breast milk

Roses87 · February 2014

Just curious. Now that LO is here what is working for everyone. I know we did this before LOs came, but now that LO is here and breast feeding is hard and doesn't work out for everyone. I am curious to how our results compare. Let me know if I missed options.

mrspharmd · February 2014

Yesterday we made the decision to switch completely to formula. One of the hardest decisions ever. Never realized how special breastfeeding would be, and am jealous of those who are able to do so.

cnctf · February 2014

I've been having latching issues with DD so I would pump and supplement with formula. The past two days, she has been latching on and we're getting better at it, so it's been breast milk from my breast, but I did give her breast milk from a bottle last night cause she still seemed hungry. My ideal situation would be strictly breast milk from the breast.

CeeJC121013 · February 2014

Strictly BM via breast for now, but I do have some pumped BM stored. Just haven't started incorporating bottle feeds yet. Thanks to the bump I am ordering some breast flow bottles for when we do!

ScarlettDahlia · February 2014

pashon432 said:
Strictly BM via breast for now, but I do have some pumped BM stored. Just haven't started incorporating bottle feeds yet. Thanks to the bump I am ordering some breast flow bottles for when we do!

ditto! I go back to work next Wednesday and he'll be getting bottled BM during the day then

casholmes · February 2014

Breast milk, but I have a couple of bottles of ready-made formula in case I need it.

SunflowersBride · February 2014

I'm exclusively nursing via the breast. My nipples are cracked and super sore, but DS is gaining weight and doing really well, and I have an appointment with a Lactation Consultant tomorrow morning to hopefully fix his latch and help my nips heal quickly. I will start pumping in a couple of weeks and introducing one bottle a day to begin to prepare for going back to work in mid-April.

ksonne · February 2014

EBF for now with pumped milk when I return to work in April. I will not hesitate to give formula if and when I need to.

peanutmuse · February 2014

What's the difference between options 1 and 3?

I picked 1. We were supplementing because my milk didn't come in until day 6. But on day 8, we switched to EBF. And now we're doing 1 bottle a day of pumped breast milk. He's doing really well and sleeping for stretches of 4-4.5 hrs at night, so we're happy with our situation.

melissandow · February 2014

Only formula here. Not my choice. DS wa in NICU for 26 days and I was pumping and they were topping up his formula with my BM. Due to some digestive issues and feeding issues, he is only on formula now. He latches fine to the breast so it's a shame he can't breastfeed. He is a really poor eater and needs a lot of encouragement at each feed.

ScarlettDahlia · February 2014

@peanutmuse I think one is EPing

eta option 1

waterlily2k2 · February 2014

EFF. He never seemed satisfied when nursing on my breast, and I was a slave to my pump (a not-so-good single electric

). So it just wasn't working out for us. I'm pretty bummed about it actually. BFing is so special (and free), and I really wanted to be able to do it.

Sweetiejules12 · February 2014

My milk never came in. I only can pump 1 oz btw breast so she nurses at the breast, I pump while SO gives previous pumped breast milk or formula. She can drink 2 1/2 oz so I can never just give ebm. I am attached to the pump and living these repeated steps. So I think soon it will just be formula. I ordered an Sns system so at least I can still have her at the breast while supplementing. I am also trying more mothers milk tincture but am accepting the fact that having a heathy happy baby is more important then the struggle of breastfeeding.

heathern618 · February 2014

Right now, breast feeding via breast and bottle and supplementing with formula... But strongly thinking about switching to 100% formula. I'm scared I'm not producing enough but for now, little breast milk is better than no milk.

HeartOverMind · February 2014

We are ebf; I mostly nurse dd, and dh will give her a bottle every once in a while.

sehudson821 · February 2014

We are supplementing with a bit of formula because LO wasn't gaining weight like the pedi wanted. He doesn't seem quite as satisfied as he used to after nursing, so I am debating making the switch to EFF. Going to give my body a few more days though and see if my production will pick up.

CopperT0p · February 2014

We just nurse right now, I haven't located my pump yet. With DS1 I didn't start adding in some pumping sessions after nursing sessions until he was about 6-7 months old.

jwp325 · February 2014

DD takes the breast and gets either formula or breastmilk through an SNS. I pump after most feeds but it takes me three to four pumping sessions to get the two ounces for her supplement. I wish I could EBF but not sure it will happen. I plan to take advantage of my long leave and keep going with this through six months. Once I go back to work in mid August, I'll try pumping at work and breastfeed in am and at night. She'll get either formula or expressed milk while she's at MIL's during the day.

lmills730 · February 2014

We are EBF from the breast right now. I go back to work in approx 10.5-11 weeks and will begin to pump to build up a supply and get DS used to a bottle sometime in the next couple weeks.

Chelsea33833 · February 2014

Is there any reason that pumping and giving bm through a bottle exclusively is a bad thing? His latch wasn't great and caused some damage the first week so we got used to pumping and giving bottles instead. His latch is better now but I feel like he isn't getting enough. I feel better giving him a bottle because at least then I can see how much he is eating.

cnctf · February 2014

For the ladies who bottle feed, which bottles are level nipples are you using and How long does it take for your l/o to finish a bottle using that bottle?

peanutmuse · February 2014

ScarlettDahlia said:
@peanutmuse I think one is EPing

eta option 1

That makes sense. I didn't read it that way at first, but I see it now.

....But then why wouldn't it just say EPing, or even Exclusively Pumping? That's a lot fewer words.

So I guess I have to switch to option 3.

SandFHasse · February 2014

We were BFing and supplementing with formula, but while they were giving me my antibiotics I realized he wasn't latching as well or just wouldn't take it. He will sometimes take the right, but I can't get him to take the left. We are debating switching all the way to formula since he hasn't been latching.

r0zz · February 2014

Was exclusively BF the first two weeks until I got hospitalized and didn't have any milk stored at home so bb girl has been on formula since.

mrsjenni · February 2014

EBF from the breast right now. We'll see how it goes. I'm putting zero pressure on myself this time. If EBF becomes too difficult while chasing 3 other kids, I'm switching to formula.

thelittlepear · February 2014

I had planned on EBF, but with major supply issues, we are supplementing every feed with formula. Currently we're still trying to get my supply up, so we SNS every feed, but we may have to give it up soon. We started Domperidone this weekend, and are meeting with a LC on Tuesday. Fingers crossed that we come up with a solution.
I'm really struggling with the disappointment of not being able to feed her. It feels like just another way my body is letting me down in this whole process. That said, I know that her being healthy is what's most important. It's just adjusting my expectations again!
I've been so glad that no one here is super judgemental of those of us who are formula users. My Mom gave me this entire "breast is best" talk the other day, and then seemed confused when I was upset. Sigh.

sugarland726 · February 2014

Feeding from the breast with one bottle of breast milk a day. Will incorporate and/or switch to formula when I go back to work next month.

OSUWifey09 · February 2014

At first, I was trying to EBF, but I just about gave up due to latching issues. So for the first two weeks, I was doing more of the pumping/supplementing thing. I saw an LC to help with her latch and was able to EBF after that; been doing that for about 1.5 weeks now, and it's working well. I'll have to add pumping sessions soon to see if we can keep using breastmilk after I go back to work in six weeks, but I'm going to wait until after this growth spurt to start that.

ashybear · February 2014

At the breast right now. He'll be 4 weeks this week and I'd like to start introducing a bottle of expressed milk every once in awhile, so DH and others can help, so I've started pumping once a day to build up a stash.

wifetomrb101 · February 2014

Breastmilk via breast except one feeding per day she gets formula to try get her liking a bottle. DD1 never took a bottle once she was latching and that really limited where I could leave her if I was going out alone (SAHM, worked one hour a week). So we're trying really hard to get DD2 to like the bottle.

peanutmuse · February 2014

Chelsea33833 said:

Is there any reason that pumping and giving bm through a bottle exclusively is a bad thing? His latch wasn't great and caused some damage the first week so we got used to pumping and giving bottles instead. His latch is better now but I feel like he isn't getting enough. I feel better giving him a bottle because at least then I can see how much he is eating.

@Chelsea33833, there was no judgment in any of the options listed. Maybe you are reading more into it than what is there?

SunflowersBride · February 2014

It seems like there are a lot of people concerned about supply and/or how many ounces baby is eating. I really could care less how other people feed their babies, but if baby is gaining weight well and having lots of wet and dirty diapers, why is there still concern over whether they are getting enough milk?

LittleMommaBlueHen · February 2014

Currently EBF via breast, but if eliminating dairy doesn't work and DS2 is continuing to have crazy GI issues the way his sister did then he'll switch to medical formula.

jwp325 · February 2014

@mrsjenni I love your attitude and reading your blog post about your son ad why you switched to eff have helped me a lot in the last few weeks. The concept of not putting pressure on one's self is an important one in this situation I think.

Eta: I can't spell.

LittleMommaBlueHen · February 2014

Hillarycwkelly said:

We are EFF because my medications are secreted through breast milk. I dealt with a lot of guilt at first for deciding not to BF, but seeing how many women are struggling and frustrated, I am actually kind of relieved. There is no stress to feeding my son and my husband gets to help.And it's the healthiest decision for me and the baby. DS has a hearty appetite and sleeps 4-5 hr stretches at night. I'm happy with my decision, and fully support everyone else's - no matter what it is!

I am glad to see you've found the fearless formula feeder. It was such a help to me when i needed to switch DD to medical formula.

bananas1112 · February 2014

i was EBF in the hospital but my munchkin is a muncher - she would cluster feed every hour from midnight on and my sore nipples took a downturn. I got lucky enough that the lactation consultant gave me a manual pump until my electric one comes in and some gel nipple pads to get me through but it wasn't enough. DH hadn't seen DD's nighttime madness in action at the hospital and he couldn't handle her and me (this was day 5 without too much sleep). I had a hard time getting anything pumped at that point too so we caved and did 2 feedings with an emergency can of formula I had on hand and I got in the shower with the pump and was finally able to express milk.

At this point, I am alternating between pumping with the manual pump and nursing with a nipple shield. My electric pump is somewhere in the postal system and could come any day but if it doesn't come soon I'll have some intense forearms. It also looks like I robbed a medela distributor around here because I picked up so many random BF items ( BRU has a buy one get one 40% off medela BF accessories)

Lena122 · February 2014

I really struggled with BFing my DS for a variety of reasons and switched to EFF when he was about 3 weeks old. I had a LOT of mommy guilt over it. Thankfully, DD was able to latch right away and although I've had a lot of nipple pain EBF is going really well for us. I just hope we can keep it up when I go back to work because I work 12 hour rotating shifts.

MissMeegs · February 2014

We are almost EFF at this point. He still BFs once or twice a day for comfort and bonding, and I enjoy it so much it truly bums me out that my milk never came in--I think he must get a little out of it or else I don't think he'd latch on so eagerly (and perfectly too, figures), but I never have a let down and have never been able to pump more than a few sad droplets.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who had the issue of milk never arriving, it was pretty devastating. My OB says it probably is due to my PCOS. One more way the condition has screwed me over. Sigh.

BShreeve · February 2014

aneubecker said:
Yesterday we made the decision to switch completely to formula. One of the hardest decisions ever. Never realized how special breastfeeding would be, and am jealous of those who are able to do so.

Ditto.

xanadu94 · February 2014

bananas1112 said:

i was EBF in the hospital but my munchkin is a muncher - she would cluster feed every hour from midnight on and my sore nipples took a downturn. I got lucky enough that the lactation consultant gave me a manual pump until my electric one comes in and some gel nipple pads to get me through but it wasn't enough. DH hadn't seen DD's nighttime madness in action at the hospital and he couldn't handle her and me (this was day 5 without too much sleep). I had a hard time getting anything pumped at that point too so we caved and did 2 feedings with an emergency can of formula I had on hand and I got in the shower with the pump and was finally able to express milk.

At this point, I am alternating between pumping with the manual pump and nursing with a nipple shield. My electric pump is somewhere in the postal system and could come any day but if it doesn't come soon I'll have some intense forearms. It also looks like I robbed a medela distributor around here because I picked up so many random BF items ( BRU has a buy one get one 40% off medela BF accessories)

I could have written the entire first paragraph word-for-word. Exactly what happened to me. I have taken to exclusively pumping now; my milk came in yesterday!! At least until my nipples heal from my muncher and I work up the courage to try again.

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