The Great Formula Feeding Thread

Csltdk · July 2014

My LC was a fucking idiot and couldn't comprehend that I had several blood transfusions and lost over 90% of my blood which threw my body out of whack and couldn't produce. All she kept saying was " try to keep her on the breast as long as possible"
Oh ok sure I'll just keep her on my breast while she screams from hunger pains, great idea.

BBColt78 · July 2014

I agree that they shouldn't just walk in. Our LC was a jerk and DH pretty much kicked her out.

@jennp1979‌ our pedi says to leave a good 1/2oz in the bottle to insure baby has had enough. So our dd takes 2.5 on average and we make the bottles 3oz.

tourqeyes · July 2014

ksspiff said:
For those using powder: 2oz water +scoop = more than 2 oz of mixed formula. Do you still count it as 2 oz? 2.2 oz? If you prep before hand and then fill bottles throughout the day, how do you measure?

To answer your question, fill the water up to where it is supposed to be and then do the formula.

Mrs.DeRuysscher · July 2014

We had to switch yesterday morning to formula as breastfeeding wasn't going to well. My milk came in and my boobs were instantly hard I believe because she wasn't getting enough milk. My milk supply is good im not sure if im going to pump and give her formula I may.

It broke my heart to how I feel give up, but it broke my heart every time we would fight to get her to eat. She would get upset and frustrated and pull herself away from the boob. We would spend so much time trying to get her to latch on for more than a minute.

She has been happy now and will drink a full 2oz bottle then fall fast asleep. We are using the avent bottles.

BBColt78 · July 2014

@Sgreen19‌ With DD #1 I was so stressed about my low supply... It took over my life. Took me months to get over switching to Formula. This new baby only gets formula, and a happy mommy.

TugboatSheila · July 2014

man, all these rude LCs are awful. We had a superb one and then the next day a not so great one.

I have been having a similar experience but the unhelpful tips have come from nursing mothers. When I expressed concern I kept getting "oh just eat oatmeal. you'll be fine" and my super helpful MIL's advice of "just keep the nipple in his mouth". OH, REALLY? THAT'S WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE? If 2 Lactation consultants with 20 years of experience under their belt can't get my son to suck milk out of my boobs then I'm not sure how just leaving my nipple in his mouth as he screams and flails is going to help anything.

Plus, mine are all drying up thanks to stupid Zyrtec. I guess I'm one of the people whose milk it affects

I too have felt the guilt of "giving up" on this, like PPs have mentioned. It's all I could think or talk about but I am getting to the point where I'm trying to get over that, because breastfeeding would be awesome but it's not happening with this pregnancy and there's nothing I can do about it so I should really stop being so weird about it. Plus, not having to pump every 2-3 hours might be a relief, considering the really low yield of milk I produce/d was more of a buzzkill than anything.

skr1619 · July 2014

So I'm kind of freaking out. LO has been very fussy for the past few days. He's become very hungry and eating every 1.5-2 hours and drinking 4 ounces each feeding. He's 4 weeks old. I've noticed a red ring around his anus a few days ago. I put triple paste on it and it seemed to go away but now it's back. And he's been acting so miserable while he's awake. He's eating a ton and if he doesn't fall asleep after eating, he cries and cries. Then I checked his poop yesterday. I thought he was done pooping so I went to clean him up. Well he kept pooping and when I looked at it, it had an almost oily film mixed with it.

I don't know if he's developing an allergy, intolerance, or sensitivity to the formula (enfamil gentlease) but it doesn't seem normal to me. I'm calling his pedi in the morning to let them know my concerns about this. Anyone else experience the same thing?

alyss0nl · July 2014

Hopefully it's nothing major @samounthak‌! DS2's poop looked a little different today, and he was so miserable while awake unless I was burping him. Turns out he's having major gas and burp issues. He's on the up and up gentle formula with gas drops. I'm considering putting him on soy formula, since DS1 also had a formula sensitivity/ milk allergy and drank soy. On that note, does anyone do the target subscription where they order online and save 5%? I'm seriously considering it for our essentials, like diapers and formula.

cookieinva · July 2014

@samounthak‌ is there any chance your LO was exposed to strep? It is unusual in babies, but the red ring caught my eye. DS had that and we thought it was diaper rash but it turned out to be strep. Apparently strep doesn't only like throats and a person can get rectal strep too, even from someone who has strep throat.

BBColt78 · July 2014

alysson.lawless said:
Hopefully it's nothing major @samounthak‌! DS2's poop looked a little different today, and he was so miserable while awake unless I was burping him. Turns out he's having major gas and burp issues. He's on the up and up gentle formula with gas drops. I'm considering putting him on soy formula, since DS1 also had a formula sensitivity/ milk allergy and drank soy.

On that note, does anyone do the target subscription where they order online and save 5%? I'm seriously considering it for our essentials, like diapers and formula.

I do that with Amazon. They give 20% for subscribe and save

alyss0nl · August 2014

BBColt78 said:

Hopefully it's nothing major @samounthak‌! DS2's poop looked a little different today, and he was so miserable while awake unless I was burping him. Turns out he's having major gas and burp issues. He's on the up and up gentle formula with gas drops. I'm considering putting him on soy formula, since DS1 also had a formula sensitivity/ milk allergy and drank soy. On that note, does anyone do the target subscription where they order online and save 5%? I'm seriously considering it for our essentials, like diapers and formula.
I do that with Amazon. They give 20% for subscribe and save

Thanks! I'm always gun shy about signing up for these things.

tourqeyes · August 2014

Sam, go get that checked out if it hasn't gotten better yet!

BBColt78 · August 2014

alysson.lawless said:

BBColt78 said:

alysson.lawless said:
Hopefully it's nothing major @samounthak‌! DS2's poop looked a little different today, and he was so miserable while awake unless I was burping him. Turns out he's having major gas and burp issues. He's on the up and up gentle formula with gas drops. I'm considering putting him on soy formula, since DS1 also had a formula sensitivity/ milk allergy and drank soy.

On that note, does anyone do the target subscription where they order online and save 5%? I'm seriously considering it for our essentials, like diapers and formula.

I do that with Amazon. They give 20% for subscribe and save

Thanks! I'm always gun shy about signing up for these things.
**********************
We literally order everything on amazon. If you order 5 things together in subscribe and save you get 20% off of all of them. Make sure to sign up for Amazin Mom. It's free and that's how you save the 20%.

I order paper towels, toilet paper, diapers, formula, shampoo and my makeup:)

Edit: pretty * addition

taylorjeanne84 · August 2014

Does anyone know if you are able to use the $5 formula checks or the coupons on amazon formula?

Also I have 4 or 5 Enfamil checks. Does anyone want to trade me for Similac?

Aab7114 · August 2014

@taylorjeanne84‌ I have similac checks I am not using. DS's stomach did not agree with similac unfortunately. We are currently using gerber gentle with better luck, so I wouldn't need the enfamil checks.

Does anyone know if gerber sends out checks or coupons?!

taylorjeanne84 · August 2014

Aab7114 said:
@taylorjeanne84‌ I have similac checks I am not using. DS's stomach did not agree with similac unfortunately. We are currently using gerber gentle with better luck, so I wouldn't need the enfamil checks.

Does anyone know if gerber sends out checks or coupons?!

Oh I definitely wouldn't want to take your checks without trading! Maybe someone has some Gerber for you. I haven't seen any Gerber coupons at all!

tourqeyes · August 2014

Aab7114 said:

@taylorjeanne84‌ I have similac checks I am not using. DS's stomach did not agree with similac unfortunately. We are currently using gerber gentle with better luck, so I wouldn't need the enfamil checks. Does anyone know if gerber sends out checks or coupons?!

Yeah, Gerber definitely does. Sign up on their website.

jessilst · August 2014

I thought about posting this in fffc but wasn't sure if it would really fit and figured it was bad enough that I'm a total rando posting.
All the posts I see about lo sleeping more than 3 hours at a time at night make me want to cry and seem to trigger my (self diagnosed) ppa. My son is 5 weeks today, formula fed, and sleeps in his swing at night and I still can't seem to get him to sleep more than 3 hours at a time (which of course means I'm not sleeping more than 3 hours). I don't know what I'm doing wrong and already have guilt that he's ff and in the swing (he doesn't last more than 30-45 min if he's in the crib).
I'm a STM and know that questioning yourself comes with the territory but I just can't shake the feeling that I'm screwing something big up.

Everyone that is able to get their lo to sleep well - please know that I am incredible jealous but would be shouting it from the rooftops if my son slept well! I'm sorry for the whiny post raining on your awesome parade. I hope no hard feelings.

jessilst · August 2014

And that posted under my old name. Yeesh.

middleschoolmommy · August 2014

Our pedi gave the green light to go from making 24cal neosure to just regular neosure (eta: because DS is almost 11lbs!). Eventually we will get to normal 20 cal formula and hopefully I can switch to a cheaper brand! I'm hoping this will help with some of his gas/constipation issues.

ghostof5letters · August 2014

star*eyed*bride said:

And that posted under my old name. Yeesh.

Can you and your SO work in shifts?

I go to to bed at 8:30-9pm and DH feeds the 11pm bottle. I do the 3am and 6/7am feedings. That way I've slept since 9pm so come 5 or 6am, I feel well rested.

jessilst · August 2014

ghostof5letters said:

star*eyed*bride said:

And that posted under my old name. Yeesh.

Can you and your SO work in shifts?

I go to to bed at 8:30-9pm and DH feeds the 11pm bottle. I do the 3am and 6/7am feedings. That way I've slept since 9pm so come 5 or 6am, I feel well rested.

My husband took a feeding last night - thanks! I didn't sleep through it but it was nice to get a break. I'm a sahm so I usually do all the night feedings during the week but he's going to take one on fri and sat nights at least.
Just keep telling myself this doesn't last forever. I was glad to see in other posts that I'm not the only one wishing away these first few months!

BBColt78 · August 2014

Am I self conscious about my decision to formula feed or do all of the Facebook posts and commercials about National Breastfeeding Awareness month bother anyone else?

alyss0nl · August 2014

BBColt78 said:

Am I self conscious about my decision to formula feed or do all of the Facebook posts and commercials about National Breastfeeding Awareness month bother anyone else?

I've noticed them, but I just keep scrolling. I have a couple formula feeding support pages on Facebook. The one I really like is the fearless formula feeder. I feel like since this is my second kid, I'm more than okay with how I feed my baby, that I don't need to justify my actions. Took awhile to get there.

glitterclaws · August 2014

ghostof5letters said:

star*eyed*bride said:

And that posted under my old name. Yeesh.

Can you and your SO work in shifts?

I go to to bed at 8:30-9pm and DH feeds the 11pm bottle. I do the 3am and 6/7am feedings. That way I've slept since 9pm so come 5 or 6am, I feel well rested.

This is totally what goes on in our house too. I'm SAH for a bit, but DH is up later anyways, so him taking over the 10pm feeding was nbd.

Just because you are SAH doesn't mean your H can't help out.

jessilst · August 2014

csmith0085 said:

ghostof5letters said:

star*eyed*bride said:

And that posted under my old name. Yeesh.

Can you and your SO work in shifts?

I go to to bed at 8:30-9pm and DH feeds the 11pm bottle. I do the 3am and 6/7am feedings. That way I've slept since 9pm so come 5 or 6am, I feel well rested.

This is totally what goes on in our house too. I'm SAH for a bit, but DH is up later anyways, so him taking over the 10pm feeding was nbd.

Just because you are SAH doesn't mean your H can't help out.

He offers but I wind up feeling too guilty to take him up on it. I need to get over that. It's hard for me to just relax and rest.

emy730 · August 2014

BBColt78 said:
Am I self conscious about my decision to formula feed or do all of the Facebook posts and commercials about National Breastfeeding Awareness month bother anyone else?

Yes, they bother me too. They just feel judgmental to me. I need to just get over it. My baby is being fed. She's healthy and happy. End of story.

emy730 · August 2014

I know this has been asked before, but how old are you LOs, how much do they weigh, how much are they eating and how often? I always worry I'm feeding DD too much or too little.

DD is 16 days old, weighs right around 8 pounds and she eats anywhere from 2.5-3.5 oz. every 3-5 hours.

Does that seem normal? I wish there was more guidance out there about this!

skr1619 · August 2014

@emy730 My DS ate the same quantity as your daughter at 2 weeks and he was 8 pounds 6 oz at his 2 week check up. Now he can down a 4 oz bottle like a champ and he's 1 month. I worry that we feed him too much sometimes but he actually spits out the bottle when he's full

ksspiff · August 2014

Bumping mobile:
I keep hearing/reading that 2.5 oz per pound if body weight a day is around the amount of formula a baby should be getting. Here is one source website:
https://www.babycenter.com/0_how-to-tell-how-much-formula-your-baby-needs_9136.bc

I have a 1 month old and he takes 3-4 ounces a feeding, 7-8 times a day.

alyss0nl · August 2014

DS2 is 1 month old and eats 3-4 oz every 2.5-3 hours. Sometimes he will want more, in which case I'll give him an extra 2oz. That usually happens during his first feeding in the morning.

glitterclaws · August 2014

Is everyone tracking feedings? I have been, and now I'm wondering if I really need to be. Is it important to track? If baby is acting normal, having wet and dirty diapers, is it important to know how much he's taking in?

I'm just tired and cranky. And trying to get out of doing any additional work.

ksspiff · August 2014

I have an app I use to track feedings. It makes it easy to check when the next feeding should be, and all the extra data is a bonus for my worrying. I'm going to graph feeding times to see if a schedule is developing, which will make me feel more in control.

emy730 · August 2014

@csmith0085‌ I use the Baby Connect app on my phone and it has made our lives much easier. We can track all kinds of things, but so far we just use it to track her diapers and her bottles. It was $4.99, but worth every cent.

alyss0nl · August 2014

ksspiff said:

I have an app I use to track feedings. It makes it easy to check when the next feeding should be, and all the extra data is a bonus for my worrying. I'm going to graph feeding times to see if a schedule is developing, which will make me feel more in control.

What app do you use? I like data and want to see if a schedule is forming.

glitterclaws · August 2014

This just happened to us too! Thought the formula looked light so we opened the brezza and it was all clogged. Pic below.

We aren't giving up yet. Going to take it apart between cans. We had topped it off with a total of 3 cans of formula. I'm thinking the lead mechanic on the brezza (DH) may not have let it dry before assembling and that may be the culprit.

ksspiff · August 2014

alysson.lawless said:

What app do you use? I like data and want to see if a schedule is forming.

'Baby nursing' on iPhone. It was free and you can export the data in CSV format for spreadsheet manipulation.

ghostof5letters · August 2014

star*eyed*bride said:

star*eyed*bride said:

And that posted under my old name. Yeesh.

Can you and your SO work in shifts?

I go to to bed at 8:30-9pm and DH feeds the 11pm bottle. I do the 3am and 6/7am feedings. That way I've slept since 9pm so come 5 or 6am, I feel well rested.
This is totally what goes on in our house too. I'm SAH for a bit, but DH is up later anyways, so him taking over the 10pm feeding was nbd. Just because you are SAH doesn't mean your H can't help out.
He offers but I wind up feeling too guilty to take him up on it. I need to get over that. It's hard for me to just relax and rest.

There are no extra medals for being a do it all martyr. You need to take care of yourself too.

lindslalala · August 2014

I think I am ready to join you ladies. I hated BFing my oldest, and while things are going better with DD I still hate it. It is not a bonding experience for me, it's painful most of the time. DH is supportive of me stopping since he'd be able to help more at nights and we both know our oldest thrived on formula.

And selfishly, I want my body back to being just mine. I hate leaving the house because figuring out what to wear is a challenge. I stuck it out for 5 miserable weeks with my oldest and I don't want to put myself through that again.I'm taking DD to her doctor for a weigh in tomorrow and will talk it over then. I guess I'm just feeling emotional over the whole thing and needed some place to let it out, so thanks

MrsCrouch90 · August 2014

Well I am officially joining the FF group! DS was BFing for the first 2 weeks with no issue and was gaining a ton of weight. Then he started getting bad gas and gas pains, the dr said to avoid dairy and foods that make me gassy. Nothing changed. I then started supplementing with gentlease, which helped his grassiness. I started noticing he was still hungry after feeding on the boob for an hour (holy ouch), so I tried pumping. Not only was I barely producing anything (like 1-2oz combined) he also didn't want it. The sweet taste of formula won him over.

So here we are. He's a chunk. He'll be 3 weeks Tuesday and he eats 4-6oz every 2-3 hours. 4 hours if were lucky.

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