Intro- new to FF

kz's_girlygirl · December 2014

Hi all- I am here from the Dec 14 board. I also mostly lurk on the PGAL/PAL/SAIF and Loss boards.

Our beautiful rainbow was born last Thursday, and we have been supplementing with formula since day 2 in the hospital. At discharge babe had lost 13% of her body weight and was hovering at 6 lbs 4 oz. Up until today I had been bfing on demand, then dh would supplement with 1-1.5 (sometimes 1.7) oz of formula from a syringe, and I would pump. Exhausting.

Because my supply is lower than she needs (I only pump about 1/4 oz combined after a feeding, and was only able to get about 1 oz combined when I pumped instead of a feeding while DH fed formula) we have been talking about making the switch to FF. The original plan was to try to increase supply until this coming Friday, but that plan changed today.

We've been lucky enough that DH was able to have the past week off, but today he had to be out of the house during a feeding time, and babe would not take the formula from me. She was flailing and tossing her head side to side, refusing to swallow anything. Of course that made me feel horrible because she was obviously hungry. After about 10 minutes of struggling, I just plopped myself in my chair, put her on the boob and waited. She is calm at the breast, and suckling, but not getting anything/enough so when I would try to burp her or switch sides she immediately fusses and starts rooting because she's still hungry. DH finally got home about 20 minutes later, and made a bottle which she took from me. I think she was just exhausted and starving so didn't care where it came from at that point.

DH goes back to work on Monday, and I just can't imagine having my baby hungry all day- so we are going to formula and I feel a lot of relief surrounding the choice. I won't be constantly stressing about how much she is or is not getting to eat, and feeding time won't be as much of a production/assembly line as it is now.

I do have milk, just not enough- any tips on how to dry things up etc.? Any tips in general for a formula newbie are welcome. I am so thankful this community exists, and look forward to contributing soon!

yodasmom · December 2014

First off all, welcome! The ladies here are awesome and I've learned a lot about formula from them, mostly from just lurking (creepy Internet hugs for all!).

It sounds like we went through a lot of the same issues. DS lost almost a pound (8 lbs 3 oz to 7 lbs 4 oz) in his first few days of life while I was trying to BF him. I cried the first few times I made bottles even though I knew it was what he needed. We started to supplement at 6 days old and made the switch to formula at 10 days old when I nursed him for an hour and he still took 2-3 ounces of formula afterwards. I never did try to pump--I wasn't able to get one until the day before I decided to EFF and I ended up taking one look at the instructions and stressing out over everything I'd have to do to keep it clean.

I used ice packs and Tylenol to help with the engorgement pain the first few days and sage tea to help dry things up (I just steeped a tablespoon of sage in hot water for a few minutes a few times a day). Other suggestions I've seen include cabbage leaves on the boobs.

My favorite tips for formula feeding are to pick up the Dr. Brown's pitcher and some sort of formula portioning containers (I like these even though I don't use that brand of bottle). I like the pitcher when DS is taking an odd number of ounces or for transitioning to a new formula and the containers to measure everything out for the diaper bag or to make things easier for DH while I'm at work.

lmimms87 · December 2014

Your story sounds almost exactly like mine, except that my supply was even lower than yours. We have used similac advanced since DD was 1 week old and haven't had any problems. My suggestion is to get some formula and stick with it for a week, if there are problems try a different kind. We tried enfamil for a bit and I noticed that it smells very different from similac, so I'm sure they taste different. As far as drying things up, since your supply is so low, just no stimulation, and pump as little as you can stand. Try not to do anything. You should probably wear breast pads until you do dry up.

Eta: good luck with formula!! It's been a godsend for us!!

kz's_girlygirl · December 2014

Thank you both! I am definitely feeling good about the choice to FF and DH is as well after seeing us struggle for the past week+.

We have been using Enfamil NB (thats what they gave us in the hospital) and it seems to be fine for LO. Once we use it up we will probably switch to a store brand as long as she tolerates it well.

I have a couple Joovy bottles which LO has done well with so far today so I think I'll pick up a few more as well as a formula pitcher ASAP!

Thanks again for the advice and support

KikiCohen · December 2014

I am so sorry for your struggles! I went through so much stress and exhaustion with trying to pump, supplement, etc. so I definitely understand. Life got instantly better when we switched to formula, so I hope it does for you too. As far as drying up, I just pumped less and less over the course of about a week. Basically cut out a session per day. Good luck!

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