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February 2015 Moms
rbw299
member
Breast and formula?
rbw299
member
Im a first time mom, and my son is three weeks old, will be 4 weeks old on Friday. I am exclusively breastfeeding, with a few attempts of bottle feeding my milk in which he took to the bottle without any problems. However, the breast feeding has become more of a hassle and stress inducer than "bonding time" and relaxing. I believe he has learned that my nipple is a pacifier and he falls asleep after just a few mins of feeding. It seems that's the Only way he will fall asleep. We have had Multiple little issues with breastfeeding and I would like to start introducing formula, while still pumping and giving breast milk. Does anyone have any ideas on to do incorporate both? Which formula is best? And how will son learn to fall asleep/feel satisfied after drinking from bottle?
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Re: Breast and formula?
I had that issue too where she was using me as a pacifier for the longest time, and would only sleep when I was feeding her. The trick to get past that is to keep your LO awake during the day by any means necessary, and block feed. If they get fussy and it's not time to eat, try a bottle of formula, or pumped milk. However, at 3 weeks old, it's time for baby's first growth spurt, so his hunger may be legitimate. But that doesn't mean you need to, or even can, breastfeed each time. Just be sure that whenever your hubby gives baby a bottle, that you pump. This ensures that your milk supply doesn't dry up and will give hubby plenty of supply to do the MOTN feedings so you can rest :-)
Regarding the frequency of feedings: Has your baby been evaluated for lip and tongue tie? Mine never seemed satisfied and his issue was he was an inefficient feeder because of those problems (other signs were that the soreness and bleeding, cracked and blistered nipples never went away, and he had blisters all over his lips).
Another tip I was told, for him falling asleep, was to strip him down to his diaper for feedings. It is inconvenient (because then you need to dress them after and get them to fall asleep) but it does seem to work!
As for falling asleep, your guess is as good as mine. For my little he only falls asleep in his front facing carrier while I go for a walk - or at night, while I pace the floor. We're not happy about this routine but it works. I'd start with swaddling and singing, move to rocking, if that doesn't work try an exercise ball, and on and on.
Good luck!
My baby girl is 7 weeks now and we had problems with her not gaining enough weight because she wasn't eating enough from my breast -- falling asleep during feedings. I feed on demand as well because scheduled feedings made her grumpy and she wouldn't eat very much when she wasn't hungry. The doctor told me to incorporate formula. At first she HATED it!! Would cry, make a disgusted face at the taste, but just last week my hubby fed her the bottle on her change table and she guzzled it down! So now I offer her both breasts when she cues me that she is hungry. She'll eat from both and then we put her on her back and offer her the bottle and she'll stay wide awake and eat 2oz or more every time. It is making her a very content and happy baby.
Hope this helps you!!
Do it now. I feed him formula before bed just so that I can get a few consecutive hours of sleep, then switch back to breast feeding when he wakes up. When he went in fit his one month check up he grew 2" and gained 1.6lbs. Made me feel better for all the tough work I had put in.