September 2015 Moms
Bellarose212
member
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Advice on how to wean from supplementing with formula?
Bellarose212
member
My baby boy is 4 weeks old. He was in the NICU with jaundice when he was first born and his doctor had us start him on formula. Once the jaundice was cleared, he had lost 10.5% of his weight and the doctor wanted us to continue supplementing with formula. Now he's gained 2 lbs over his birth weight and no longer needs to supplement. We only give him 3 bottles a day (1-2 ounces of formula after breastfeeding). However, I'm finding it very hard to stop because he seems to be fussy and still hungry after breastfeeding. I know my body will produce the same amount it did the day before. So if I gave him formula at 1pm yesterday, my body won't produce enough milk at 1pm tomorrow. So I find myself making the decision to try to only breastfeed and have a hungry, fussy baby, or just give him a bottle to calm him down, but be in the same situation tomorrow. I've always wanted to exclusively breastfeed and I wish we never got started with the formula. Anyone else in the same situation or have any advice on how to get him off formula supplementation?
Re: Advice on how to wean from supplementing with formula?
I hope that helps.
If your goal is to EBF, I would let him nurse as long and as often as he wants. Even just for comfort, it'll help boost your supply. And after each feeding (or as many feedings as you can) I'd pump. And then try all the usual suggestions to boost your supply: lots of water, Gatorade, oatmeal, power pumping, etc. Also I wouldn't go longer than 6 hours at night without BF- ing or pumping.
With my son he'd nurse for forever and then cry for the bottle. It was like he associated the bottle with mealtime, not nursing. So I talked to an LC and they suggested having him nurse for a few minutes, take a sip of the bottle and then nurse again to help him get the idea it was all the same.