Giving formula when not available to BF?

[puddinpie]

Hi everyone, long time lurker first time poster :laughing:.

I'm a new mum with a 14 week old DS. He is exclusively BF and has never had formula but has no issues taking EBM from a bottle on the rare occasion that I've tried it.

If leaving baby for an extended period of time, does anyone who exclusively breastfeeds ever give their bub formula if ebm is not available?

I struggle to get more than 50-60ml when expressing and find that I get significantly less than that at any time of the day other than first thing in the morning. So it's only really practical for me to express once a day, meaning that it takes me four days to express enough milk for one feed if I need to leave DS.

This means a hell of a lot of planning and advance notice is needed if I want to leave DS for longer than a couple of hours. I like to leave enough for an extra feed than what I'll think he'll need, just in case I'm held back or whatever. I've got some events coming up that I'd like to go to, but I'm dreading the thought of trying to pump the required amount. It's exhausting.

However, for some reason I'm really reluctant for DS to have a supplamentary bottle of formula. I don't know why. I have no issue with FF and am completely aware that babies who are FF are happy and healthy. Intellectually, I know that the odd bottle of formula won't make any difference but I have this illogical issue with giving it to him just because I'd rather be somewhere else.

I'm not really interested in the BF vs FF debate, but rather would like to know the experiences of other mums who have used formula just for when their boobs are unavailable. Did your baby accept it happily, any issues with digestion, whatever.

Does anyone else feel like this?

[linmum]

puddinpie,

We have just kind of been through this with DS. I have been expressing EBM and bottle feeding my 5 week old as he is just cluless about attachment and has no interest in learning :laughing: He is really happy with a bottle of ebm and bonding wise he maintains eye contact with me the entire time he is feeding and gives me big smiles at then end. I have resently given hima bottle of formula for his feed just before bed as my supply is solimited in the afternoon when I express for his bedtime feed. The first time DS looked at me like " Don't you know this is the wrong bottle " He drank it but frowned the whole time. Now 2 days later and 2 formula bottles later he still approaches the feed differently ( not badly or upset ) but drinks the entire 130 mls and is so content afterwards. We call it his bedtime milkshake !! I figure if he hated it he wouldn't drink it, he has no issues in letting you know if he isn't happy with something. All you can do is give it a trial and see how your child reacts. My DS has had no problems with intergestion or constipation afterwards ( so far:fingerscrossed: ) We are using SM26 newborn. Hope this helps :)

[kar]

I was exactly the same and felt very trepidatious about formula but it would take me 30 mins to express 50 mls max and F only slept for 40 mins at a time.

A wonderful lactation consultant said to me "you could always give him formula if you need to be away from him". This, from a LC, heresy!

Anyway I persisted with the expressing for awhile and then at about 4 mths thought "screw this". Literally every spare moment of my day was taken up with expressing.
He started having formula when I wasn't with him which was only about 1 feed a week, I stopped expressing and started having a cup of tea and it had no impact whatsoever on supply and he had no problems at all with it.

I'm not saying it is like this for everyone, but it was for us.

A specific formula was recommended to me for babies who are BF along with specific bottle/teats. I'm not sure if I can post what or if it might be considred advertising, but PM me if you are interested. I suppose one risk is that you might sort of slip into doing it more often, but I didn't and am still BFing at 9.5 mths.

[Boobycino]

I didn't at first, but found I'd stress out because like you i could only express maybe 20-60mls at a time and then Jasper was consuming up to 180mls per feed. So if I wanted to leave just enough milk for 2 feeds I would have to express for DAYS and its just exhausting to throw that on top of everything else.

AND then when I stop expressing it takes few days for my breasts to settle down and stop over-producing milk :rolleyes:

I'm very pro-boobies, but if boobies aren't available, and expressing is challenging, I definately go the formular. Its significantly less stress.

For me there was no risk of slipping into more frequent bottle usage - I'm in so much pain from the pressure and built up from missing a feed that the odd bottle bub gets is a pain in the bee-hind! But I have fairly active supply, I went from a C cup to a G cup from breast feeding.

[Sheer Bliss]

I understand exactly where you are coming from!! I KNOW that formula is OK, but sooooo want my bubbas to only have breast milk. BUT with twins, a toddler and pre-schooler, expressing just doesn't happen, and when I was trying to I also don't express much, so getting enough for a bottle each plus a spare JIC was near impossible.

In the end, I bit the bullet and bought some sachets of formula. DD2 takes it beautifully, and then goes back to the breast no probs. DS2 won't have a bar of it. He'll occassionally take ebm, but rarely, and he refuses formula from everything we offer it to him in. He was the same in hospy (prems, so were topped up with a cup after a b/f) he'd take ebm, but spat formula out.

I'd give it a go. I had to spend a few hrs in the emergency dpt with DS1 on the eekend, and it was good to know I could send the bubs home with my mum and know at least one of them would be fed!

[Jaspat24]

hi puddinpie,
I've spent many hours changed to the breastpump and also didn't want to use formula. but i just couldn't face the thought of more countless hours pumping and hating every minute of it. I work one day a week and DS has 2 bottles of formula at daycare. I express twice in my shift, double pumping for 15minutes and only get a total of 150-200mls for the day!
Everyone's happy this way; i'm not skimping on the milk left for DS.

[Jaspat24]

also, forgot to mention that it might be an idea to just buy a box of the stick packs/sachets so then you don't have a whole tin of formla just sitting there and aren't tempted to use it more often that you really need. More to prevent the 'i better not waste it so i'll just give him more' attitude whic could affect your BF relationship.

[chicken and eggs mum]

puddinpie,

We have just kind of been through this with DS. I have been expressing EBM and bottle feeding my 5 week old as he is just cluless about attachment and has no interest in learning :laughing: He is really happy with a bottle of ebm and bonding wise he maintains eye contact with me the entire time he is feeding and gives me big smiles at then end. I have resently given hima bottle of formula for his feed just before bed as my supply is solimited in the afternoon when I express for his bedtime feed. The first time DS looked at me like " Don't you know this is the wrong bottle " He drank it but frowned the whole time. Now 2 days later and 2 formula bottles later he still approaches the feed differently ( not badly or upset ) but drinks the entire 130 mls and is so content afterwards. We call it his bedtime milkshake !! I figure if he hated it he wouldn't drink it, he has no issues in letting you know if he isn't happy with something. All you can do is give it a trial and see how your child reacts. My DS has had no problems with intergestion or constipation afterwards ( so far:fingerscrossed: ) We are using SM26 newborn. Hope this helps :)
:iagree:

Lin and I are in the same boat with expresing f/t and bubs on ebm due to attatchment issues.....

I have had to supplement with forumla a couple of times just cause i cant express enough milk (my supply has now caught up with her demand).....

I had a few issues with wind pain, but switched to a different brand and she is fine.....

I am all pro boobie, but I just couldnt let her starve.........

[ButterflyMama]

Have you got a friend who is lactating who could feed him for you?

[SomewhereOverTheRainbow]

Hey there,
DD is BF however about 5 weeks ago I came down with Bell's Palsy and had to take steroids so had to put her on formula for a week and express/dump my milk to keep supply up. She had no issues being switched over so quickly and came back to the breast well (although initially got cranky as my supply was so low when she returned). I'm pretty sure she doesn't care where her food comes from :laughing:, although as DH pointed out he didn't think she was enjoying the FF as much as it wasn't as much of an 'experience' as BFing for her.
Haven't given her formula since I went back to BFing after I stopped the steroids but wouldn't hesitate to give her a bottle if I was unavailable again. Hope that helps.
If you are thinking of it, might be worth popping into the FF threads to see what they recommend. Have heard a lot of ppl say S26 constipates their babies, we just used karicare gold and it was good for us.

[kar]

We use Nan HA gold with probiotics and pigeon peristaltic teats (they don't drip out, Bub has to work for it, almost like a boob! Specifically designed for BFing). This combo was recommended by my mchn.

[Opinionated]

Just express once a day every day. Cool the milk in the fridge then freeze it in a bottle. You can add cooled milk to frozen milk and after 4 days you will have enough for a feed. This will also start to increase your supply. Then you can have a few in the freezer at all times. You can also express as many times a day as you have time to. If you wait an hour after the last feed and express, you will have enough in a couple of hours after expressing for the next feed.

My best friend was unexpectedly taken to hospital when she had a 12 week old. I babysat her dd and tried for 4 hours on a sweltering day to get her to take a bottle of formula. My dh tried as well for an hour or so. The baby was distressed, I was distressed and my friend had her phone off in the hospital. In the end I breastfed her child as I couldn't think of anything else to do. Some breast fed babies will just not take formula. They will hold out until everyone is distressed.

[kar]

Opinionated intotally agree, lots of BF babes cannot be convinced. Lucky for me F will take anything that is shoved in his gob! I wouldn't hesitate to BF in the same situation, but, I certainly think formula is a valid choice in the situation the OP describes if bubba will take it. F fed 2 hourly so if made it very difficult to express on top of the feeding.