Introducing formula to breastfed baby

[firsttima09]

Hi all, this is my first post in the parenting forum.... My lil one is 12 weeks old and my EMB has almost run out and I don't have enough milk to express after feeds anymore. My plan is to breastfeed as long as I can but my question is for the times I am not there would it be safe to introduce formula when I am not at home i.e. I have a wedding coming up and hubby will be looking after the lil one, can he have formula without getting confused, does it taste different. Wld it be safe to give it a go before before the event to see if bubby will take it?. I feel guilt for asking the question. I expressed alot during the first 6 weeks but it's almost all gone due to bubby having his growth spurts?

Anyone else having the same problem, I only make enough milk for what he needs which doesn't leave alot of option except for introducing formula for the off occasion??

[nugglyboysmum]

Dont stress over this hun x

I bf DS for 5 weeks but due to his health issues I felt I could not cope with bf anymore. I expressed and fed him ebm for a few days then dueto my stress, I decided to stop expressing for him adn switch to formula. I know its not reccomended, but I seitched him to formula cold turkey. He did not have a single issue with it. He wolfed down the whole bottle of formula without a backwards glance! He didnt seem to notice a difference and was just as happy on formula as ebm.

I think you will be fine to give your DD the odd bottle of formula. I have heard of some people mixing half and half formula and ebm so they get a chance to get used to the difference, but I wouldnt bother, each t their own :)

GL, hope it works smoothly for you

[The sooper nanny]

Firstly, please dont feel guilty... your little one needs food and if theres no ebm, formula is fine.

I topped katelyn up from day one as I was gestational diabetic, she had low sugars and I had a very crappy milk supply.In fact breastfeeding was a nightmare for me, but thats a whole different thread :laughing:

I would recommend trying formula in place of when you gave the ebm. IMO the hardest thing is getting them used to a bottle, so Im guessing with the fact that hes taking ebm, taking bottles arent an issue. You can mix formula with ebm if you wish. If theyre hungry, theyll feed. Ive heard that Naan formula is the mildest taste for newborns, but see how you go, I use s26 regular after going through a few formulas.
Have you spoken to your gp about something like domperidone for milk supply? It can make a huge difference for some women. Did bugger all for me unfortunatley. But it might boost your supply enough to have some ebm to top up. The fact that bubs is getting any breastmilk is fantastic, see how you go. PM if you need any advice.... HTH shazz :)

[firsttima09]

thanks ladies, just got off the phone with the ABA and was just made to feel like I was about to commit child abuse, didn't realise how one sided they were. They did give me some advice on lil ones new routine of catnapping (another issue sorry).

It's so nice to hear from real Mum's , thanks so much for your advice, think i'll try the formula during bubba's new witching hours (7pm-10pm arrggghh) tomorrow night. yes I have heard Nan is good to start with....

Thanks again, I really appreciate your prompt response, i can get a but lonely not being able to share when your friends don't have kids or have had kids but have the view of 'been there done that'...
:australia:

[Wifey2A]

Hi firsttima09! :wave:

Your situation sounds exactly the same as I went through...

First six weeks i was very keen and all about expressing to get a good supply up but once those growth spurts kicked in, miss M guzzled my freezer supply away! Then as you said, after a bit of time you seem to only make enough for them to feed, not to express aswell!

So at my MCHN visit i was asking how can i bring more milk in to express?? she wanted to know the reason and once i told her that it was just for times when i cant be there, eg. wedding, mummy time ect...she said "oh dont bother expressing if its not there.. just do a couple of formula feeds". So I did and its fantastic! miss M had no probs with it at all and now I give her a formula top up at her bed time feed and she sleeps much better! She is BF at all other times.

She has the S26 sachets... i gave her 1 bottle (120ml) first go and left her for a few days to make sure there were no probs.. and there wasnt.

Hope all goes well... dont worry i went through the whole guilt thing.. even shed tears over it but once i saw that she was fine, and even quite enjoyed it.. it was all fine and I couldnt believe that I had stressed so much over it!

Good luck :D

[Opinionated]

Yes, you can give formula. When you do give formula, try to express that feed so that your body knows that you still need to make that milk.

As for the expressing, you can express as little as an hour after a feed and you will have milk for the next feed your baby wants. I used to express about an hour after the morning feed most days to build up freezer stock. Most of the time your body replaces the feed in about an hour. I was amazed the first time I did it.

[myhusbandswife]

just a little tip. With formula you need to use the tin within 4 weeks of opening so if you only plan on using it every now and then i would only buy it in sachet form. (also to make sure bubs is fine with that brand of formula without wasting a whole tin)

[BabyPaparazzi]

At 12wks I had I was back at uni and had been using ebm to introduce a bottle for a few weeks before, but on uni days I went straight to formula for her. It didnt effect my supply at all because it was only 4 feeds over 2 days spread apart, and I only expressed if I felt to full. Eventually I couldnt express extra as well as fully feed her because I produced exactly what she wanted, the only time I could get a store up was if I expressed when she missed feeds and I thought that pointless in the long run (besides there just aint any comfortable place to express at my uni).

It does taste different but she would only pull a couple of funny faces and then go for gold anyway. The major problem was getting her to take the bottle in the first place. Tried all sorts of brands and teats and eventually a lactation nurse told me to try pigeon bottles as they are best for bf bubs, with the leak proof teat (usually for older bubs), the teat is a simple shape (nothing fancy like some I look at and wonder how the hell it would work like a breast as they state it does cause my boobs dont look like that when feeding lol), and being leak proof is doesnt just spill out into their mouths, on normal teats DD would get angry at the instant mouth full and gag and carry on and suck way to hard and get all flooded. So I wouldnt leave them with anyone until you know they will take the bottle.

If you are not going to give it frequently the brand of formula probably wont make a difference. The best is the sachets, they only came in S26 and Karicare when I used them.

Dont feel guilty about introducing it either, the ABA although great is mainly staffed by volunteers and I think some are a bit to opinionated and instead of just giving advice try to force their own opinions onto people.

[Lily of the Nile]

What a shame about the ABA, it was probably just who you spoke to, mine was really helpful about formula and what to do.
Definetly try some before the wedding just incase your partner has trouble and she doesn't take it. I also use Nan ha gold, he's never had a problem. I used to give a bottle here and there and I would water it down a tiny little too becuase it's alot fuller than bm.

[arty1]

My concern for doing this is baby will prefer formula over breast after a while. I too want to introduced formula for those times Im not around (mainly returning back to work which should only be 1-2 feeds).

Im also concerned over what some have said about supply. My intention was to express and only use formula if necessary (not enough supply frozen). But it seems bub is always feeding (or im out) and dont have time to express after a hour or so. But people have said that expressing an create more supply too?


I expressed alot during the first 6 weeks but it's almost all gone due to bubby having his growth spurts? Why is this? You would think expressing is similar to feeding so your body would think it needs to keep feeding. Do you think expressing is creating the low supply problem?

[luvmyboys]

Expressing will increase your supply, your body makes as much breastmilk as your baby needs so if it thinks your baby needs more it makes more. At 3 months your baby would be very good at attaching and sucking, babies are much more efficient at getting milk from the breast than we are at expressing so don't stress too much that you can't express much. I breastfed both my boys for 3 years and couldn't express more than a few spoonfuls at a time.
I would be hesitant to give a breastfed baby formula but if you have a few occasions where you need to I would still try to express for some of the feed and mix with formula. As someone else suggested you should try to express (and refrigerate) for that 'missed' feed as it will give you more stored breasmilk for next time and maintain your supply.