Breast Feeding - can you give the occasional formula bottle?

[nuttamum]

I was wondering if i could get some advice please.
In the next month we have a few functions to attend and DD2 (5 months) could possibly be baby sat (for the first time)
Now im having a lot of trouble expressing enough milk for 1 feed, let alone a few feeds, so i was wondering if its 'allowed' to feed a baby formula while still breast feeding (if that makes sense)
:confused:

[em1984]

As a once off I never had an issue with it, just make sure you test them out on it first and make sure a) she will actually drink it and b) it agree's with her/she doesn't have a reaction. I had a couple of times I had to do this as I had trouble expressing much as well. I just bought those little sachets (as opposed to wasting a whole tin) and had them sitting there just in case. Often what I had managed to express was enough anyway :)

[JabberJaw]

It can and is done, but i suggest reading THIS (http://www.health-e-learning.com/articles/JustOneBottle.pdf) before you do.

Its best not to though, if avoidable, as it can ruin bubs good gut flora. The longer you stay away from cows milk (in any form) the better, it lessons the likely-hood of intolerance's later.

But dont feel bad if you have to, heaps of people do it.

Can you express small amounts at a time (like even 30ml) and freeze them up, in no time you will have enough for a couple of full feeds. Try feeding bub off one breast, whilst expressing the other. (i could only express from one breast! the other one would not co operate at all!)

You may find too, that bub wont even take formula, as it is alot different from BM....and may run the risk of nipple confusion.

[headoverfeet]

It can and is done, but i suggest reading THIS (http://www.health-e-learning.com/articles/JustOneBottle.pdf) before you do.

Its best not to though, if avoidable, as it can ruin bubs good gut flora. The longer you stay away from cows milk (in any form) the better, it lessons the likely-hood of intolerance's later.

But dont feel bad if you have to, heaps of people do it.

Can you express small amounts at a time (like even 30ml) and freeze them up, in no time you will have enough for a couple of full feeds. Try feeding bub off one breast, whilst expressing the other. (i could only express from one breast! the other one would not co operate at all!)

You may find too, that bub wont even take formula, as it is alot different from BM....and may run the risk of nipple confusion.
This :iagree: especially with the gut flora thing, I was going to post the same link.

[em1984]

Yeh what JabberJaw said, I just expressed a small amount every few hours and it soon added up! I could only express from one side as well, and hand expressing was the best. I was just paranoid he would still need more hence getting the sachets. They went off before they were ever used though :D

[Bubmum]

I would just try to express a little bit each day, and build up a frozen supply. You will be amazed at how much you can get together in just a week. If your little one won't take a bottle, a cup may be useful, or the EBM can be spoon fed.
I hope you can work this one out the best way that works for you.

[nuttamum]

ok, thanks for that.
with freezing breast milk, how do you go about it? i tried freezing some in ice cubes then was going to put them in snap lock bags, but when i tried to get them out i ended up breaking the ice cube tray and the cubes wouldnt come out :-/
i havent had much luck really.
and how do i know how much to give baby sitter? and how do i give it to her?

[TheCatsMeow]

I have tried offering formula once or twice to DD, but it's a no go, as it would be thrown up quite violently, which made formula pointless as she would still be obviously hungry!

I agree perhaps try expressing then freezing little portions day by day? My DD refused bottles at that age, so all ebm was cup fed to her.

[TheCatsMeow]

ok, thanks for that.
with freezing breast milk, how do you go about it? i tried freezing some in ice cubes then was going to put them in snap lock bags, but when i tried to get them out i ended up breaking the ice cube tray and the cubes wouldnt come out :-/
i havent had much luck really.
and how do i know how much to give baby sitter? and how do i give it to her?

Silicon icecube trays are usually good because they're bendy. I just used to pour it straight into the snap lock bag myself though. As you know each baby takes different amounts of breastmilk, but I found DD would never take more than 100- 120ml, even at 5 months.

[headoverfeet]

ok, thanks for that.
with freezing breast milk, how do you go about it? i tried freezing some in ice cubes then was going to put them in snap lock bags, but when i tried to get them out i ended up breaking the ice cube tray and the cubes wouldnt come out :-/
i havent had much luck really.
and how do i know how much to give baby sitter? and how do i give it to her?
I use glad snap bags or those expressing bags that attach to your breastpump. You can google breastmilk calculator to work out how much you may need.

[Bellini]

I used glad bags too. I froze them flat, and they defrosted quickly under warm running water. I would then snip a corner off and pour directly into a bottle (I found this to be a more effective pouring strategy with the glad bags, I was anal about not spilling liquid gold :laughing:)

[BabyPaparazzi]

Dont buy cheap glad bag imitations though, they leak milk out while you are defrosting :rolleyes:

[nuttamum]

oh great, thanks for all that. So you can pour expressed milk straight into the snap lock bags? its hygenic and everything?
its all so daunting. i FF my DD1, so this is all new for me!!! and scarey.

[Tam-I-Am]

oh great, thanks for all that. So you can pour expressed milk straight into the snap lock bags? its hygenic and everything?

Yes, they're food grade which means they're sterile enough to use for BM. Just make sure you double bag them, as I had a few leakages with glad bags which made me very cranky indeed.

You can also add fresh milk to frozen, if you've cooled it down in the fridge for a couple of hours, if you freeze it in bottles.

:)