Bottle feeding questions

[SpringCrane]

My little guy isn't gaining weight like he should, so I have been encouraged to supplement with bottles of expressed milk. I'm also planning on finding a formula we are happy with as a back up.

My first never took bottles, so I'm totally clueless. I've read you shouldn't give a baby leftover milk not finished in the bottle... but what exactly does that mean? If baby eats an ounce, falls asleep for a short nap and wakes looking for more, do I need a whole new bottle? Is it based on time? Does it matter if it is fresh or thawed milk? Formula rules different? I'm used to nursing on demand, so distinct "feeds" aren't always obvious when grazing or cluster feeding...

I'm not producing much when pumping, so I'm terrified of wasting milk. (My husband spilled a bottle yesterday, and he's never been more apologetic!)

Do you travel about with a cooler or do you just put a bottle in an insulated pocket if you're only out for a few hours?

The more I supplement, the less baby wants to nurse. It's heartbreaking, but at this point I just want him to get chunky!

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I used to leave bottles for max of 1 hour. I am not sure if guidelines have changed but thats how I did it. maybe slightly less on a hot day!

 

[ruby83]

I was the same, 1 hour from start of feed for both formula and breast milk.

 

[Witchrose]

You can make bottles of formula ahead of time. I used to make a day's worth in the morning and then pop them into the fridge. They are good for 24 hours there. Once you take one of the bottles out though, then they need to be drunk within the hour.

If your child doesn't want to finish it all at once, you can always put it aside for a bit, and then offer the rest before you have to throw it away. And once you see how much they tend to drink at once, you can always make smaller/larger bottles as necessary.

 

[freckleonear]

Has anyone checked your positioning and attachment? Has baby been checked for tongue tie? Breast compressions during a feed can help too.

The guidelines for storing breastmilk are 6 hours at room temperature, 6 days in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer. For freezing, store milk in small portions and defrost in the fridge, under a running tap or in a bowl of water. Once thawed it needs to be used within 24 hours and unfinished milk should be used within 1-2 hours.

Try supplementing with the expressed milk after breastfeeding and watch some videos on paced bottlefeeding. The best thing to do though would be to try and see an IBCLC or breastfeeding counsellor, as they are experts who can give much better advice than most healthcare professionals.

 

[minties]

You can make bottles of formula ahead of time. I used to make a day's worth in the morning and then pop them into the fridge. They are good for 24 hours there. Once you take one of the bottles out though, then they need to be drunk within the hour.

If your child doesn't want to finish it all at once, you can always put it aside for a bit, and then offer the rest before you have to throw it away. And once you see how much they tend to drink at once, you can always make smaller/larger bottles as necessary.

I wouldn't do this personally, that would be quite an outdated practice in my country.

 

[SpringCrane]

Has anyone checked your positioning and attachment? Has baby been checked for tongue tie? Breast compressions during a feed can help too.

The guidelines for storing breastmilk are 6 hours at room temperature, 6 days in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer. For freezing, store milk in small portions and defrost in the fridge, under a running tap or in a bowl of water. Once thawed it needs to be used within 24 hours and unfinished milk should be used within 1-2 hours.

Try supplementing with the expressed milk after breastfeeding and watch some videos on paced bottlefeeding. The best thing to do though would be to try and see an IBCLC or breastfeeding counsellor, as they are experts who can give much better advice than most healthcare professionals.

I've seen about four LCs in addition to his pediatrician. They all seem to agree that I'm doing everything right, and when he does latch it's fine. Just nursing alone he wasn't gaining enough, so I was told to supplement with expressed milk. When I started that, he began to refuse to nurse during the day. He'll only latch now if he's very sleepy, like during the night. So, I'm pumping as often as I can, and always offering breast first. I don't get a ton pumping, so I want formula that I'll know he'll take on hand just in case.

 

[VickyLou]

The guidelines is an hour no more than 2hours (my HV told me this with my first). I personally wouldn't make the bottle in advance, these are old guild lines cause of the bacteria in the milk. You can make the water up in bottles and put them in the fridge and then warm the water up and then add the milk once the water is room temperature.
I can highly recommend a tommee tippee perfect prep machine. 2 presses of a button add the milk and then it's done. No boiling kettles or waiting for the water to cool etc.

As for travelling I used to measure out the water in bottle and measure out the milk into a container and take it out with me then mix it when baby was ready for it. My daughter would prefer a cooler bottle rather than a warm one so it was fine with us. If I was going out for a longer period of time I would fill a small flask with water after its cooled enough to the temp I needed it and take out a tub of measured formula.

It will obviously happen the more you give the more the less they will nurse cause they will stay fuller for longer from a bottle and they get used to a test rather than nipple. Don't beat yourself up about it though, so longs your baby is getting what it needs and gaining weight well then that's all that matters. I totally understand why it's heartbreaking for you though, my daughter wouldn't latch at all and my milk never came I so I missed out on breastfeeding all together. I wasn't happy that I had to formula feed but I did what was best for my daughter. X

 

[noon_child]

Has anyone checked your positioning and attachment? Has baby been checked for tongue tie? Breast compressions during a feed can help too.

The guidelines for storing breastmilk are 6 hours at room temperature, 6 days in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer. For freezing, store milk in small portions and defrost in the fridge, under a running tap or in a bowl of water. Once thawed it needs to be used within 24 hours and unfinished milk should be used within 1-2 hours.

Try supplementing with the expressed milk after breastfeeding and watch some videos on paced bottlefeeding. The best thing to do though would be to try and see an IBCLC or breastfeeding counsellor, as they are experts who can give much better advice than most healthcare professionals.

I've seen about four LCs in addition to his pediatrician. They all seem to agree that I'm doing everything right, and when he does latch it's fine. Just nursing alone he wasn't gaining enough, so I was told to supplement with expressed milk. When I started that, he began to refuse to nurse during the day. He'll only latch now if he's very sleepy, like during the night. So, I'm pumping as often as I can, and always offering breast first. I don't get a ton pumping, so I want formula that I'll know he'll take on hand just in case.

I don't know how old your baby is, but it may be possible to tap back in to his natural feeding instincts to encourage him to feed directly from you. Go back to the beginning if you can, lots of skin to skin - no need to put him down between feeds just keep him on your chest within easy reach of your breasts. If he doesn't latch and feed for 2hrs give him a small amount of expressed milk in a syringe and see if that encourages him, if not you can go ahead and give him a full feed of expressed milk (and then you'll have to pump). Remember that expressed milk doesn't have to be drunk in the same quantities as formula, you want a little and often approach (especially if you want him returning to the breast often). Don't despair if all he seems to do is grab your nipples, rub them, lick them, headbutt them- these are all instinctual behaviours that go before latching in a newborn.

This may not be the right approach for you and I hate bombarding mums with a "you should do this" approach - because only you know what is right for you and baby - but I wanted to give you an alternative to formula supplementation if you wanted it. Formula may be absolutely the right choice for some people (I supplemented with formula myself and was lucky it didn't cause my LO to reject the boob and we carried on BF for ages) but that doesn't mean it is right for you. Only you can decide.