Question for Seity about combination feeding - hope you don't mind!

[pachamama]

Hi Seity,

I've read a number of your posts recently and see that you're combination feeding due to low supply. I wonder if I could ask you a couple of questions?

How many oz's of breastmilk does you lo get a day and how many oz's of formula?

How long have you been able to maintain a milk supply for?

How long do you think you can sustain expressing for?

I'm really interested in your repsonses as I am exclusively expressing due to thrush, cracked nipples etc that aren't healing 2 weeks later and am dreading my milk supply starting to dwindle. I need to know that even if I supplement with formula I may be able to continue giving some breast milk for a while.

Thanks alot.

With respect. x

 

[NeyNey]

Hi Hun, I thought I might add a reply too if that's ok.
I am exclusively expressing due to really sore/grazed/cracked nipples I got in 48 hours after birth and the fact they are inverted and I'm a H cup, it made it near impossible to BF.

At first my supply did start to fail, that's when I had to supplement forumla, but my MW got my Obyn to put me on Motilian (sp?) which is a prescription drug which helped bring it back up quickly, I then bought myself some Fenugreek capsules, which are a vitamin type pill. That also helps. Out of every 3 feeds now, 1 is supplemented with forumla. But I am still able to express between 4 and 5 oz per go. LO is drinking around 3.5 Oz per feeding. I still express every 3-5 hours. Even if a feed is FF I will express after that feed also. Tricks my body into thinking I need more milk.

Another tip I was told is completely drain the breast when you express. And then pump each breast for a further 4-5mins, it makes your body think it needs to produce more.

 

[Justagirlxx]

I tried to combo feed because I was told to supplement due to low supply or inefficient suck (never sure which it really was) Anyways it didnt work out because within a few days my supply went way down. Everytime you give formula your LO doesn't need to eat nearly as often your supply goes down since its supply/demand. Also I couldnt keep up with pumping every single time because it was a bit ridiculous and way too much work breastfeeding, then bottle feeding, then pumping every single time. I hope you have more luck than I did but now that Im on just formula I am so much more relaxed and much happier. Good luck.

 

[Seity]

I'll try my best to answer your questions. My OH feeds him during the day while I'm at work, but I go home at lunch time so that I can feed him. I also try to exclusively breast feed him any time I am at home. So, I obviously don't know how much milk he's getting when he breastfeeds. I was pumping twice a day at work to start with. A big part of my problem is I could only ever manage 1-3 oz a pump session (total). At 3 months he was taking about 3-4 oz and at 5 months starting taking 5-6 oz. He's tiny, so that may be less than a bigger baby needs. So, I would generally get enough breastmilk from my two pump sessions to feed him once during the day. We feed on demand, so some days he might only need 1 formula bottle and other days 2. I ate oatmeal every morning for breakfast and took fenugreek for a while to help keep my supply up.
The last month I've stopped pumping and we're down to our last week's supply of frozen breast milk for during the day and I've introduced a bottle of formula before bed.
We're at 6 months now and he breastfeeds exclusively during the night and I feed him in the morning before work. I still go home and feed him at lunch time and I feed him as soon as I get home from work. Weekends I put him on the breast as often as possible and feed him more frequently and throw in a bottle when I can tell my breasts need time to recharge a bit.
I would say that we've had to slowly introduce more formula over time, but he still gets as much breast milk as I can manage. I really need to start taking fenugreek again. I'm hoping that as he starts on solids he might need less formula, but continue to have the breast milk in the mornings and evenings.

 

[Seity]

I also wanted to add (hopefully bky doesn't mind), but bky's parenting journal has a lot of detail into her combo feeding and exact amounts of formula given per day.

 

[pachamama]

Thanks Seity. That really is very helpful. Gosh you work hard to feed your lo - he's very luck to have you!

x

 

[bky]

Thanks Seity. I was just going to suggest you check out my parenting journal as I've been tracking my LO's formula intake since starting.
I don't however exclusively express (don't express much any more) as my LO latches on fine (and I once got a whopping 3oz in a day ). While I had cracked nipples I never got thrush or anything that stopped me from feeding for more than a day. Expressing is really a different kettle of fish than what I'm doing. Do you anticipate your expressing being temporary or longterm?

One piece of advice I would say is to try to limit the oz of formula/EBM given at any one feeding. See this https://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html
It's better for them to eat more frequently than more at a go.

If you do get back into having your LO at the breast I can really recommend using a SNS or Lactaid device to supplement and increase your supply.