told to give formula

[sam#3]

ive been told by my health visitor to give harry a top up of formula after every feed.
He feeds every 2 hours, day and night and for the past week he isnt settled between feeds so the HV has told me im not making enough milk and that he needs more so ive been told to top him up with formula after every feed, then before he goes to bed give him a big formula feed.
Im worried that this will put me on a spiral to lead me to just formula feeding which really isnt what i want to do.
I love bfeeding and up to now we have been getting on fine but now he isnt satisfied and im absolutely exhausted, the days arent too much of a problem but the nights are really getting too me.
I dont want to end up losing my milk or anything and i just dont know what to do.
Obviously my priority is harry having enough milk and if i cant do that for him then so be it but

 

[ryder]

at 3 months I think your supply will be well enough established that you can give a bottle or 2 a day and it wont hurt him...

 

[sam#3]

Thanks ryder, im not anti formula but just dont want to 'dry-up'!!
My hubby has just come in with some cartons of cow&gate so we'll see how we get on with it.
Hopefully like u say my body should be ok with it now xx

 

[Serene123]

Yeah, you should be alright now! Why don't you give pumping a try first if you don't want to go with formula?

 

[vicwick]

You could try eating porridge and taking Fenugreek to up your supply first if you wanted to put off giving formula first??? Thats their solution to everythin to give formula, they advised me to do this in the first few weeks which i didn't want to do and after getting advice from LLL leader i did the above and my milk supply increased and DS is gaining brilliantly now and very happy between feeds

 

[fernie3]

hi
my baby is only 9 days old and I have already been told to do this. I was BF her but a cuople of days ago she ended up being taken back into hospital because she was so jaundiced and wasnt waking to feed (she didnt even wake up when they started stucking needles in her arm

I have been told to breastfeed her at everyfeed then give her as much formula as it takes to fill her up. BUT because formula will take her lomger to digest also to express (we have a breastpump) in between feeds, we give her expressed milk instead if formula when we can

as I say she is only 9 days old but so far this is working well for us. I dont see it continuing indefinatly because of the amount of time it takes to do it all - i have two older children as well.

sophie

btw she is doing great now and actually wakes up which is nice

 

[Hevz]

A word of warning babe...the more formula you give baby the less milk you will produce. Your Health Visitor isn't doing a very good job by telling you that you don't have enough milk....how the hell does she know???? Has she done any medical tests???? NO I thought not. I get so annoyed when so called professionals give such crap and incorrect advice.



To increase your supply you need to express and feed baby more, giving formula will have the complete opposite effect I'm afraid. I have done the Le Leche League Breastmates training so know what I'm talking about


I don't wanna preach on about it so am posting some links for you to look at babe, I know there's a few links to look at but it's better to get a few different views rather than just one so you can make your own mind up if you do want anymore help or info just pm me

Good luck babe:thumpup:

https://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/html/increasing.shtml

https://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html

https://www.breastfeedingmums.com/dr_jack_newman_increasing_breastmilk.htm

https://www.laleche.org.uk/

 

[Hevz]

hi
my baby is only 9 days old and I have already been told to do this. I was BF her but a cuople of days ago she ended up being taken back into hospital because she was so jaundiced and wasnt waking to feed (she didnt even wake up when they started stucking needles in her arm

I have been told to breastfeed her at everyfeed then give her as much formula as it takes to fill her up. BUT because formula will take her lomger to digest also to express (we have a breastpump) in between feeds, we give her expressed milk instead if formula when we can

as I say she is only 9 days old but so far this is working well for us. I dont see it continuing indefinatly because of the amount of time it takes to do it all - i have two older children as well.

sophie

btw she is doing great now and actually wakes up which is nice

Good on you for expressing, it must be difficult to do this in the early days. A syringe as really good for feeding sleepy babies breastmilk as it avoids nipple confusion and you can dribble the milk in their mouths while they're still sleeping too

Well done and congratulations

 

[Serene123]

My HV told me I don't have enough milk, Caitlyn's healthy, clever, and happy. I'm a firm believer that HVs don't always know what the hell they're talking about. Alot of them don't have kids, and haven't ever breastfed! They just know what they read.

 

[vicwick]

A word of warning babe...the more formula you give baby the less milk you will produce. Your Health Visitor isn't doing a very good job by telling you that you don't have enough milk....how the hell does she know???? Has she done any medical tests???? NO I thought not. I get so annoyed when so called professionals give such crap and incorrect advice.



To increase your supply you need to express and feed baby more, giving formula will have the complete opposite effect I'm afraid. I have done the Le Leche League Breastmates training so know what I'm talking about


I don't wanna preach on about it so am posting some links for you to look at babe, I know there's a few links to look at but it's better to get a few different views rather than just one so you can make your own mind up if you do want anymore help or info just pm me

Good luck babe:thumpup:

https://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/html/increasing.shtml

https://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html

https://www.breastfeedingmums.com/dr_jack_newman_increasing_breastmilk.htm

https://www.laleche.org.uk/

Totally agree some HV's are useless!!!! ~You'd think they got commision from the formula companies the way they push it!!!

I found the LLL and kellymom websites extremely useful for any queries i had or needed to know any info they're an excellent source for anything to do with BF

 

[ryder]

Feeding ever 2 hours day and night at that age IS alot... and IS hard on a bf mum.. Especially becauue that much feeding leaves very little time for proper eating and sleeping. I dont think suggesting she have a bottle or 2 in the evening is out of line at all. I also do not think it will harm your supply... If that were the case how would people who bf and have babies sleeping through have anymore milk left?

BFing does require you to have a good diet and lots of good carbs though. Your baby gets exactly the nutrition that you give yourself... ( some people claim it doesnt matter what you eat, but it does). And too be honest, because bm is so easy to digest, it sometimes just isn't enough for some.

Take care of yourself though! Getting over exhausted and not looking after yourself wont do anything good for you or your baby in the end.

 

[Fossey]

I give both and have done roughly from the start due to LO not staying on boob long enough and MW advising to top up. She now BFs alot more than ever but still is on the bottle as still doesn't stay on long enough. I love BF'ing even more now and do have the milk supply there. I find this works for me.

 

[Dani_b]

i would say try not give formula if you want to keep BF.
the less time baby spends on boob the less milk that will be made.

 

[sam#3]

Well bit of an update..... we did try to give harry a formula top up after his feed at 6pm but he wouldnt have it, we then made another little bottle and tried again at 8pm and he still wouldnt take it!!!
Seems Harry has made the decision for me!
Im just going to have to just keep feeding him all the time.... and pray that one day i will get more than 2 hours sleep at one time

Im going to try and do some of the things to increase my milk if thats the problem, i cant do the expressing though as its hard enough feeding him every 2 hours, i have 2 other kids and its not fair to them if im always feeding or pumping..... they need me too!!
I think i shall be weaning this little mister closer to the 4 month mark than 6 months!!

 

[ryder]

Good luck!

Although I will say it likely is not the amount of milk your producing (if he feeds 2 hours round the clock you've got plenty), The issue is breastmilk is very quickly digested and doesn't have the same calories as formula. And some babies simply are not full from it... and have to constantly drink to try and keep satisfied. Especially in a month or 2 when he is more active and burning more energy, he may start wanting more too.

 

[Sarah88]

You seem very anti- breastfeeding ryder.

 

[ryder]

You seem very anti- breastfeeding ryder.

uhhh how is saying bm is easy to digest so they need to drink more anti-breastfeeding? I dont think it is... that is a fact... its a fact that formula has more calories and its easier for babies to become obese on it.

I thought breastfeeding moms were proud that bm is so easily digested??? One of the selling points? And since I pointed that out its negative?? Sorry, you cant have it both ways.

Just because I dont breastfeed doesn't mean you lot need to take everything I post so negatively. I work in a hospital in nursing and am quite informed on humans and nutrition... oh wait, according to most of the people here drs and nurses know nothing.

 

[Sarah88]

Just your whole perspective on breastfeeding makes it sound like your mocking it. It had nothing to do with your comment on bm being easier to digest, everyone knows that.
And also, alot of Drs and nurses don't know jack about breastfeeding. Well, at least thats the case here in Aus.

 

[ryder]

Take my opinion how you want, it would be the same whether I was still bfing or not. Personally I think alot of you need to chill out.

There are certain facts of reality, im not going to deny them just to make bfing sound like a godsend. Its quite hard for some people, I applaud them for keeping going through it, its just not what I was prepared to do.

I am quite supportive of people who bf and peoples choices... Its a shame that the bfing people seem to have so little respect for people who bottlefed and their opinions.

 

[marley2580]

I really don't think that's fair Ryder. There are very few people on here that are anti bottle feeding and that don't respect everyone's choices. I often feel that there are people that bottle feed that are too defensive and anxious to justify their choices, but I realise it's probably just the way I'm reading it. I'll often post a supportive message encouraging a BFing woman to stick in there as there are often a lot of posts saying it's ok to give up and bottle feed - of course it's fine to do this, but sometimes people need a bit of support to continue as well.

Sorry to hijack this thread, many babies do feed every two hours, Kaya was awful for it I would just finish feeding her and she'd want fed again! I survived by co-sleeping, not sure if this is an option for you but it was a godsend to me as it meant I could sleep and feed at the same time. Also, investment in a sling might be a good option as you can feed on the move, leaving your hands free for your other children.