Using frozen breast milk

[stacergirl]

Hi ladies, got a question!

My son was in icu at 4 weeks And I was Breast feeding prior to that, but when he got out I started only pumping and bottle feeding him. Therefore I have a pretty large supply of frozen milk. He is 3 months now, and I'm thinking of weaning off pumping soon so will start using the frozen milk. Do you know if it's best to spread out my breast milk over a longer period of time and mixing it with formula, or should I give him strictly BM until I'm about 2 weeks out and then start mixing with formula? I just don't know if it's better to space it out so he's still getting when he's a little older or if I should give it all to him now? Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Lizzybee]

Can I ask how much frozen milk you have?

 

[stacergirl]

I have About 700 oz so far, would've had more but had to pump and dump for 10 days! I would have enough for about 21 days if given 32 oz everyday. Or I spread it out over 1-3 months?

Any thoughts?

 

[hans2009]

I would see what your pediatrician recommends. I personally would prefer to mix it so at least he is getting some breastmilk. It's very important to me that my son gets breastmilk though. Either way-3 weeks is better than nothing!!

 

[Pearls18]

In my own personal opinion I would prefer to exclusively give BM for as long as possible, a baby's gut is "holey" BM gently fills in those holes so the longer you give just BM the longer you are better preparing the gut for formula/food. That's just my own view, might be good to talk to your doctor because maybe they would prefer the antibodies to be spread out.

 

[stacergirl]

Thanks! Good idea, I'll ask the doctor! I don't go for a couple more weeks though. Maybe I'll continue to pump til then so I can get a plan in place after speaking with her! Thanks!

 

[stacergirl]

In case anyone was wondering, my doctor recommended that we give him all the breast milk while he's younger bc his immune system is weaker. She said it's not written in stone anywhere but that's what she would think would be best!

 

[Dinah93]

When we transitioned from EBM to formula we continued to give exclusively EBM until my stash started to get a bit low, then for 2 weeks we did a gradual change over, so first it was 2 breastmilk bottles then one formula, then 50-50, then 2 formula to one breastmilk. I was told it would help her adjust more easily and also help her not get as constipated when we swapped over.

 

[stacergirl]

Thanks Dinah! We will try that as we definitely wanted ti gradually transition to formula.