Posted by
asking
18 yrs ago
Any of you who have read my posts in the past know that my LO will not take a bottle.... well Newsflash - she does now. It took 2 days of offering nothing but breastmilk in a bottle - seems to have worked.
I want to replace one feed with formula and/or top up my milk supply with formula. Im having real trouble pumping out adequate milk (not sure if my LO gets more out or whether I just dont produce big quantities) Anyway want to know whether I can mix formula with BM or if I should keep both separate.
BTW - I am averaging 120-140mls from one breast each time I pump. Is this normal?
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My LO is nearly 7 months. I am expressing instead of feeding directly. My LO isnt much of a milk eater - max BF session usually 5 mins - which leads me to think she doesnt get much.
Any advice/experience sharing re slowly introducing forumula?
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the only time my LO vomited milk was when i mixed BM with formula, so i never dared do it again.
i was a crap pumper (even though i had the hospital grade machine) and would only manage a max. of 60 mls each time. so you're doing very well with 120-140 in my books!
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crj
18 yrs ago
Pump amounts -
Sounds like you are doing great!
In the first 5-6 months, I managed to pump a lot, but after about 7-8 months the amount you can pump dramatically reduces.
Breast feeding
As per waffles comments, what your baby feeds is more than what you pump. baby will feed as much as they need and your body will respond. body does not respond so well to plastic pump :)
mixed feeds
I know parents who do some bf per day, 1 expressed bottle, and 1 formula feed per day. Not an issue at all if that is what works for you.
Mixing formula and breastmilk
Most baby websites and books say not to do this.
1. do not mix powdered formula with breast milk as the high percentage of nutrients is too much for baby's system and liver.
2. if you mix made up formula with breast milk and baby doesn't finish bottle, you just wasted your breast milk!
Why do you want to not bf?
Are you going back to work? Or are you concerned about your supply?
If you are concerned about your supply, you can do things to help baby feed better.
If you are going back to work or starting to reduce BF for personal reasons - no problem, just asking.
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there is a poster on here - Perthites, who fed her baby exclusively all expressed breastmilk. It was pretty impressive. As the other posters noted, you don't pump out as much as you produce. (someone mentioned you have an additional 3 oz after you pump.)
if you are pumping 120-140 per breast, that is AWESOME. Even at my best, one breast would only every pump around 120. These days (month 8) I get 60 when I pump. So store it while you can - that way you can have more milk for the future.
If you don't have enough breast milk stores, I can understand why you want to top off with formula, but is there a reason you want formula other than that?
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crj
18 yrs ago
good point HKCC
Perthites and MayC both fed expressed breast milk exclusively for many months (I think 10?)... amazing women!!
Do a search for their threads on expressing.
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i am no bf expert but from what i know, i seldom hear of people mixing bm and formula in the bottle to feed. but what mums do as they cut down on bf is subsitute feeds with formula. e.g. one of my friends bf in the morning and bedtime but the feeds in between she gives formula.
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As has been mentioned I don't think you should mix breast and formula in a bottle.
I often have to be away from baby for a day for work so here's what I've ended up doing
3 bf's per day - morning, evening and night, one bottle of formula and one expressed milk. Since she reached 6 months I just can't seem to pump any more - fortunately I have a freezer full of milk - I could give 2 bottles of expressed but would prefer the suppy to go on longer so that she is on predominantly bm till past a year old...
Anyway, that's my situation and it's working well - I have a generally happy baby who doesn't seem to have problems having 2 bottles a day of different milk types and 3 b-feeds a day.
I felt awful about giving her one formula feed a day but feel that it actually works within my situation to allow her to have breast milk longer.
Hope that helps.
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Well, I been trying to get my son to drink formula for weeks now. I been exculsively breastfeeding him for 6 months now. I need him to take formula because I need to get some sleep and moreover I will be going back to work. Since his refusal I been told to mix and yes it worked but it has made him so unsettled and crying more than he did before. From now I am not going to mix it try once again to get him used to it. Any advice please help me.
thanks
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THanks for the advice. I will keep them separate to be on the safe side. Ive been offering breastmilk first and then if shes still hungry have been topping up with formula.
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Pumping is very time consuming and as mentioned i did this fully time i only just stopped as my supply died so not sure how oftern you are pumping but if you pump more reguarly your supply will build up. There is nursing mothers tea you can drink which does help supply but it's only short term so to continue to get it's benifits you need to drink the tea on and off. 140mls is great but remmeber as your LO grows you might need to increase your bottles so start freezing now. I use to pump 5 times a day/night even getting up at 3am, if you decided to pump more reguarly don't introduce any pumping after you go to bed as it's a bugger to stop later on and quite painful! Just think of your breasts as timed machine if you pump at regular times during the day your breasts will respond and expect to be pumped each day at those times. For sucessful expressing to work you need to pump at regular times during the day. All the best.
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Mixing breastmilk and formula milk together is not advised.
If you baby is 0 to 4 months of age and gaining between 140 and 210 grams per week she is consuming adequate breastmilk.
You are expressing ample milk. Women express different amounts of milk based on the time of day, time of last feed, etc. Introducing a bottle of formula milk can decrease your supply and dilute the health benefits of breastmilk.
Matilda Well Baby Clinic - 2849 1500
Matilda International Hospital
Hong Kong
http://www.matilda.org
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My baby is 12 weeks old and having read the Baby Whisperer book, I have been breastfeeding from one breast only at each feed until the past week. I took my baby to the pediatrician last Friday and he said the baby's weight is tapering off and wanted me to supplement his feed with 120ml formula twice a day as he said perhaps I'm not producing enough milk. Problem is, my baby completely refuses to drink from a bottle. I've now started feeding from both breasts but today for eg. I didn't feel like I had full breasts even in the morning, and after less than 10 mins feeding on first breast, he started latching and unlatching repeatedly (which really hurts the nipple of course), then I transferred him to the other breast and he also drank for less than 10 mins and started latching and unlatching repeatedly. Could I have run out of milk? Is there also a possibility of him getting too much foremilk if I keep switching like that?
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MayC
18 yrs ago
Hi, crj is right... both Perthites and I pumped exclusively. I did this for 10 months and I stopped not because my supply was diminising but because I was going back to work full time. If you pump 4 hourly even through the night, your supply will not diminish. So this is my tip on how to increase/build up your supply of breastmilk.
The other tip would be to get a hospital grade breastpump. The Medela Lactina or Symphony are excellent. Get the dual breast electric pump so that you can pump both breasts at the same time and with the minimal amount of time. I could even hold both bottles with my righ arm freeing my left hand to do anything I wanted.
Problem with pumping is that it is really, really tiring and sometimes you spend so much time pumping that you don't have time with your little one.
When I have my next, I'm going to work really hard on breastfeeding properly!!! ;-)
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