Combining Breast and Bottle

[prickleyfairy]

We took Mia for her checkup a couple of weeks ago, and was told she had put on weight, but not as much as they liked. So they told me to feed her as and when she wanted, which i did. We then went back last week and was told she had lost a little weight, which upset me slightly as i had been really trying to feed her up, and she was feeding lots,and i was worn out. I thought maybe my was milk wasnt as good becasuse i was feeling tired or she was just a hungry baby and she needed more.

They suggested combining breast and bottle, which made me feel letdown as, i really wanted to be able to continue to feed her myself for at least 6 months, i feel like i have somewhat failed. Anyway so for the past week i have been feeding her myself and then offereing 5oz of forumla and its been a bit of a fight for her to take the bottle-but we are getting there and she nearly drinks the full amount!! But this bottle business is hard, it takes me ages to get to the right temp, and cos she takes so long to drink it its normally cooled down again.

We took her back to the doctors yesterday to get weighed and she had put on a whole kilo/1IB!!! so she now weighs 15IB!

What i'm worried about now is my breasts will they still be making as much milk for her? With her having the bottle its given us more of a rountine where she feeds every 3 hrs-how can i extend that should i offer less breast and more formula-or should i just give up with the breast feeding??

Sorry for the long rambley post, and advice appricated

Amy xx

 

[Nicky_Jones]

That weight sounds fine to me - Ellie weighed 13lb 6oz - 8 days ago, and they were happy with her weight. If she was 14lb a week ago I am struggling top see why they were concerned?

 

[beanie]

Grr Dr's are so ignorant when it comes to breastfeeding. Let me get this right, she was gaining weight but not as much as they liked?? Breastfed babies gain weight slower, Seren gained slowly and even dropped 2 centiles but my HV said that was perfectly fine, and I asked for the breastfeeding weight charts and it was a lot better. Your milk is just perfect for her. Here are some great links about weight gain clicky

With the bottle/breast feeding with Mia having been fed for a while your milk supply will be more robust then what is was in the early months, but it will drop gradually unless she is allowed to feed when she asks for it? Are you trying to get her into a routine? Its just that with breastfeeding demand feeding is the way to go. Formula milk is different to breastmilk and it takes longer for the baby to digest as the breastmilk just contains what your baby needs whereas formula is more standard for every baby. Therefore she will go longer between feeds with formula.

The most important thing is though is that you are not a failure!!!!!!! You deserve a standing ovation for feeding for so long.

 

[Anna Marie]

Amy you are NOT a failure - don't feel bad about any of this.. Mia is a fantastic weight and is obviously not poorly or suffering.. it is pretty common I am told that breastfed babies dont gain as consistently and occasionally drop below their line.. Lara has recently and even at 15 weeks is only 11lbs.. just below her line now and HV told me too to replace feeds with formula to bulk her up a bit .. sadly I have had to do this for other reasons [thrush! ] as well so she has been having formula feeds and breast feeds for the past couple of weeks..

Sadly I am going to give up the breastfeeding as the pain from the thrush is unbearable and as Lara still is not gaining weight as hoped I am reluctantly giving in and replacing all feeds with formula.

I too feel like you.. really beating myself up about feeling a failure but I have to do what is right for both of us and even though I feel really upset about it I have to be practical..

take care xxx