How much is enough??

[Anna Marie]

Hey everyone... finally able to find time to come on here and ask a few questions... hope you are all well and your LO's are all happy and healthy!

I am still breastfeeding but giving Lara one formula feed.. either at 6pm before bed or in the night if my OH does the feed... but I never seem to know how much she should be having and with breastfeeding I have no idea if she has had enough.. yesterday she had 30 mins on the breast and then gobbled 3oz of formula on top!!!!

Most evenings she will have 3-4 oz formula at 6.30 pm and go for 6-7 hours on that but if I breastfeed at that time she will only go for 4-5 hours max at night.. during the day she has just breastmilk and seems fine.

Does anyone else combine breastfeeding and formula and wonder how much is enough?? maybe lara is a very slow feeder on the breast.. I just worry that sometimes she is just not getting enough or maybe my milk is just not filling enough for her anymore.. ????

x

 

[Skidoo]

I combined breastfeeding and formula feeding from about 5 months onwards and I found it very difficult to decide how much to give per feed. Eventually I decided to give a similar amount of formula to that which I could express from one 'full' breast. In my case that was about 4 oz at a time.

 

[Anna Marie]

thanks Skidoo.. how did you cope with the transition? I seem to get so engorged each time I skip a breast feed... I hate expressing so haven't really been keeping up with that but 4oz sounds about what I manage to feed her in formula... I wish I could breast feed solely but sometimes she rejects my breast cos my supply is low or just not quick enough compared to the bottle

 

[budge]

if you want to breast feed soley then its easy and not too late to do this anna marie. Just let her feed from you whenever and for however long she wants and within 24 hours she will have upped your milk supply.
It works on a supply and demand system and the more she demands the more milk your breast will supply.
By offering bottled milk you are reducing your milk supply becasue she will not be wanting so much from you becasue of the extra forumula feed.

I never mixed breast feeding with bottle. I think you should do one or the other if you can.

 

[Anna Marie]

I wish I could Budge but we introduced one bottle formula feed at around 8 weeks on the advice of my Health Visitor because I was just so physically exhausted she was really worried I was on verge of a breakdown [my litte Lara does not sleep in the day so I never seem to get enough sleep or time to relax so i was just knackered all the time and up twice in the night to feed as well took its toll on me....].. so my OH offered to do the 10pm feed so that I could sleep more and as expressing did not work out very well for me [found it so uncomfortable!] he had to give formula.

Giving the formula at 10pm meant she would go through til around 3am so I was able to sleep better myself... now she only gets a formula feed if she rejects my breast - this she only does when she is soo tired and impatient for her food .. some nights around 6pm feed... most times she does feed off me.

I agree.. I would love to go all breast milk again but sadly my daughter is dictating that at the moment..

x

 

[budge]

ahh ok

well i would phone your HV up again and see what she suggest you do. That way you will get her advice and nothing conflicting.

good luck

 

[Skidoo]

Just checking in - how are you doing?

It is difficult to combine breast and formula and only really works properly if you express when you bottle feed. Otherwise your supply diminishes - it's a supply and demand circle so the more baby demands, the more your body will produce.

I think it's best to breastfeed for as long as possible, but I do sympathise with the exhaustion! I exclusively breastfed for the first four and a half months and I was wiped out by it! Around that time Alice seemed so hungry I introduced baby rice and other solids and then started to use formula.

Hope it's going well for you!

 

[Urchin]

Hiya
I would not offer any formula in the day...if you realy need one bottle at night I would try to stick to just the one, or your BM supply will start to drop off and you will end up using more and more formula to fill her up.

I would just demand feed in the day, and she will take what she needs, don't worry about the amount.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Anna Marie]

Hi Guys,

thanks for your posts, unfortunately I am now having to introduce further formula feeds as I have thrush and the pain in my breasts during, before and after feeding is pretty unbearable. I have some Daktarin oral gel to use so that I can continue to feed but the pain is too severe so I now feed Lara as follows:

7am breast
10 am breast with formula top up
2pm formula
6pm formula
middle of night feed breast

I am so distraught about having to do less breast feeds as I feel pretty strongly about it but i am just in too much pain. I have tried expressing instead but the pain is the same.

If the thrush clears up over the next few days and my milk supply has not diminished too much I will try and breast feed more again to build up the supply and get back on track....

sorry if you think I am giving in too easily but this is not an easy thing for me to deal with - every time I give her a bottle I cry I feel so sad about not being able to feed her myself.

 

[beanie]

Hun I don't think you are giving in too easily, thrush is so painful. I remember screaming the one time as I just couldn't take the pain, thankfully mine went after a while. I hope it clears up, and given that you have been feeding for a while your milk suplly will be pretty robust and you will get it back up again. Please don't feel bad, you have done amazingly and given your baby such a fab start

 

[budge]

Hi Guys,

thanks for your posts, unfortunately I am now having to introduce further formula feeds as I have thrush and the pain in my breasts during, before and after feeding is pretty unbearable. I have some Daktarin oral gel to use so that I can continue to feed but the pain is too severe so I now feed Lara as follows:

7am breast
10 am breast with formula top up
2pm formula
6pm formula
middle of night feed breast

I am so distraught about having to do less breast feeds as I feel pretty strongly about it but i am just in too much pain. I have tried expressing instead but the pain is the same.

If the thrush clears up over the next few days and my milk supply has not diminished too much I will try and breast feed more again to build up the supply and get back on track....

sorry if you think I am giving in too easily but this is not an easy thing for me to deal with - every time I give her a bottle I cry I feel so sad about not being able to feed her myself.

were you given any tablets for the thrush and was the baby given gel? if you aren't both treated then you'll end up passing it from one to the other and it will never clear up.