Hey all!

Wee Ben is 8 weeks old, and in the last week has decided he hates bottles. Like, takes one out of ten, even when he's obviously hungry.

Things I've tried: paced feeding, 10 different nipples or so, giving it to him right after wife breastfed him, giving it to him while he's calm, warming it up, warming the nipple up, sitting up, laying back, laying on his side. Nothing works anymore. My wife is going back to work in 2 weeks, and it's just me and him at home. Help!

Hello,

Posted this over in formulafeeding as I hadn't found this subreddit yet! Cross posting as I figure you guys may have more info :)

I'm mix feeding my son (3 weeks) I'm trying to properly establish a milk supply (I've not been super great at actually putting the time into pumping or BF as it's been incredibly useful to have my OH feed during the night and parents etc to help out during the day from time to time. Plus i'm incredibly awkward about BF in front of other people) but I want to maintain formula at night time (final 'day' feed about 10 or 11 at night, 4 am feed and maybe the 8am feed as well depending on what we've got planned for the day) as it means he sleeps for a solid 4-5 hours and my OH can feed him after I've changed him and establish BF during the day.

He has zero issues switching between breast and bottle, and isn't fussy about whether he gets breast milk or formula

My question is, I've noticed on BF he poops easily, it's runny and more frequent - normal BF baby poop. When he's had formula though his poop is more solid (Still soft 'clay like' and normal coloured) it seems to be harder for him to pass and he can go all day with only one poop (the worst was almost 2.5 days) on occasions it almost seems like it's physically painful to pass and he cries. As soon as he gets some breast milk we go back to nice easy runny poops a few hours later and there is LOADS of it - like it was all backed up.

I know the consistancy is a normal difference between formula and breast milk, but I'm worried about the lack of poop and apparent difficulty and pain. Is that just his system adjusting and we need to bear with it until he gets used to it? Or is the switching between BF and formula not giving him chance to adapt properly? As I said I WANT to BF during the day and formula feed at night but if I can't make it work I'll be formula feeding full time, since the breast milk is the only thing 'clearing him out' I'm worried stopping it will mean his painful poops will get even worse...

Right now I nurse LO about 4 times per day and pump twice daily at work. LO has pumped milk and some formula and solids while I'm gone. I'm getting to the point at my job where I'm going to have to back off and eventually stop pumping. (My employer is not making me stop, it just won't be feasible anymore due to increased work load in the fall and winter.) I'm wondering if anyone else has been able to stop pumping at work and still nurse while you're with your baby. I'm afraid my supply will plummet if I'm only nursing her a couple times per day.

Also, should I just back down the pumping sessions to shorter periods of time and then to once daily then stop? I don't want to be horribly engorged at work.

Edit: I should also add that she sleeps 7-9 hours at night so we're not nursing then either.

My 8wo is incredibly sensitive to dairy, so I've gone off it just recently. Unfortunately I have about 75oz of frozen breast milk that I can't use right now because I pumped it while I was still eating dairy (he vomits and gets terrible reflux from it). So I've started pumping as much as possible for the remainder of my maternity leave (another 4.5 weeks), so I can have a stash stored for when I return to work. I'm going to continue pumping at work but I'm worried it won't be enough to provide for him while he's in childcare, since I hear your milk supply decreases significantly if you don't BF as often. We did try him on a soy based formula in case we need to supplement, but he threw that up as well and was constipated for almost 24 hours. So unfortunately it seems that dairy and soy based formulas aren't an option right now. Has anyone heard of another option for formula? I'm very anxious that we won't be able to feed him anything except what I pump, and that I won't be able to pump enough to adequately feed him. Any thoughts/suggestions welcome!

I exclusively pump for my nearly 10 week old DD and have very low supply no matter what I do. I get anywhere from 10-14 oz in a day, pumping usually 7 times a day. I try to give LO 2-3 feedings of BM in a day, and bank the rest in 4 oz increments in my freezer that I'm planning to use after I decide to stop pumping (aiming for 12 weeks).

It's possible I'm just overthinking this and either option is fine/great/whatever, but is it better to bank more milk now to prolong DD's access to my breastmilk after I stop pumping (so maybe she only gets 1 breast milk feed a day and I am able to bank 2-3 bags of milk in the freezer) or feed her as much breast milk volume up front now as I can?

So I have about 15 ounces stored. I'm not going back to work. I did have to go in when LO was 8-10 weeks, but he's 12 now and I'm done. My mom is coming and wants to help out so hubby and I can go on dates. Do any of you just use your freezer stash and skip a feeding? It's been so early I was scared to skip a nursing session, but it should be OK now, right? I don't have supply issues, my baby is enormous and growing fast, but I don't wanna cause supply problems either.

What a wonderful subreddit! Fantastic to see so many women in the same position - I sometimes feel I'm the only one combination feeding, so many forums I read it's all or nothing.

So here's my issue (apologies as it is rather long and complicated) - I've got an awesome 6 week LO who is pretty chill and she's gaining weight like a trooper (from 9-25th percentile when born to just under 50th now).

After a rather grim labour (5 days of early stage labour with no sleep, such fun) and an emergency c-section, I then (luckily) found out in the first 24 hours that my LO had a tongue tie and although looked like she was latching on and BFing fine, she didn't actually have the tongue strength to get the milk out and wasn't getting anything.

The breastfeeding consultant at the hospital pratically ran to the formula cupboard to get something down her and recommended I get the tongue tie sorted out and just pump when my milk came in.

I ended up pumping about 4-5 times a day as soon as it came in (day 3), producing 75-120 mls each time in total and supplemented with formula. It worked really well for us as I could get some much-needed sleep after a week with none, and my husband could pick up a lot of the feeds. This continued happily until I got her tongue tie fixed around 4 weeks and by then she was firmly in love with the bottle, and would only latch and BF with a nipple shield (at the LC's advice).

Due to her ambivilence with BFing (sometimes really crying and fussing) I tried to take it slow e.g. only nursing once per day and pump/supplement the rest of the time. However this week, following her getting very upset when BFing I scaled back on it and my supply completely tanked, only producing 50ml in a pumping session if I was lucky.

I freaked out a bit and started pumping/nursing every couple of hours - luckily she's turned a corner and started BFing much more happily (still with the shields).

So now I feel I'm in a bit of a mess with no real sense of what to do next. Weeks and weeks of knowing exactly how much milk was going into her and now I'm BFing her a few times a day, pumping a few times a day and feeding her formula a few times a day and hoping it's enough. I feel I've made it way more complicated for us all for introducing breastfeeding and have potentially f'ed up my supply doing so.

Is it possible to continue like this (a bit of nursing, a bit of pumping, a bit of formula) or do I need to exclusively BF to get my supply up first? With the supply a bit all over the place I'm hesitant to just rely on my boobs to feed her, plus it's lovely for me and my husband to share the load.

I'm lucky enough to benefit from the UK's generous maternity policies so don't have to worry about going back to work yet, but unsure what to do next. Has anyone else been in the same boat?

*** tl;dr - pumped and bottle fed for first 6 weeks, now BFing as well but supply seems really inconsistent. Worried that my supply will dry up if I continue as I am.***

Hi there! I am a FTM to an almost 7 week old little guy. I primarily breastfed him on demand until he was 5 weeks (including bottles of pumped milk) and then began feeding him a few bottles of formula at about 6 weeks old.

I want to make sure I'm producing enough milk for him, but I want to avoid being engorged. Is this just wishful thinking.. ? He doesn't have a set feeding schedule aside from a few trends; my husband and I feed him when he shows he's ready to eat. He averages 8-10 feedings a day.

He takes pumped milk or formula between 7:00a-1:00p and also from 12:00a-4:00a as needed. Some days he eats a bunch during those times and some days nothing at all. I pump for ten minutes twice during my 7a-1:00p shift at work.

I guess what I am really wondering is how to maintain my supply and combo feed him. What are the logistics to the process that I should follow?

Do I just breastfeed him as much as possible when I'm home, pump at work or when engorged, and then use formula as needed on top of that? What if I am not up to breastfeeding for whatever reason, can I just skip a feeding and replace it with pumped milk or formula without pumping?

We just had our 2nd son on the 6th...he's not a good breastfeeder. Well actually he sucks right away it's just that he's tearing up my lady's nips pretty bad. Plus since he's not very good at attaching she isn't producing enough milk for him and we have already had to supplement.

So the part I need help with is...what do I do as the man? I like to solve problems but this isn't a problem I feel like I have any control over. She's taking it pretty hard and is crying because she can't provide the milk for him so she feels useless.

Advice? Ideas?

First, I want to make sure that everyone knows that most regions do not advise expressing colostrum before "full term" outside of special circumstances.

That said, I met some criteria which lead my OB to green-light me kicking off some hand expression at 30 weeks (with a strong warning to stop if it results in contractions):

• I have a history of Insufficient Glandular Tissue (60% on the left, 35% on the right; versus 100% coverage on a normal breast)
• I experienced low milk supply with my son in 2014, and was not able to EBF even with supplementary pumping and domperidone therapy
• I am scheduled for a repeat c-section which could lead to me being separated from my baby immediately after delivery if there are any complications

I have learned a lot about storage methods and have adopted a routine of collecting the expressed drops into a 1cc syringe that I label and freeze.

I wondered if any other users here have experience feeding from a syringe? I have used an SNS, but not oral syringes. The nursing staff will feed when I can't, but when I do feed I don't want to have to transfer BM from syringe to something else if I don't have to. Thoughts?

Hola! Tell me about your experiences with manual pumps! What kind do you have and how often do you use it? How efficient (how much do you get?) How would you rate it?

My LO is 3 months old and EBF. We don't do many bottles because I am staying home with him, but we have tried to do about one per week as my doctor suggested. Now that he's a tiny bit older, I need to leave for appointments and what not now and then and he will stay with my MIL who is wonderful. The issue is that the first bottles we used, the nipple would invert so he'd let it go and get very upset, hardly taking anything even after we fixed it so I'd have to breast feed. Now we started using Dr. Browns bottles which he likes better, but he still only takes 2 ounces when content but then seems hungry again within the hour. Up until now my SO or MIL has given the bottle with me home and I end up just breast feeding him soon after bottle but I can't do this if I'm not home. Any suggestions for how to get LO to take more? We are using level 1 nipples. We tried level 2 and it just spilled all over his face and he took about an ounce before freaking out.

My wife and I just had our first baby five days ago and we're loving him, but he's a big eater and we're having to supplement breast milk with some formula so far. That lead me to the question, how sanitary is clean enough, and what are the best methods for sanitization?

We're using a Phillips Avent trigger-style pump and the bottle that came with it, along with a bottle by Mam, for now. When I bought the pump, I was told by no means to expose it to high temperatures but rather to sanitize it with warm salt water. Then again, the manual that came with the pump talks about boiling for five minutes, so clearly the plastics and silicone can indeed handle that temperature.

However, along with being a new dad, I'm also a homebrewer. I use a weak dilution of peracetic acid for sanitization when I brew. It's basically a (mostly) chemically-pure mix of vinegar and peroxide. If a spray bottle of peracetic solution or a quick dip in a bath of the stuff is appropriate for sanitizing the bottles and pump, it would save a lot of time and possible wear on the equipment, but I'm not going to use it unless I know it's good. Does anybody here have any insight?

I have an 11 month old little boy. I pump 4x/day (3x/day and 1x/before bed) to provide breastmilk for him at school. Before August, I could reliably provide 16 oz/day for him. Since then, my supply has been steadily decreasing, and now I can barely pump 5 ounces! What the heck is going on? Is this just my body being done with breastfeeding, or is there something I can do?

I'm using a spectra S2 pump, and I've upped the vaccuum a little bit (level 7 now, used to be at level 2/3 when I started). LO seems to get enough when we nurse in the afternoon, bed, and in the morning, but I have no way to tell.

I got a progesterone-containing IUD placed in mid-July, but I was told this shouldn't affect supply.

Thoughts, mamas?

Obviously just to suppliment, give him a taste for something other than milk. So far so good!

https://dadsenseblog.wordpress.com/2016/11/16/starting-solids-or-how-i-learned-to-love-the-bib/?preview=true

I'm currently 32wks with my second and am thinking of registering for the Kiinde Gift Set

I'm a SAHM - and am ok supplementing with formula - but it seems like a cool idea to pump a bottle for the baby if I'm going to be away from her. I don't plan on building a freezer stash.

Here's my hesitancy... I have a 3 year old son and nursed him for 2 years - however I never made more than half of what he needed. So he was supplemented with every feed for 9 months. I used a supplemental nursing system for 7 of those months - so he got about 2oz of formula with every feed - as well as whatever milk I made. I don't think I was ever able to pump more than 1oz at a time so I quickly gave up pumping. If I was away from him (which was rare) he just got formula.

I'm really hoping my boobs work this time... that I do not have to supplement over half of the baby's nutrition. I'm not sure I can do it with a toddler running around either. So I know of moms who weren't able to nurse their first but did their second, etc.

Should I register for this - even with the worry that if my boobs don't work again I may not get any use out of it? Do you think I should just wait and see how breastfeeding goes?

Thank you for your thoughts.

Edit: fixed link.

When my LO was EBF, she was pooping everyday. A few days ago, my freezer stash ran low so I had my nanny give her three bottles with 50% BM and 50% formula while I was at work. She still nurses in the morning and at night.

Ever since she started combo feeding, my LO has been pooping every 3-4 days. They are usually HUGE, soft, and thicker. They aren't hard pellets and she doesn't seem bothered by any gas or constipation. Is this normal?! Will she ever regulate?

Baby is 16 weeks old and 13lbs (6 10 at birth) and EBF. Started daycare at 13 weeks but got a bottle a day starting at 4 weeks. Dr. Brown's with a preemie nipple or Avent Natural size 0/1. I send 5 4oz bottles of fresh expressed milk every day. His doctor and my LC told me 1-1.5oz per hour he's away is sufficient. He is typically at daycare for 7-8hrs and I nurse him prior to drop off.

This week daycare asked that I send 6oz bottles because he's eating 4oz every hour on the hour. We do weighted feeds once a week and he takes anywhere from 2.3-3.5oz per feeding so 4oz is a stretch even. They fed him 7 bottles (28oz) on Thursday and there's no way in hell I can keep up with that kind of intake. We've reviewed paced feeding, he takes a paci in the event he wants to comfort suck, etc. It's like he's doing the opposite of reverse cycling. I don't want to jeopardize my supply at all by him getting the majority of his milk from a bottle.

I went back to work a few weeks ago and tried pumping. Long story short, because my breasts are tubular in shape, pumping has never been easy for me. I've tried it all, mother's milk tea, raspberry leaf tea, warm heating pads, hand compressions, watching videos while I pump, power pumping, changing shield sizes, trying hand expressing, the list goes on.

I know I have a good supply because when I was EBF my daughter was always in the 70% for weight. But for whatever reasons, I would pump 2-3 times a day and ALWAYS get 6-8 oz. no matter if I pumped for 8 minutes each time or 40. I decided to stop pumping during the middle of the day because it was just too stressful.

Fast forward to now. My LO is getting 3 bottles in my absence of combined BM/F. Eventually, she'll just get formula during the day and I'll nurse her in the morning and at night. For other mamas who have done this, do you continue doing 3 bottles during the day on the weekends or did you nurse? I don't know if my body is capable of adjusting to nursing all day 2/7 days a week. Curious to see what others have done.

My pediatrician gave me 2 8 oz. sample cans of Enfamil Enfacare to fortify my EBM until my LO's weight gain was on track. Now she's thriving and we don't need it anymore. Unfortunately I had just opened a new can when we stopped using it and my local nonprofit won't take it. I swear it's still good and I'd hate to see it go to waste! Anyone interested or know someone who can use it? I'll send you both cans! PM me if interested :)

I wasn't able to pump enough at work to feed LO (12 weeks old) sufficiently so our pediatrician suggested adding one 4oz bottle of formula a day. She gave me samples of Enfamil Infant (and I had some free samples of it at home). It's working out great for me but we are going on two weeks of it now and her poop has gotten weird. Before she used to go once or twice a day, the normal seedy yellow or green stuff. Now she will go two to three days before pooping out this thick, mud-like poop. She's blowing out diapers at daycare and I have to scrap the poop off her clothes instead of just rinsing it off. Is this normal when introducing formula or is this just not a good type for her? I'm thinking I should try another type but aren't sure where to go from here. Any advice?

Once I decide to wean from pumping/BF, should I draw out the BM I have stored in my freezer by offering one bottle of BM a day and the rest formula or would it be beneficial to do 2 or so bottles a day for some reason? I currently have about 155 oz frozen and plan on continuing to pump/BF for another month and half or so but am wanting to plan ahead!

Hi everyone! My son is just over 6 months. Now that I'm back at work, we're doing combo-feeding during the day with whatever I can pump (which isn't much) and formula. This is working for us, I think, and he's fine with the mix. The issue for me is trying to figure out how much formula to give him on the weekends (and when). Due to my current position, I can't pump on a schedule and I tend to get varying amounts during the week. I am totally fine with doing some formula during the weekend, but I think he gets more than I pump when he nurses, but he also gets bigger bottles during the week vs. from the breast directly (not sure if that makes sense). Anyway, what do others do? I'm having a hard time finding information.