Formula?

[sweetsurprise]

Talk to me about formula.

I'm slowly, kinda, not really, but maybe pondering weaning at some point and I realize I have questions about how it works. Sorry if I'm dumb but I have never used it with DS so it's a bit of a mystery.

DS drinks milk about every 4 hours but sometimes I offer him a pumped bottle and he's uninterested. Do you just throw it away?

The amount DS eats is variable. Do you make a little and then give more if he's hungry or just make full bottles?

Do you premix formula for daycare?

I know I've seen people post about certain babies preferring certain brands. How did you make that decision?

When you are out and about do you just bring bottled water to mix it?

Sorry if these are dumb questions. I decided to make a separate thread so it wouldn't be too annoying in the Randoms.

Anything else you could share would be great too!

[apk4]

Thanks for doing this! I've been trying some mixed bottles with no luck thus far.

[windwithfingers]

I can answer some of these questions.

If you make a bottle, you have to use it within 24 hours. Refrigerate. If he drinks a little from the bottle, then stops, you have to toss it within an hour.

DS drinks 26oz of formula a day, which is on the lower end of the spectrum. I almost never make bottles more than 4oz. If he wants more, I make him a 2oz bottle.

I bought Enfamil and my pedi gave me samples of Similac. DS took to Similac right away and wouldn't take Enfamil at all. Ask your pedi about samples. We switched to Target brand and had no problems.

Yes to bottled water, or I fill the bottles with the filtered water from the fridge.

ETA: my DS had no issues switching and we didn't have to do half BM, half formula at all. I think mrsbabe614 has done it successfully.

[meagpt22]

I premix bottles for formula bc it's easier. At home I make water bottles ahead of time and keep at room temp then add powder as about to eat. DD eats 6 oz (roughly) 5 times a day.

We have changed formula throughout based on issues. Started with sample cans then bought the larger cans. The latest change was recommended by Dr.

When out I bring the water bottle and have a formula dispenser container pre measured with amount needed.

[pinkie]

Our baby eats like nuts! He takes 4 bottles during the day and one overnight. Each one he takes 6-8 oz. we feed him on a schedule (more or less) and make each bottle to be 8 oz.

Any mixed formula needs to be refrigerated and used with 24 hrs.

Once he stops eating we toss what's left. If he has more than 2 oz we will offer again in 30 min then toss.

His usual schedule is 9:30, 1, 4:30, 7, overnight

We mix with bottled water, the same stuff we all drink as a family. I forget if I missed anything so need to post and reread your OP

[pinkie]

Ok continued

We use the formula pitcher to mix for daycare. We mix bed and 3 bottles for daycare. For overnight we prep a bottle with water and have the formula pre measured so we just dump it in and shake.

For on the go I usually put the powder in the bottom of the bottle and cap it. Then add 8 oz water when it's time to feed.

[darwinfish]

I use ready-to-feed exclusively.. it's expensive, but it makes life easier for me... Daycare is not allowed to "mix" or pour formula, so I pour his bottles and then transport with an ice pack.

We keep a few 8oz ready to feed bottles in the diaper bag so that we are never without food, and it eliminates the need to always have water on hand.

We tried similac sensitive at first, but I have since transitioned him to the organic similac. Not really sure why I chose similac, but probably because that's what they had at the hospital.

[jeniece47]

We transitioned to formula about two months ago. K has kept a formula schedule similar to what her BM schedule was. We do four ounce bottles and if she is still hungry we make her another two ounces.

Daycare required the bottles to be premixed so we would send them done and put them in the fridge there. Before bed we make a couple of bottles and put them in the fridge for MOTN feeds. She does not care if they are cold.

On the go we bring a bottle that has four ounces of water in it and formula in the pre measured container. We also put a small water bottle in the diaper bag in case we need more than one bottle.

When we transitioned we had to do half formula half breastmilk bottles for a little while.

We use enfamil gentlease but only picked it because we had samples. We used ready made when we started supplementing but moved to powder once she was completely weaned due to cost.

[sweetsurprise]

Do you end up throwing away a lot of unused formula?

[pinkie]

Jun 25, 2015 15:05:08 GMT -5 sweetsurprise said:

Do you end up throwing away a lot of unused formula?

Not too much because our baby eats like nuts. We have realized he doesn't like a break in eating so making 6 then more if he wants more doesn't work out.

The formula pitcher is seriously great for making a days worth. I never used it for my older son but love it this time. It mixes so nicely too so no clumps

[sweetsurprise]

Jun 25, 2015 15:09:10 GMT -5 pinkie said:

Jun 25, 2015 15:05:08 GMT -5 sweetsurprise said:

Do you end up throwing away a lot of unused formula?

Not too much because our baby eats like nuts. We have realized he doesn't like a break in eating so making 6 then more if he wants more doesn't work out.

The formula pitcher is seriously great for making a days worth. I never used it for my older son but love it this time. It mixes so nicely too so no clumps

I have never heard of the formula pitcher. ...off to Amazon!

[mrsbabe614]

Yeah DD wouldn't take the formula right off the bat. I started with enfamil and she wasn't doing great with it so I switched to Similac because ANM told me Similac tastes sweeter. I started with 1oz of formula to 3oz of BM and she did that for a week. Then I went to half and half. That stalled and it took her 3 weeks to go to 3-1 and then she took the whole bottle of formula no problem. She gets formula at daycare and I feed her at night so we successfully go back and fourth now but it took a long ass time to get my persnickity baby to do it. Also I wasn't feeding her formula because she was not having that and sometimes dream feeding is easier to toss things in on them.

[ajh1230]

We also use the ready to feed liquid. We give Gerber good start gentle. I've tried the exact formula in powder and dd wants nothing to do with it. It is more expensive but I think much more convenient. Dd eats 3-4ounces every 3ish hours during the day.
Dd won't take the formula cold so it has to be room temp if just poured or warmed up if it's been in the fridge.

[lrobi13]

DH makes three 6 ounce bottles at night for daycare. He also get 2 at home. So he is offered 5 bottles/ 30 ounces.

We throw out whatever he doesn't finish within an hour.

We use the Sam's Club version of Gentlease. It is only $25 for a giant tub so we spend around $75 a month.

When out I just pack some bottles with water and use the little formula dispenser that has three pre-measured sections of formula.

Lucky for us, the kid likes room temperature bottles!

[meagpt22]

Jun 25, 2015 15:05:08 GMT -5 sweetsurprise said:

Do you end up throwing away a lot of unused formula?

No Emma sucks them down. Last bottle at bed sometimes 2 oz gets throw away.

[americanninjamommy]

Jun 25, 2015 16:35:23 GMT -5 lrobi13 said:

DH makes three 6 ounce bottles at night for daycare. He also get 2 at home. So he is offered 5 bottles/ 30 ounces.

We throw out whatever he doesn't finish within an hour.

We use the Sam's Club version of Gentlease. It is only $25 for a giant tub so we spend around $75 a month.

When out I just pack some bottles with water and use the little formula dispenser that has three pre-measured sections of formula.

Lucky for us, the kid likes room temperature bottles!

We are almost the same, but we do 5 oz bottles and have switched from Enfamil Gentlease to Up&Up Gentle.  Avg cost is around $100/month.

We use room temperature nursery water to make the bottles.  I pre-make daycare bottles the night before and transport with a frozen water bottle.  ANB won't take a cold bottle, so it's either room temp or slightly warmed.

[saraml13]

I've got a few formula coupon checks if anyone would like them.

2 Similac $5 checks (exp 7/22)
2 Enfagrow $5 checks for Toddler Transitions formulas (exp 8/31)

Send me a PM if you'd like me to mail them.

[pinkie]

If you are considering switching def ask your ped for recommendations and samples. It seems the standard starting point is similac or enfamil. Our kids did not do well on either or their sensitive formulas and we switched to gerber soothe for both kids. Our ped likes the gerber formulas and tries to start babies on gentle.

[happyin14]

It's all mostly been covered but another mom who weaned story. DS had no problem taking formula. We could go straight to formula. I was pumping at work, so I knew about how many oz he was taking per bottle. That said, we quickly went from 5 to 6 oz. (Both because scoops are 2 oz/each and because formula generally requires more.)

I am now completely weaned but I used to have some bottles BM, some nursing and some formula. He handled it really well. Although did lose some interest in nursing... But he was never a giant fan of it (didn't comfort nurse ever, really...'much to my chagrin).

We do a 5-6 oz bottles/day. Sometimes he leaves an oz or so in the last bottle. But that's it.

As others said, the hour rule once feeding starts. I do like windwithfingers, water from filter on fridge in bottles. Dc will mix it for me. I leave a tub there.

[apk4]

I think we are going to try RTF this weekend and see if it makes a difference. I get frustrated trying formula because I have a very limited freezer supply, and I hate dumping out mixed bottles because DS is a jerk when we try them.

[KMW08]

We use Gerber Soothe. I started with Similac but they all (regular, breastfeeding supplement, orange lid one?)caused constipation issues with my lil man.

I'm a bit of a rebel on this, but I don't throw away anything he has "touched" after an hour. Usually I put it back in the fridge and offer it back to him later. I have had no issues.