Supplementing Qs

[Deleted]

So I'm not sure if it was the stomach bug I had earlier this week or something else, but my pumping has been abysmal lately and if it doesn't pick back up I am going to need to start supplementing next week. (I am irrationally upset about this, but that's another thread).  So BF moms who supplement - how do you do it? Do you do one bottle of just formula, or a few bottles mixed with breastmilk and formula? I'm coming up about 4 oz short the past few days, and LO takes 4 5 oz bottles at daycare.  

Thanks!

[rbl]

Personally, I would mix the formula in with the breast milk.

I don't actually now if I need to supplement, but I do. I have tried giving DD a bottle of straight formula and she flat our refused it. So I do a mix, 50/50, which we have slowly worked to. We started with 1oz of formula to 4 oz of BM and slowly increased the amount of formula in the bottle.

[Deleted]

With J (my now 2 year old), I had to supplement from around 9 months on. First I did bottles half and half to get him used to the taste of the formula. Once I knew he would take it, I just did like 3 BM bottles and 2 formula bottles (or whatever the exact number was).

Also, just a general tip, try using generic formula. Most babies take it fine and you'll save a lot of money.

[sosayweall]

I know nothing about formula, but I do know about stomach bugs dropping my supply. Mine was back to normal after a week. I ate a lot and drank a lot of water and gatorade. Hopefully yours bounces back too!

[htbgmh8414]

I pump and supplement with formula and I add formula directly into the breastmilk bottle because I know my LO will eat all of it! So if I have 4 ounces of breastmilk I will add 1 ounce water and half a scoop of formula and mix it all together.

[robinbird]

I don't have any experience with formula, but I've seen moms do it both ways.

Will it make me sound like a terrible mom if I say that I would probably put 0.25-0.5 oz less in each bottle and see if LO would make up for it at home and boost my supply? (I know that doesn't equal 4oz) I'm not saying that you shouldn't supplement if you need to so please don't take it that way. My kid barely eats at daycare anyway. So for us, it probably wouldn't even make a difference to him. They never use all the milk I send.

I've had drops in supply here and there, and I just do what sosayweall mentioned. I get really scared when it happens, but I drink a ton and add a session here and there and it comes right back. I also have a really large freezer stash.

[Deleted]

Feb 16, 2015 14:52:39 GMT -5 robinbird said:

I don't have any experience with formula, but I've seen moms do it both ways.

Will it make me sound like a terrible mom if I say that I would probably put 0.25-0.5 oz less in each bottle and see if LO would make up for it at home and boost my supply? (I know that doesn't equal 4oz) I'm not saying that you shouldn't supplement if you need to so please don't take it that way. My kid barely eats at daycare anyway. So for us, it probably wouldn't even make a difference to him. They never use all the milk I send.

I've had drops in supply here and there, and I just do what sosayweall mentioned. I get really scared when it happens, but I drink a ton and add a session here and there and it comes right back. I also have a really large freezer stash.

I actually reduced the oz in her last bottle of the day, since she usually gets that bottle at like 430 and we are home breastfeeding at 530.  I would reduce the other bottles but according to daycare she is already sucking them completely dry and could probably drink more.  I think I'm back on an upswing now, so here's hoping the whole supplementing discussion is a moo point.

[Deleted]

I also have had to start supplementing. I think my period, plus I also had a stomach bug have contributed. I am mixing the BM and formula. My LO takes 6 oz bottles. So I do either 1/2 and 1/2 or 4 oz BM 2 oz formula depending on how my pumping goes. We also had a week of terrible sleep. At the pedis suggestion I am now doing a bottle before bed and this has helped tremendously with sleep. My supply seems back up over the last few days. I use Similac for supplementing.