FF check-in

[shahoi]

The formula feeder check-in is buried, so I thought I'd start a new one!

Questions? Concerns? Gas? Reflux? Let's talk about it!

[shahoi]

O is 1 just over a month old, and 3 oz a feeding is no longer satisfying her, so we've been doing 3.5oz every 3 hours or so, with maybe a 4oz bottle during a MOTN feeding. She's been going about 4 hours in between feedings at night. How do you know if you are giving them too much/little?

Also, if your LO burps right away, do you continue to burp them to try to get a couple more, or do you go back to feeding? How long do you try if they aren't burping before you give up?

[mcp6286]

shahoi my pedi said that you can't really overfeed a baby because they will start spitting up a and push away the bottle when they're done. I usually give the paci if she's still rooting after she finishes a regular size bottle and if she continues to spit it out abs cry after a few mins, I know she's actually still hungry.

Re burping: I follow the advice AmyG gave in another thread and burp for 1-3 mins, but I burp every ounce instead of 1/2 ounce. If she hasn't burped after 3 mins, I give it up. I also change positions after about 1.5 mins if she hasn't burped yet.

H is 3w4d and taking between 2.5-3.5 ounces every 2 hours. She goes a little longer at night between feedings sometimes. About once a day she chugs a 4 oz bottle...can't figure that one out. She only poops once a day and it's always a chore for her. Wish I could get her to poop less aggressively and more frequently. Maybe something to ask the pedi about at her 1-month appt on Thurs.

[shahoi]

Jul 10, 2015 10:38:41 GMT -5 mcp6286 said:

shahoi my pedi said that you can't really overfeed a baby because they will start spitting up a and push away the bottle when they're done. I usually give the paci if she's still rooting after she finishes a regular size bottle and if she continues to spit it out abs cry after a few mins, I know she's actually still hungry.

Re burping: I follow the advice AmyG gave in another thread and burp for 1-3 mins, but I burp every ounce instead of 1/2 ounce. If she hasn't burped after 3 mins, I give it up. I also change positions after about 1.5 mins if she hasn't burped yet.

H is 3w4d and taking between 2.5-3.5 ounces every 2 hours. She goes a little longer at night between feedings sometimes. About once a day she chugs a 4 oz bottle...can't figure that one out. She only poops once a day and it's always a chore for her. Wish I could get her to poop less aggressively and more frequently. Maybe something to ask the pedi about at her 1-month appt on Thurs.

O has the same poop schedule as your H, and yes, it's always a big production. And so is passing gas for her. I hate seeing her in pain. She also fights me the whole time I'm burping her. She kicks, wiggles, and whines/cries the whole time, so it's pretty difficult if she doesn't burp right away. The Ped thinks she has reflux, so we started Zantac last night. I'm hoping it might help with the gas, too.

[alayne926]

Little miss is 2 weeks old and takes 2oz every 3 hours.

We went to the pedi on Wednesday and he thinks she has reflux, so now she's on Zantac and 1/2 tsp of rice cereal per oz on her bottles. So far we've noticed she is spitting up less and seems to be more content after eating.

We burp every oz and if I get a burp out quickly, I try to see if I can get any more out of her.

I've also noticed if I give her the binkie after her bottle, it distracts her enough to let the bottle settle and get a good burp out of her.

[txngrl31]

V is 6.5 weeks old and is eating formula like a champ. I no longer feel that guilt about giving up on BF'ing because she is growing and developing wonderfully and beautifully. Plus, I have a lot more freedom!

She is now eating about 6 times a day with 3-5 hours between feedings. We have to make 5.5-6.5 ounce bottles now because she will eat anywhere between 3.5 ounces to 6 ounces, depending on her mood. One time she even ate 7! The pedi says to stay ahead of her by one ounce when making the bottles. At this rate, we will need a whole new set of bottles. She was born 2 weeks early and she was pretty small at that, so I feel like she is gaining what she needs to be.

Sometimes she has issues with gas in her belly but that usually passes rather quickly. We try to burp her after every ounce and then we have her stay upright in our arms at least 20-30 min after the feeding. I also move on after a minute or two between ounces if she hasn't burped. If that's the case, she ends up burping when we change positions.

[sully326]

Jul 10, 2015 10:38:41 GMT -5 mcp6286 said:

shahoi my pedi said that you can't really overfeed a baby because they will start spitting up a and push away the bottle when they're done. I usually give the paci if she's still rooting after she finishes a regular size bottle and if she continues to spit it out abs cry after a few mins, I know she's actually still hungry.

Re burping: I follow the advice AmyG gave in another thread and burp for 1-3 mins, but I burp every ounce instead of 1/2 ounce. If she hasn't burped after 3 mins, I give it up. I also change positions after about 1.5 mins if she hasn't burped yet.

All of this I could've written. Getting her to burp is a pain in the ass. She's super gassy and has to have gas drops every time she eats, and I'm pretty sure a lot of it is because she doesn't burp much.

A is 4 weeks old today. She eats 3.5oz every 3-3.5hrs during the day. At night, she will go 3-5hrs between feedings.

[mcp6286]

Jul 10, 2015 10:58:18 GMT -5 shahoi said:

Jul 10, 2015 10:38:41 GMT -5 mcp6286 said:

shahoi my pedi said that you can't really overfeed a baby because they will start spitting up a and push away the bottle when they're done. I usually give the paci if she's still rooting after she finishes a regular size bottle and if she continues to spit it out abs cry after a few mins, I know she's actually still hungry.

Re burping: I follow the advice AmyG gave in another thread and burp for 1-3 mins, but I burp every ounce instead of 1/2 ounce. If she hasn't burped after 3 mins, I give it up. I also change positions after about 1.5 mins if she hasn't burped yet.

H is 3w4d and taking between 2.5-3.5 ounces every 2 hours. She goes a little longer at night between feedings sometimes. About once a day she chugs a 4 oz bottle...can't figure that one out. She only poops once a day and it's always a chore for her. Wish I could get her to poop less aggressively and more frequently. Maybe something to ask the pedi about at her 1-month appt on Thurs.

O has the same poop schedule as your H, and yes, it's always a big production. And so is passing gas for her. I hate seeing her in pain. She also fights me the whole time I'm burping her. She kicks, wiggles, and whines/cries the whole time, so it's pretty difficult if she doesn't burp right away. The Ped thinks she has reflux, so we started Zantac last night. I'm hoping it might help with the gas, too.

H is super wiggly while burping too. It mus be gas; she farts and burps a lot during feeding. I now change her, re-swaddle her and then feed her so that the tight swaddle keeps her still during feeding and easier to burp b/c she can't thrash around.

[musicfrk2002]

J usually eats 4 oz every 3 hours or so. Last night he ate about 7 oz before he finally calmed down, then ate 5 this morning, but spit back up about an ounce. This afternoon he ate 4 and was still screaming for more then passed out after another quarter of an ounce. Waiting on a call back from the pediatrician right now, J seems to be having a lot of gas issues, sounds like maybe reflux but idk

[PurpleIris]

Joining you guys; Miss M is 1 week old today. We attempted breastfeeding (I made it 9 mos. with my son) but her latch was never good, there's a mild tongue tie, and it was so painful. TBH I hated it the whole time with my son and decided that my sanity is worth something, so we switched to formula 3 days ago. So far she's eating 2 - 2.5 oz in a feeding; we are still waking her up during the day on occasion but she's been pretty good about eating every 2 - 3 hours during the day.

I can't tell you how much my mood has improved since we made the switch. I had PPA last time, and I think breastfeeding stress played a large role in that. I feel like I can actually enjoy my baby now, and I think I'm a more responsive mom when I'm guaranteed that the response will not include putting a rabid wolverine to my boob.

[Bluedaisy]

Hey ladies,

I'm kind of part of this club...lo lost 13% of his body weight so we went to formula. My milk hadn't come in. I was wrecked over it and had no idea where to start or what to do. We started supplements to try bring my milk in and in the meantime went straight to formula. I have to say my anxiety immediately down.

I think for us we're going to try to do some formula and some bottle. We met with a lactation consultant today and got tons of information. I was so impressed with how knowledgeable she was about formula and the fact that she was very supportive of trying to use both.

I wanted to say that after going to formula I read the entire last FF thread and it was a HUGE help to me. You ladies have no idea how it helped me.

[Bluedaisy]

Oh I also need to say that after two days on formula lo gained 230 grams!!! Great progress and the nurses were thrilled!

[turtletyme]

We are in the 3 week spurt, so any schedule to speak of seems out the window, but 2-3 oz per feed anyway. She is pooping constantly and burping is an ass pain here too, so I guess that's a thing. We have been wondering about a bottle switch to get her to swallow less air, but I don't think that's the problem.

[shahoi]

@jemomma I stopped BFing 18 days PP and it took about 7 days to dry up. I'm going on 5 weeks PP now and am totally back to normal. You will get there!! As far as the formula, we have only used Enfamil Newborn and Gentlease. We have had gas issue's with both, but we are still using the Gentlease. We started on Zantac 2 days ago, so the Ped wants us to wait a week to see if things get any better, and then we may switch formula again.

[sully326]

@jemomma it took about 10 days for mine to dry completely up. Boobs have been back to their crappy, normal self ever since....minus the itching. My boobs itch so bad I'm about ready to chop them off..

[mcp6286]

@jemomma I'm 4 weeks pp and back in regular bras for about a week now. Lovin it!

Anyone else thinking they're going to go broke feeding their bottomless pit of a child? LOL

[shahoi]

Jul 11, 2015 13:45:00 GMT -5 mcp6286 said:

@jemomma I'm 4 weeks pp and back in regular bras for about a week now. Lovin it!

Anyone else thinking they're going to go broke feeding their bottomless pit of a child? LOL

Meeeeeeeeeeee!

[Bluedaisy]

Question: How many poops a day are your FF babies usually having. Little man has gone almost 17 hours without pooping. Is this normal?

Edited to add: He's one week old today if that makes things different.

[alayne926]

Jul 11, 2015 20:49:19 GMT -5 Bluedaisy said:

Question: How many poops a day are your FF babies usually having. Little man has gone almost 17 hours without pooping. Is this normal?

Edited to add: He's one week old today if that makes things different.

S has maybe one poop a day. Completely normal to go a few days with no poops as long as they aren't hard once he does go.

[shahoi]

O typically goes once a day, mayyybe twice. She has gone an entire 24 hour period without pooping... I was worried, but her Ped said it was normal.

[mcp6286]

Jul 11, 2015 20:49:19 GMT -5 Bluedaisy said:

Question: How many poops a day are your FF babies usually having. Little man has gone almost 17 hours without pooping. Is this normal?

Edited to add: He's one week old today if that makes things different.

H very consistently goes once a day. Sometimes if she's had one or two big 4 oz bottles (which she's been doing the last few days) she'll go a second time but that one's a more minor poop. Her regular daily poop is quite the production!

[Bluedaisy]

Thanks ladies! It seems I had a case of the mom anxieties lol. He's now pooped twice. OMG the smell is gross compared to the straight breast milk poops.

[holliberry28]

I want to join you guys. I feel like I'm in a limbo between bfing and giving formula and could just do one exclusively already. But can't ger over guilt re formula even though I know it's irrational but don't have enough breast milk either for LO. Wondering what helped you guys decide to make the switch ?

[Bluedaisy]

Jul 14, 2015 11:43:09 GMT -5 holliberry28 said:

I want to join you guys. I feel like I'm in a limbo between bfing and giving formula and could just do one exclusively already. But can't ger over guilt re formula even though I know it's irrational but don't have enough breast milk either for LO. Wondering what helped you guys decide to make the switch ?

I'm still with you in limbo land.  We're still working on my supply but truthfully I think little man is pretty much exclusively formula fed and really just nursing as comfort.  We see the doctor on Friday and I'm going to talk to her then about my prescription for upping my supply.  After that I will decide when to pull the plug...I'm exhausted and frustrated and beyond stressed. The guilt is what's keeping me going even though both my mom and grandma couldn't breastfeed.

[holliberry28]

Jul 14, 2015 12:25:57 GMT -5 Bluedaisy said:

Jul 14, 2015 11:43:09 GMT -5 holliberry28 said:

I want to join you guys. I feel like I'm in a limbo between bfing and giving formula and could just do one exclusively already. But can't ger over guilt re formula even though I know it's irrational but don't have enough breast milk either for LO. Wondering what helped you guys decide to make the switch ?

I'm still with you in limbo land.  We're still working on my supply but truthfully I think little man is pretty much exclusively formula fed and really just nursing as comfort.  We see the doctor on Friday and I'm going to talk to her then about my prescription for upping my supply.  After that I will decide when to pull the plug...I'm exhausted and frustrated and beyond stressed. The guilt is what's keeping me going even though both my mom and grandma couldn't breastfeed.

Good luck at your appointment on Friday. It's rough when you've had the mindset that you'd succeed at it no matter what. There is so much pressure around it definitely.

[Bluedaisy]

Jul 14, 2015 12:30:01 GMT -5 holliberry28 said:

Jul 14, 2015 12:25:57 GMT -5 Bluedaisy said:

I'm still with you in limbo land.  We're still working on my supply but truthfully I think little man is pretty much exclusively formula fed and really just nursing as comfort.  We see the doctor on Friday and I'm going to talk to her then about my prescription for upping my supply.  After that I will decide when to pull the plug...I'm exhausted and frustrated and beyond stressed. The guilt is what's keeping me going even though both my mom and grandma couldn't breastfeed.

Good luck at your appointment on Friday. It's rough when you've had the mindset that you'd succeed at it no matter what. There is so much pressure around it definitely.

Thanks!

[mcp6286]

Jul 14, 2015 11:43:09 GMT -5 holliberry28 said:

I want to join you guys. I feel like I'm in a limbo between bfing and giving formula and could just do one exclusively already. But can't ger over guilt re formula even though I know it's irrational but don't have enough breast milk either for LO. Wondering what helped you guys decide to make the switch ?

I had to ff because of a medication but honestly I was relieved. I've never had a desire to bf...just always felt like I had to because everyone else does. But I've never known anyone who had an easy time with it; my bf'ing friends were always exhausted, stressed, emotional and upset. I feel good about formula because H eats well, is gaining weight great, and has a mommy who enjoys feeding her instead of dreading it.

Two different pediatricians also told us that babies who are exclusively FF are usually calmer and happier than BF babies. I have def seen that to be true! I am constantly told that my baby is abnormally calm and quiet.

[laurenlou83]

Hii ladies! We have been straight FF since week 2 and he will be 7 weeks tomorrow. He is doing great and gaining weight like crazy, so I'm happy with our decision!
He is taking 4oz every 3-4hours. He goes closer to 4 at night, 3 during the day. Sometimes he'll be hungry after 2... It just all depends! I think we need to up it to 4.5-5oz soon though for him. He poops on average once a day, but sometimes I feel like it is a struggle for him. He gets frustrated when pooping! We see the ped at the end of the month for his 2wk appt and I may mention that and he farts like crazy! Not sure if it is something to be concerned about. We burp every 1-2oz - he kind of let's us know if he needs to by not drinking as fast or pushing the bottle away.

[turtletyme]

laurenlou83 glad to read your update! I have a big farter too, but she poops a lot.

I feel like with the volume she is eating, there is no way we could have bf, so I am glad we quit before things got really bad. My kid is a bottomless pit, we are feeding 3-4 oz every 3-4 hours, sometimes more, at 4 weeks. The only issue we have (besides grousing about the cost of formula) is trying to get her to stop gulping so fast. We are using the medela bottles that I got from insurance with a slow flow nip. Is it bad to use a breast milk bottle?

[txngrl31]

Jul 16, 2015 2:40:04 GMT -5 turtletyme said:

laurenlou83 glad to read your update! I have a big farter too, but she poops a lot.

I feel like with the volume she is eating, there is no way we could have bf, so I am glad we quit before things got really bad. My kid is a bottomless pit, we are feeding 3-4 oz every 3-4 hours, sometimes more, at 4 weeks. The only issue we have (besides grousing about the cost of formula) is trying to get her to stop gulping so fast. We are using the medela bottles that I got from insurance with a slow flow nip. Is it bad to use a breast milk bottle?

We have been using Medela bottles for formula at our house. I bought a bunch to go with my Medela pump before baby came because I thought I would be breastfeeding. Well, that didn't work out, so we have been using the bottles for formula feeding. Baby girl is eating anywhere between 4 oz and 6 oz so I am making a trip to BRU to buy 8oz Dr. Browns bottles. Trying to stay ahead of this little girl!