Supplementing with formula, nutrition of baby food

[american_mama]

I have some questions about supplementing with formula once your freezer stash of BM is gone, and about the nutrition of baby food vs. formula vs. breat milk. ETA: To clarify, my goal is to reduce the amount of formula DS is getting without sacrificing nutrition or calories. I will breastfeed for quite a while longer. I'm not concerned about DS's weight, which was confirmed at 5th% again today; it's just the way all three of my kiddos have been as babies. But, because he is small, I am happy for him to have all the high calorie, high nutrition food he wants.

DS is 9 months and small, just 5th percentil for weight. Ever since he started solids at 5 months, I have mixed cereal and/or baby food with breast milk. When the breast milk ran out after a month or two, I switched to formula. Fine. I planned to do that. But DS is a good eater, despite his light weight, and I am sad by how much formula he is getting. He eats 4 ounces of formula a day, twice a day, plus enough cereal to thicken it and maybe 2-3 ounces of baby food, and sometimes more after that. I also nurse him 4 times a day, 5 if I am doing well.

I was pumping and taking fenugreek and it did increase what I could pump, but I stopped after a few weeks because I realized I was not going to pump 8 ounces a day and thus I'd be using formula anyway. Is it possible I am being counter-productive by using the formula instead of nursing and thus making more milk? (ETA: I know that's true with newborns, but is it still true at 9 months?) If I produced more milk, might DS take more in at each feeding, or would I have to add another feeding to get more breast milk in him?

What do others do once feeding solids is well-established... just give the solids or combine it with breast milk/formula/water? If using breast milk, do most people have enough frozen or freshly pumped to keep up for months?

And why am I bothering anyway? I assumed formula was the second most nutritious thing DS could get after breast milk, and I wanted him to have high nutrition, high calorie food since he is small. But I have just looked at labels and googled, and baby food is usually 15-20 calories an ounce, formula is 20 calories, and breast milk is 20 calories. So from a weight gain perspective, would I be just as well off feeding him a straight jar of baby food instead of 4 ounces of formula? That can't be right, but the calories give that impression.

I'd love some perspective.

[egoldber]

ould I be just as well off feeding him a straight jar of baby food instead of 4 ounces of formula?

No. Breastmilk and formula are complete forms of nutrition. That is they give babies all they need to grow and be healthy. Solids do not. This is why solids in the first year should be in addition to breastmilk or formula and not replace them, and also why when a baby does move to solids exclusively, they should be eating a wide variety to get all the nutrients they need.

If it were me, I would try to nurse more. While formula is adequate, breastmilk (with all the usual caveats, allergies, intolerances, blah blah...) is a superior food to formula. Given the choice, I would use more breastmilk.

When I gave Amy cereal, I mixed it with juice, water or baby food. But I actually stopped giving her baby cereal as soon as she could tolerate regular cereals like oatmeal, Cheeries or Rice Chex.

And some babies are just small. Amy was not even ON the weight chart until she was 15 months old. She was also a HUGE HUGE eater, but just not a big gainer. But she was happy and healthy and meeting (and exceeding) milestones, so our ped was never concerned.

There are many reasons why a baby may be small and a low supply is only one.

[jenny]

If you want to give breast milk, then supplementing with formula will diminish your supply unless you are pumping the milk at the times he is feeding. Milk suppy is based upon supply and demand, and so if you aren't draining your breasts often, then your body thinks it doesn't need to produce more milk.

Taking 8-10 ounces of formula per day is not that much, even if he is nursing 4 times a day. My 6-month DD took 7 ounces of breastmilk one time at a night feeding and my pediatrician said it was OK b/c her stomach can hold that much and even more at her age.

So I think if your DS is eating and happy, then you shouldn't worry about how much formula he is taking, unless you really feel strongly about giving breastmilk.

There are lots of things you can do to build up your supply if you are concerned about diminishing supply. But it also depends on how long you intend on breastfeeding. You said your DS is 9 months. If you only plan to breastfeed until 12 months, then it might be hard to build up your supply to produce 8 ounces b/c it'll take a few months.