starting to supplement with formula

[Mayan]

After 2 weeks of breastfeeding strike, which seemed to have gotten a bit better and then worse again.
Yesterday we were out, and DS started crying, I gave him some EBM that I had, unfortunately it was not enough, and when I tried to BF, he drank for a 2 minutes then started screaming, and nothing I did helped (DH had to stop somewhere so I could take him out of the carrier and calm him). Finally he cried himself to sleep and we could drive home. We were both (me and DH) pretty upset..
So I thought it might be a good idea to try and give him formula, so I would have it in cases of emergency. He had not had any since the hospital...
Also, I'm starting full time work in a week, and I'm not sure how pumping at work will go (I am able to pump 4 oz in each pumping and that might not be enough...). I currently have about 25 Oz frozen in the freezer.
Basically, I think I'm starting to be worn out over the "fighting the breast" at every meal and pumping is much less fun that BFing directly. I know they say that once you start with formula, your supply goes, but I maybe formula once ina while is not too bad?
Which formula is best to start with? DS is a spitter and has acid reflux.
I have Similac, Enfamil and Carnation samples, and some Enfamil Soy from the hospital.
Anyone has any experience with these? Tummy-wise and taste wise?

Any other suggestions for going back to work? about supplementing?

Mayan
(mom to Adi 12/04/02)

[bnme]

I really don't know enough to offer any good advice but I just want to share my experience with supplementing.....I supplemented with formula starting about the 5th day. I started out giving one bottle a day and then slowly added additional bottles until he was completely on bottles, about a week ago. I did not start to notice a drop in my supply until the very end when he was only having 1 or 2 bottles a day. Since I planned on stopping it wasn't a problem. But I think as long as I would've kept up with at least half of the feedings being nursings I would not have had supply issues. Of course I only bf for a short time so its not like I have a ton of experience.

Everyone is different though. Do you think he may be fighting it because your supply is "low"? I though that at the end but was never quite sure if it was that or if he was just starting to prefer the bottle. If you want to continue to bf and give ebm maybe you should stick with that so you don't run into a problem. You have the formula on hand in case of an emergency and you can even carry some with you on outings for the same reason. If you give an experimental bottle of formula to see how he reacts and then even a few a week I doubt it could effect your supply.

We used Enfamil LIPIL powdered formula and there was never a problem right from the first bottle.

Good luck! I know it is difficult to decide what to do in this area becuase you are never sure of how it'll effect the baby and your supply.

[sparkeze]

Different moms have different reactions to supplementing with formula. Some moms can supplement frequently and not have supply problems and others notice a decrease in supply even after 1 formula feeding a day. If you want to go ahead and try it, I would suggest calling your pediatrician to get a formula recommendation.

If your goal is to BF as long as your DS wants, I would highly recommend not supplementing. It's not that formula is bad for the baby, but once you start supplementing it's easier to think one more bottle won't make a difference, and you could soon find yourself in a position where he's not nursing anymore. In a situation like the one you described, it could've been un-related to feeding issues. It looks like your baby is only a couple months old - babies that age cry a lot and sometimes you just don't know why. Was he tired but couldn't fall asleep? Maybe he was overstimulated while you were out? It's hard to pinpoint the reason when at that age they just cry a lot in general. My DS cried and cried until he was about 3 mo when I finally figured out that he was tired but couldn't get himself to sleep. So maybe I'm just slow? But once I figured out the easiest way to get him to fall asleep (for us it was bouncing/walking) he suddenly was crying so much less!

IMHO, I think you should make an effort to be really available to your baby for the week before you start work. Put off housework, errands, and other distractions as much as you can and nurse, nurse, nurse your baby! If you don't already, carry him around as much as possible so that he can nurse asm uch as he wants. That way, when you go back to work your supply will be up and you'll be able to pump more. I seem to remember that at that age my DS was eating about 2-3 oz of EBM every 2 hours. And once you start work, nurse him very frequently while you're home. Keep in mind that some babies adjust their feeding schedules so that they don't eat a lot while mom is gone but make up for it when she's back. So you should expect that he'll want to nurse a lot in the evenings and during the night. Of course not all babies are like that, but if you plan ahead for it, it tends to be a little easier if you were already expecting it. At only 2-3 mo, many babies nurse as often as every hour-1.5 for 15-30 minutes per feeding. Are you scheduling his feedings? If so, you might want to think about nursing him more frequently, that might help with the BF strike also.

Overall, just go with whatever works best for you and your baby. Try some different things and you'll find something that works for you! Good luck!

[Momof3Labs]

I have to agree with sparkeze - it sounds like he was overtired, not hungry, so it doesn't seem fair to blame his screaming on bf'ing.

If you decide to add formula on a regular basis, do it because you are ready to partially wean - because if you change your mind, it is hard to go back to exclusive bf'ing. Don't do it because he is crying a lot - he will probably do that on formula, too!

Once you go back to work, you may need to add some extra pumpings in order to get enough EBM for your baby. You can pump in the morning before feeding him, at night after he goes to bed, and on weekends (morning and nighttime). Yahoo has a group called Pumpmoms that is a great source of support for bf'ing moms who pump at all.

Bottom line, though, neither decision is wrong, just make sure that it is right for you and your baby.

[pshontz]

This is just my experience ... my baby fought bf'ing in the beginning (first week) and I ended up exclusively pumping ... I have done this for 5.5 months now. Pumping was really difficult for the first 1-2 months but got so much easier after that -- I think maybe that's pretty much the case with bf'ing too? So that's something you might consider ... but everyone else is right, the important thing is that you do what feels right for you and your baby. I was formula fed and I have plenty of friends who formula-feed their babies ... I hear that the major brands are pretty much the same. My baby has had a few bottles of formula in the past 5.5 months, all Similac, but in the future I want to try different brands. Ask your pediatrician, you can usually get free samples to try out if you decide to do that. Good luck!

Laura's mom 09/14/03

[chucksmom]

My ds (3 months) gets a bottle of formula pretty regularly and I haven't found it to affect my supply at all. He loves to eat, and if anything it has helped my supply because I get a bit of a break now and then. We give him formula when we are out, when my dh is alone with him or occasionally in the evening when it seems like my supply is low and he still seems hungry after a meal. Sometimes 3 or 4 days go by and he doesn't have any, but sometimes he gets a bottle every day. He gets enfamil at home (powdered) and we take those ready to feed bottles of similac on the road (they are expensive but convenient to always have one in the diaper bag just in case). For us, it's nice to have options.