Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Flip

Original poster

does formula upset breast milk?

21 replies

shazzaronnie · 09/08/2006 21:51

i've found i don't produce enough milk all the time to express so are needing to use formula, but don't know how her stomach will handle this if it makes any difference help!!!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

MatNanPlus · 09/08/2006 22:01

I am currently caring for a new baby, she is now 10wks and has had the odd bottle of Aptamil First when mummy has been unable to feed and there was not enought expressed milk.

Her tummy is fine but it changes her poo a little bit the following day, it is a bit sniffy.

She will be on full formula by 6m as mum has to go back to work.

We use the ready to feed cartons.

dizzybint · 10/08/2006 14:16

what makes you think you aren't producing enough milk? best thing to produce more is to feed more. the more you feed the more you make. if you top up with formula your body doesn't know your baby has fed, so it thinks it needs to cut back its supply because you don't have a very hungry baby.

adath · 10/08/2006 14:37

Honestly dizzy I am not stalking you over 2 sites.
Have you tried expressing from one side while your baby feeds off the other, as you will catch the let down you should get some milk.
Like Dizzybint said the more you feed the more you produce.
If you want to increase your supply try having a look at kellymom.com for tips.
You what type of pump are you using? That can make a difference you will also probably not get as much expressing as your baby gets feeding as baby is more efficient at getting milk out the breast. The "average" amount is 2-3oz when expressing by the way.

dizzybint · 10/08/2006 14:48

(hi adath!! nice to see you here on the other side!)

adath · 10/08/2006 15:32

Well I saw a post on the ahem other that was a bit like the last one I got involved in so decided to duck out of it lol did not really think my opinion would have been welcomed again.

Elibean · 10/08/2006 16:29

I agree that the more you feed/express the more you make, but that said...it took a while for me to build up my milk supply (previous problems with one breast, plus dd had some problems with feeding early on - another story). I found that around late pm/early evening I had almost NO milk - maybe from exhaustion, as well as other reasons - so dd did have small amounts of top up SMA from early on. She never had any problems with it, and went on to breast milk 95% of the time by the time she was 8 weeks old. But I'm sure how stomachs cope depends on the individual baby.

I used to get up in the night (even when she slept through) to express, to build my milk supply - not much fun, but it worked eventually!

Original poster

shazzaronnie · 10/08/2006 22:51

i don't find that i do produce more the more i express, i got 200mls first thing now only 140 2nite, thats y i use formula so i can replenish my stores?

OP posts:

lemonaid · 10/08/2006 22:55

How old is your DD? How often are you breastfeeding apart from the pumping sessions?

Original poster

shazzaronnie · 10/08/2006 22:57

5 feeds of around 150-180 now as she continues to cry after her feeds? shes 8 wks sat?

OP posts:

lemonaid · 10/08/2006 23:14

I suspect (you need tiktok for this, really, though) that you're not feeding often enough to build up your supply. I know when DS was 8 weeks I was still feeding about every 2 hours in the day and another twice overnight.

Original poster

shazzaronnie · 10/08/2006 23:31

but even when she's cluster fed i still find i'm not producing enough, even when she's on every half an hour and she's still screamin for more

OP posts:

lemonaid · 10/08/2006 23:48

I'm not getting a clear picture of what you are doing and what you're trying to achieve.

You are breastfeeding 5 times a day and also pumping? When are you giving her the expressed milk? Where do the cluster feeds come in? How much formula are you giving her in addition to the breastfeeds? Is there a particular reason that you are trying to express a lot?

If you are only breastfeeding 5 times a day and are supplementing with formula then it will almost certainly affect your supply. Babies do want to feed a lot at this age and that's not a reflection that you're not producing enough milk, it's just the way they are. If you don't supplement then your supply adjusts to keep pace with demand (and as the baby gets older she starts to space out her feeds more), but if you supplement then your body doesn't realise that the demand has increased, so it doesn't increase supply, so you start supplementing more, and so forth, and it becomes a bit of a vicious circle.

Cuauhtemoc · 11/08/2006 00:49

SHaz: don;t know how old your baby is. i expressed at work since my dd was 19 wks old and just looking to stop at 15 months.

as someone else said, if you are only feeding 5 times a day and possibly not at night, it will start to affect your supply.

the other person is also right that you may want to express from one side while your baby feeds from the other. it will have the effect of building your supply as it will make your body think your baby is having big feeds and respond in kind.

I pumped 2x a day at work all thru my feeding. I also built in an extra feed at night. after my dd went to bed, i pumped an hr and a half later. at first you get very little even after pumping for thirty mins with a double electric pump. by the fourth night, i was getting close to three oz and by the end of the week, three and a half oz in 10 minutes. Sometimes when my stock was low, i would pump straight after a feed late at night as she would normally just take one breast.

another tip is to keep pumping after the milk stops flowing. after 5 or ten minutes i always got a second letdown of really creamy milk.

if you have more questions, you can also post in the breast and bottlefeeding section where bf people are more likely to see your post.

Original poster

shazzaronnie · 11/08/2006 02:14

dd is nearly 8 wks sat, i use to breast feed dd butgot infection so used bottle now dd doesn't like bittie so use bottles but give my milk.thats y i express so much, i find that sometimes i put her on she will scream after as it doesn't flow how she'd like (i.e bottle)

OP posts:

lemonaid · 11/08/2006 07:16

You really need to talk to tiktok. If you post in the breast and bottlefeeding section she should see it.

Cuauhtemoc · 11/08/2006 12:38

yes, please post new topic on breast and bottlefeeding thread.

say how long you have been giving a bottle (or is it more than one?). when you had this 'infection' and where etc. at 8 weeks, yes, your supply is definitely being affected if you are only feeding 5 times a day.

tiktok is a trained breastfeeding counsellor so she can give the best advice.

Original poster

shazzaronnie · 11/08/2006 13:07

were is bf section?

OP posts:

MrsBadger · 11/08/2006 13:10

here

VeniVidiVickiQV · 11/08/2006 13:12

Agree - tiktok best for this one.

You can re-establish b/feeding if you want to. You do need to keep expressing/feeding in order to keep up supply.

Supplementing with formula will not help you build up stores because your body works on a demand basis, so, the more thats asked of it, the more it will produce.

Subsequently, if you string out expressing in the hope to get more, your body will think you need less and produce less. Does that make sense?

Original poster

shazzaronnie · 11/08/2006 13:12

thanks

OP posts:

Cuauhtemoc · 11/08/2006 22:25

shazzaronnie, i have linked this thread here for you.

in the meantime, try to speak to a breastfeeding counsellor on the phone.

nct, la leche league, association of breastfeeding mothers or the Breastfeeding Network. Google and you will find their helplines. do so soon.

Flip