Honestly, WWYD?

[addictedtofrazzles]

I have a 2 week old DS2 who is just nudging above the 99th percentile (having regained + his birth weight). I am bf and having to give formula top ups to satisfy his hunger. The problem I have is that he does 20 mins on each breast and then has 1-3 oz top up (depending on the time of day). I have a fast let down and with such a large volume of liquid, he is then projectile vomiting an enormous amount (mostly over my brand new carpet !)...

However, he has a bottle of formula at 10pm (I express to give him in the night) - about 4 oz - and settles quickly and sleeps well.

Is there ever a case for feeding your baby formula so that their bodies can have less volume but be satisfied after a feed?

I understand the health benefits of bm, but that aside, could formula actually be 'better' (I know some may suggest feeding little and often, but I have an active 21 month old DS1, who is less keen to spend all day watching me feed his brother!).

Alternatively, has anyone experienced this and able to offer a solution!?

that's why i asked if she allows him to finish naturally.
is he coming off and then wanting a feed within 5-10 minutes?
or is OP timing feeds or taking him off when she feels he has had enough and trying to give dummy instead?

either way, if he is rooting again then why not try offering the breast again?
after all, you're still sitting feeding so it may as well be from breast surely?

I've no advice as I'm having my own very major problems with juggling a very difficult newborn and a nearly 4 year old. But I have to disagree with the point made about bottles. I've seen this said many times before - that the only reason babies appear to take a bottle after a breastfeed is because the milk just flows and their reflex reaction is to glug it down. IME this just isn't true. We use Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature slow flow teats and DD is perfectly capable of deciding if she wants the milk or not, stopping and starting as she wants, and pushing the bottle out when she's had enough. So I just don't buy it. My experience is that if DD takes some milk from a bottle after I've fed her it's because she's still hungry - no other reason.

I would ditch the formula and express a little into a towel to take the edge off the initial gush.

Also do the just doing one breast for a long time at each feed for a bit, you will need to feed more frequently but it gives them time to move each lot of milk along before the next lot arrives, hence less likely to chuck.

However, I have a chucker, he is a happy chucker and is nice and fat so don't really worry about it.

gaelicsheep - there is no one reason why babies take a bottle after a bf. Some will take a bottle because it's there; others, like yours, discriminate and take it only when hungry (though how you can be so sure with a newborn, I don't know, 'cos often newborns change day by day and their motivations and reasons can be mysterious!).

It's certainly not a measure of whether every baby is hungry or not - but as a general rule, it is fine to simply put the baby back on the breast if they appear to want more after 'finishing' a feed. It's easier than messing with the bottle, anyway.

I was going to add that I wasn't implying it wasn't better to put them back on the breast if you can. Although in some cases that is definitely not the easiest option.

I get you, sheep