support thread for FFing or mixed feeding newborns or young babies?

[Shelduck]

I have a ten-day old baby, and i'm looking at having to giving up EBFing and maybe BFing altogether, although still expressing away like mad. Having assumed that BFing would work out, i'm a little unprepared for FFing (and Bottlefeeding expressed milk), and i'm finding the routine a little daunting, quite aside from all the emotional struggle this has involved. I thought i found a support thread but i've lost it now. Can anyone help point me in the direction of some help?!

I do one of 3 things when making up bottles:

1. Make up fresh and flash cool in jug of iced water - I go though at least 1 tray of icecubes a day!. Also if you pour the boiling water into the bottles you don't need to wait 30 minutes before adding formula, more like 5 minutes for that small quantity

2. Make up batches of bottles for the next couple of feeds as per 1), flash cool and put in fridge. I sometimes do this if I am busy/going out and will need to feed immediately I get home. I reheat the cold bottles in a jug of water.

3. Make up bottles using a mixture of boiling water and cool boiled water. For example for a 6 oz bottle I would put in 3oz of boiling water, 6 scoops, shake till dissolved, then add 3oz of cool boiled water. Its important if you use this method that you take account of the volume of the powder ie a 6 oz bottle will measure around 7oz once made up. I use digital scales for the first time and took a note of the right volume.

I also noticed that the scoop gets clogged up when making up bottled with very hot water. I keep the old scoops so I have 3 or 4 to use. I also clean the scoop with kitchen roll if it gets too clogged.

One final tip - When shaking hot bottles it sometimes comes spurting out if too hot. I sterilise a long handled spoon and use this to stir it instead of shaking.

Hope these help!

Oh dear, with DS1 I just used to line up 6 bottles pour boiling water in them leave them and just add formula when I needed to. So other than the first feed of the day I used cold water! Never knew this was wrong.

Been doing this for DS2's feeds too eek

I didn't think there was anything wrong with what I was doing either...that's how I've been doing feeds for the whole time!

We've had a lot of success with BF the past couple of days. He's still not able to get a full feed from me, as he always need a top-up of formula afterwards, but it's certainly getting easier.

sarryB Glad things are getting easier for you.

My personal experience of BFing DS2 hasn't been wonderful. He was exclusively BF for around 7 weeks then given expressed milk because I thought he had reflux and was easier to put gaviscon in a bottle than having him howling because he didnt like it.

I kept on with the BFing around 3 times a day and expressed loads for the other feeds. Then at around 14 weeks he started refusing the bottle and I could not get him to take it at all so back to exclusively BFing. The reflux or whatever it was seemed to have gone by then.

Unfortunately he was feeding every two hours morning and night and I couldn't cope. I left him with his daddy for the night and stayed at my mums and amazingly he not only took the bottle but did 4 hours between feeds.

He is now coming up to 17 weeks and I bottle feed him breast milk and top up with formula. Yes I am sad that I couldn't BF for longer but he was getting so confused between nipple and teat and would only go for two hours between BF but 4 hours between a bottle of expressed milk.

I am planning on expressing until he is at least 5 month old so he is still having the goodness of breast milk but TBH BF felt like such a long hard slog with him. I feel so much more relaxed and happy now he is on the bottle and I am getting sleep and baby is much more relaxed and happy too and that is what matters most IMO

thx tiktok. have now reduced top ups to 1, 2 or 3 times a day - depends on amount of BF tjhat day. willl ask for more advice as I feel more sure his weight is still on the up.

MollyDefoe the supplementer is a faff to start with - make sure your DP or a mate are on hand to support you. However once set up I reckon it is quicker than bottle feeding as it happens at the same time i am BF anyway ( I was BF on one breast, then supplementing with a bottle of FF/EBM & then offering boob 2... which he usually takes!!!! so that is also as faff if you consider eack taking up a 10 - 20 min slot!!!

lovingf this thread. spoke to a friend's wife today & she expreessed disapppointmerngt at stopping BF so early with her now 2 year old. she reckons if she had known about mixed feeding she could have BF for longer. such a shaME.

Just wondering if anyone has gone from expressing milk back to breast feeding? I would like to try again but am scared he wont want breast after having bottles

I've had a few days break (I think 3 at most) where I didn't BF or express, and actually went a while with just bottles. Now we're back to offering boob before bottle at most feeds - LO has never had nipple confusion - he's had three different bottles, 3 kinds of dummy, and two different nipples!

My DTD was tube fed then bottle fed for the first few weeks of her life, I managed to get her to bf eventually (but by then supply was low so had to top up with formula). I put her on the breast before every feed and she eventually got it.

lol @ two different nipples :)

Hi Shelduck, my baby is 6 months now but reading your thread really struck a chord because I ff from the start as my baby never latched on. I was really upset about that, and it really didn't help to find out how much more complicated ff is than i expected. I would have really appreciated knowing more about it before as the unexpected complexity really got me down.

Just wanted to say that it turned out to be much less of a faff than i expected once i got into a routine of boiling the kettle an hour after each feed, making up feed and then quick cooling so ready for my baby in time - he fed every 2 hours during the day. I always use cartons when out. i also used cartons all the time at the start while i was mixed feeding by expressing breast milk as i couldnt handle both the hassle of making up powder feeds and the endless pumping.

People still ask me often why im not breastfeeding but ive learnt to just smile and assume they dont mean to hurt my feelings.

Hope all goes well for you - it does get better once you get into the swing of ff.

Hey ladies,

i've been reading your experiences with interest, I had a similar experience trying that failing to BF DS, i did so poorly we ended up back in hospital and even then everyone just kept the pressure up about breast feeding. I think we gave up about day ten and EVERYTHING got better.
I felt terrible and i'm revisiting it all a bit now that we have 8 weeks to go until the arrival of the next one.

What's been interesting this time is that having a bit of experience, distance and time on my hands I have done some of my own research and found that many of the things I was told about breastfeeding benefits are not true or at least are not as clear cut as I was told. A couple of web sides that might relieve some of the guilt:

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/25/breastfeeding-backlash-zoe-williams

www.madeformums.com/baby/breastfeeding-health-claims-questioned/1033.html

it seems that there is a difference between saying "the type of women who chooses to breast feed are less likely to have a child who is x" and "not breast feeding causes X"

Anyway all I wanted to say is this, being a parent is about so much more then producing milk, and in my view having a well fed baby and a happy mother trumps how you got there.

And as my original midwife, who sadly retired before DS was born said "I defy anyone to go to a play ground and tell me who was and wasn't breast fed"

Be proud ladies

x

Hi jennifer and bright. thank you so much for the encouragement!

Panda - the advice changed in the last 2 years, so it's now officially more of a faff than it used to be. One midwife said she couldn't officially recommend the old way (they way you've been doing it) but she said she wasn't aware of any reduction in gastroenteritis since the change. So officially, yes you're doing it wrong. But unofficially. You're probably fine! (Ooh, there's that guilt again!...)

Miko - thanks for the ice cube tip. Tried it today and it works much more effectively than I'd expected. So poor DS doesn't have to sit and cry so long for his feed!

Panda Well they are different! Sometimes I can barely get the right one to stand to attention...no wonder LO prefers the left!

Well ladies after 2 weeks of FF and expressing, I really want to try breast feeding again. I am worried there wont be enough milk as I have had a horrid time lately, split up with my partner and I think the stress of it, not to mention trying to find time to express, has reduced my milk down to nearly nothing. Is it possible to get the supply up again? I am worried it wont work :(

Really sorry to hear that ((hug))

I think the best way is to put baby to breast as much as possible, and coninue to express in beween feeds. You could also try fenugreek? I found this had a positive effect on expressed quantites and allowed me to cut out a couple of topups.

At the mo, I am putting him to the breast and he is sucking away happily but he must not be getting much as I offer him the bottle after he pulls off and he is having a full feed from the bottle.

I am seeing a lovely lady who works for NCT tomo for some more advice and to check he is latching on correctly etc. Really hoping it works out.

And hey single mum again :( not what I wanted for me or the lil uns but its for the best ( I posted on another thread about him and the situation)

Sorry to hear you're having a tough time panda

I would put LO to the boob as often as possible. I've been doing that today, and although I'm feeding him more often - normally, he'd have 6 bottles in a 24hr period, it's only 2.30pm and he's already fed about 7 times, with only one 3oz bottle - it's totally working!

I am preparing myself for a lot of hard work and sleepless nights (groan)

I have been advised pretty much what sarryB has posted. Lots of putting baby to breast and lots of expressing. I am enjoying breast feeding him finally, he knows what he is doing now and doesn't seem to mind switching from boob (both of them lol) to bottle. Its early days but am hopeful. Time to pump again I think. (Groan)

It is possible Panda. Maybe start a new thread with a title which says you want to get him back on the breast? It's more likely to attract people who have experience/expertise then :)

Sorry to hear about your relationship breaking down :( It's tough isn't it?

Hi ladies, its interesting to read all your experiences, can I join too?

My DS is 9 days old, had a v traumatic birth followed by me getting an infection. Have been really quite ill and on antibiotics, not eating etc with the result that milk has not come in in any quantity. I always offer both breasts first, but DS always takes around a 2oz formula top up after each feed.

It makes me sad that I can't feed him properly (I know its irrational) and I am trying to pump to increase my supply but because I'm still feeling unwell its so hard to put the time in without wearing myself out.

Planning to carry on mix feeding as long as I can, its really good to find others in a similar position. No one has Been anything but supportive in rl but breastfeeding is such an emotional issue, for me anyway, I find it hard to step back and be rational about what I want to do.

Meant to say, also some great tips on here about preparing formula safely. I've been worrying a bit about this.

Should I be using the cartons, as he is a newborn? The powder will be ok won't it, as long as I make it in the correct way?

The powder is fine for newborns - just follow the instructions!

bertiebots Yeah relationship break ups are never easy but I am coping a lot better than I thought. :) and I got some really good advice off NCT, I am very hopeful that my milk supply will increase again, it seems to be going well.

emblosion Don't give up. I had emergency c section and lil one was in NICU for a few days. When he came back to me I was advised to cup feed him as well as breast feed as my milk hadn't come in as they say. He had cup feed top ups until around 11 days old and gradually I managed to reduce the cup feeds and exclusively BF.

Also I wouldn't worry too much about the prep of formula. My DS1 is now 7 and I always boiled the water, left it to cool then added formula and he didn't get any infections. It is only in the last couple of years that the guidelines have changed. shelduck informed me of this, as I didn't even know they had changed oops.

I think the Guidelines are there because some babies died of salmonella poisoning . Apparently a very small% of formula batches have the bug in them which can only be killed by 70 degree water.

It's one of those risks which is really unlikely to happen but if it did, would be catastrophic.

Actually, salmonella and chronobacter (enterobacter sakersaki - spelling may not be quite right :) ) are common contaminants in powdered infant formula.

www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/micro/mra10/en/

They are endemic in food manufacturing processes.

Their effect can be mitigated with careful hygiene and preparation, and of course in the UK, babies don't usually die of food poisoning as even serious infections can be dealt with....but this still does not mean you'd want to risk a baby being ill.

The reasons for the revised guidelines (not all that new, either) come from several reports and a bunch of research - it's not health and safety gone mad.