Breastfeeding on demand, formula when at work...how much?

[tinybitmad]

Hi, wondered if anyone had any thoughts on my situation.. My daughter has been exclusively breastfed from birth until she started at nursery at 7.5 months (returned to work) when we introduced a couple of small bottles of formula in the day firstly 2 x 3oz now 2 x 4oz. I breastfeed her at all other times. We are doing BLW so she is not eating much at all... The nursery are asking if they should increase her amount of formula as they say she seems to want more milk when she has finished the bottle, and seems excited when they bring it to her... But i don't want to give her more than she needs.. maybe 3 x 4oz bottles? don't really want to give bigger bottles..
I drop her off just before 8 (last feed from me is anywhere between 5 and 7 ish), collect about 3.30-4 ish and feed straight away.. So my question is really how much formula do you think she should have at the nursery?! thanks for any thoughts...

as she is bf and has 3x 4oz during the day that is probably enough milk, you should really try giving her more food!

if she fills up on more milk, she won't want to eat at all, but it is vitally important that she's experiencing new tastes all the time and the quantity of food is increasing!

I don't know much about BLW, but what I've heard so far doesn't convince me that it is more successful than building up the textures by progressing through thick liquid- puree- lumpy food-small chunks-fingerfood!

if you are open to giving BLW a rest, try the advice in this brilliant book "What should I feed my baby" by Suzannah Olivier.

(I'm predicting that this thread might turn into another BLW or not bloody battlefield and that would be a shame)

I hope you will find a good solution soon, you can also offer DD some cold boiled water (or babyjuice) especially if we are lucky to have some warm days!

all the best

Thanks for the reply.. think i will increase from two to three bottles next week see how that goes. I'm not concerned she isn't really eating at the moment, my son was the same and started eating more around 9 months ish. Milk is still the most important nutrition wise, i guess i'm just confused about mixing breast milk and formula (not together, obviously!) and needing to think about the quantity of milk when i haven't known how much she drinks usually! she does have water and seems to like that, offered whenever food is given to her.

I think when I left my DS at that age and he was being given a bottle by his grandma or other babysitter he could happily nail a 5oz bottle no problems. Offer 5oz and see if she drinks it or not.

in that case do check the guideline on the formula box you are using- generally it is recommended for babies over 6 months to have 3x 7oz a day (so a pint in total).

you could start a diary to note down the details of each feed (milk) - so consumed quantity of formula, length of bf and what time she's feed.
(I would bother noting solids)

if you do this for a fortnight you'll see a pattern emerging and will have a better idea how much she takes in.

hope this helps

I would let her have bigger bottles. Milk is her main source of nutrition and sucking is very important to her.

If you're worried about the amount of formula she has, could you express