Introducing formula to refluxy bf baby

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DS is nearly 5 months, and has been fully breastfed except for a brief formula stint in special care when he was first born (that I am still a bit bitter about!).

He's a fussy feeder and doesn't seem to enjoy it or be comforted by bf. He is gaining weight well, so I know it's essentially working, but neither of us are happy at the moment, and I have come to the decision to introduce one ff a day so that my nipples I can have a break, and maybe some sleep. Once he's weaning, I'd like to switch to formula full time, so I'm not too worried about it interfering with my supply at this stage, and if he ended up fully ff before then it wouldn't be the end of the world.

He has reflux, so I asked my GP about it, and which formula would be best to try, but he is obviously pro BF, and told me it would be ideal to keep feeding, really, but if I felt I had to, then it didn't matter much which milk. I obviously realise that continuing to bf would be ideal, but the situation isn't ideal, and considering all the factors, I've made my peace with it!

So any advice would be appreciated here. Any formula recommendations for refluxy babies? Or gems of wisdom for introducing one or more ff?

Dd has horrendous reflux and was put in SMA wySoy as yey also thought it was due to a cows milk protein intolerance. We switched at 9 months due to 3 horrendous bouts of mastitis.

Would say though ff isn't necessarily the key to sleep though well wasn't for us. And neither was solids. Lol

I am not expecting it to improve his night time sleep, I just want to be able to go to bed for 3 or 4 hours and leave DH in charge of feeding, cause at the moment he sometimes feeds every 2 hours (around the clock) for up to half an hour at a time, so the maximum block of sleep i get is 90 minutes!

Plus he still has a terrible latch, despite being repeatedly checked for tongue tie, and my nipples are at the point of jumping off of their own accord

I don't think he has a virgin gut anyway, cause he was given formula in the SCBU within 24 hours of being born? He has been ebf since 2 days old.

I am not planning to replace his night feeds anyway, because these are the ones we have less of a fight over! I would probably want to start with his first morning feed, so that if we'd had a bad night I could go back to bed for a bit. Also in case he has a reaction to the new milk, I wouldn't want him to be in bed.

I appreciate your advice, and I do agree that carrying on ebf would be ideal, but there are lots of factors leading me to choose this option. I do still have a bit of guilt about it, especially as I bf DD to 8 months, but she loved feeding and we had a great, snuggly bf relationship, whereas with DS it is a constant battle. I have never even seen him do the milk drunk face - he ends most of his feeds either squirming and screeching, or projectile vomming all over my boob.

I have managed to feed him to 5 months, when he was so difficult early on that I didn't think I'd make it to 5 weeks, and I am planning to keep going for a while alongside the ff. It's not ideal, but I think it's ok.

Oh dear it sounds such a struggle. I have no advice about the choice of formula I'm afraid but just wanted to say that I have enjoyed bf a lot more since I've been doing it a bit less (DS is also five months, but I went back to work a few weeks ago so we have been mix feeding since then). There is so much pressure about this issue on here but I really don't think it's the end of the world to give some formula at five months (when realistically the great majority of mothers are weaning already anyway), and how you feel in yourself (e.g. exhaustion levels) and about feeding (e.g. pain/dread or the lack of it) is important for your relationship too.

All formulas have to be the same I believe, so just use any!

That's interesting about the gut repairing, WouldBe. That makes me feel a lot better. I stressed about the formula on the first day thing for ages before I located a grip and realised that they fed him an alternate milk choice, not poison!

Thank you all for your comments. He has not been an easy baby, especially compared to DD, who didn't sleep either, but was a dream in every other way! I (probably quite naively) assumed that because I'd successfully breastfed one baby, that the second would be a piece of cake. Him puking my own blood (that he had sucked out of me like some kind of tiny vampire) all over me on day 5 wiped that particular smile off my face!

Dd has bad acid reflux and gp suspects a link to cmpi. When she has a bottle of formula a couple of times a week (I can't express my boobs won't give it up) she has the aptamil comfort milk. We chose this because it has reduced lactose and partially hydrolysed milk proteins in which are easier to digest, and also it's thicker than standard milk, more like a reflux milk. It doesn't taste particularly nice, but thankfully dd isn't fussy and necks whatever is offered in either a bottle or boob.