Formula and breastmilk

[Shanski]

Hello. So I have decided to start introducing formula I still want to breastfeed but for certain reasons want to give one or two bottles of formula too. There is so much contradicting advice so any advice is appreciated. My baby is nearly 5 months so it says for formula I should do 6 scoops and 180mls of water. He hates formula and it really frustrats him. I've read you can mix formula and breastmilk. As I usually breastfeed and rarely give a bottle of expressed milk I'm not sure how much he would drink but my guess is about 5-6 ounces per feed. So how would I work out the ratio. Can I do 3 ounces of breastmilk and 2 of formula and do I need to make up the formula as I would if giving a whole bottle and then in another bottle measure out 2 ounces or can I just make 2 ounces? I hope that makes sense.

Also how would I mix the two together. If I have cold breastmilk I can't add that to heated formula can I? I just find all the rules so confusing. And if I make a bottle of a formula and store it in fridge right away without feeding it to baby can I reheat it and give later?

I think he's unlikely to drink 6 Floz. BF babies generally take 25 Floz in 24 hours hours so if it's been say 3 hours since his last feed he's unlikely to drink more than 3 to 4 floz. Unlikely but it's still a possibility

The recommended amounts for n the carton are for fully FF babies do you can pretty much ignore them.

Thanks for your reply. After some thought I realised I was overthinking a lot of it and even after a two days he is drinking half and half. He just drunk 2 ounces of just formula as well but definitely didnt guzzle like if it waas breastmilk. I have been given 6 ounces but he seems to want more from the bottle. But once I take the bottle away he is happily going 2-2 and half hours until he is hungry again. When I was just BF he was still wanting to feed after 1 and half hours after an hour nursing. His weight is stable and within his desired weight but now I'm worried he is drinking to much/to often. Like from posts online it seems a 5 month old should drink 6-7 every 3-4 hours? He is getting better with formula so I'm hoping he will go longer once just on formula

We mix the two. But we use the ready made liquid formula. My ds has never managed more than about 150ml in one bottle feed (I think that's 5oz). He's 12 months old now. At 5 months he was having more like 90-120ml per bottle (one bottle a day, the rest breastfeeding). I think you just need to put way less into a bottle

His weight is stable and within his desired weight but now I'm worried he is drinking to much/to often. Like from posts online it seems a 5 month old should drink 6-7 every 3-4 hours

It does take a while for them to adjust. It won't be long until they start solids anyway and then milk feeds might naturally start to dwindle

It also depends how long they go without a feed overnight - if your baby goes relatively long overnight, they will need their daytime feeds (formula or bottle) closer together. My baby is seven months and no longer has a regular night feed, so has to pack the milk in (BM or formula) in day time hours.

Thanks for all your replies. He wakes every 2 and half hours in the night as well and is very obviously hungry. During the day he does feed alot. I guess I just have a very hungry boy 🤷‍♀️ During the day he drinks 5.5 ounces and sometimes manages 6. I don't give formula on all his feeds I tend to breastfeed around 3 times as well and he has 4 bottles of formula. I was hoping the formula would been he wakes less at night but we will see. He definitely goes longer than when I was just breastfeeding

For formula its 1 scoop to 1oz/30mls of water so you can make up smaller amounts e.g. 2 scoops to 2oz/60mls

I was hoping the formula would been he wakes less at night but we will see. He definitely goes longer than when I was just breastfeeding

Kellymom had a but on formula and sleep here

I’m currently 2 weeks and 5 days post partum. My baby started off with just breastfeeding but then it seemed like he wasn’t getting enough food, and so I introduced formula. I started off with aptamil and noticed he’s been grunting etc, and then I changed to kendamil comfort milk helping with colic and constipation and now I feel like this milk has made my baby constipated. I just don’t know what to do, I feel lost. Any advice? Even how to increase milk production. I feel like I’m failing him

You’re definitely not failing him! I’m not an expert and a first time mum myself who didn’t experience this so I don’t really have any advice sorry! But if you want to increase your milk supply skin on skin and breastfeeding on demand is a great way. I was also told to pump 30 mins after a feed to increase milk. Have you reached out to your health visitor?

Hi, thank youu!! It just all feels so scary and overwhelming. As much as I’m trying to adjust to my baby, he’s also adjusting to me and the new world. I have spoken to my health visitor, who said it’s all very normal. Especially the grunting. But my motherly instincts tells me otherwise that he’s very gassy

Are you burping him half way through a bottle and afterwards? My little one has to burped every 2 ounces or he spits up everywhere. He’s a lot older so takes a lot more though. Also do you help him to pass gass when he is grunting to see if it is gas? I was told for ages that my babies feeding habitats were normal but I knew it was more turns out he has cows milk allergy so if you feel there’s something more keep trying. I don’t know where you are and I don’t like talking bad of health visitors etc because they do a great job but they all told me different information which was very overwhelming for a first time mum who had no clue

Yesss I’m burping him in between half way through bottle. Honestly, now that I’ve changed to Kendamil organic, I feel like his grunting has gone really less now. I also feel like my milk supply is sortve increasing because baby is satisfied after breast. Otherwise before I had to top up. I’m based in central london. The health visitors have been great here