Goodbye formula - help with building supply needed.

[abbymeg]

I'm stopping DS formula milk "top ups" after a fortnight of stomach upsets. He is 3 months today, he weighs 16lbs and 3oz and he currently takes 20oz of formula milk each day in 3/4 top ups. People on this thread have already suggested formula is the cause of DS's problems and I need to try to cut it out - but I've wimped out until things got particularly bad this week. The difficult thing is I need to go cold turkey with him on the Drs advice as he does seem to have an intolerance. He needs at least a week without it - but I would like to give it the boot for good.

I'm a bit nervous about managing to feed him all by myself after becoming so reliant on the bottle. It's been 24 hours now and so far so good (though he has had 3 bottles of 200ml of cooled, boiled water with diarolyte in it and is only allowed one more lot of that tomorrow). I'm concerned about how DS will react. If anyone has experience of this, or can suggest ways I can increase my supply, that would be so helpful.

abbymeg, hope things go well for you. You have already had tons of suggestions for increasing your supply on your previous threads - which ones have you tried? Main thing is to increase the no. of times you bf your baby, offering at least both breasts each time.

20 oz of formula is a lot to replace in one go, though. Is cold turkey the only option you want to go for?

The suggestion I had was to feed frequently on demand - as I already do - and bring him into bed, which, unfortunately doesn't make a lot of difference for me as I can't sleep as I feed, though I'm happy to have him in with me. I wondered whether there was anything I could eat or take that might offer a natural increase?
I'm concerned about my very long feeds which were the reason that formula top ups began in the first place. If I'm feeding DS for 3 hours switching from side to side, is it just a matter of perservering or should I be timing him? I also wondered whether that it might be the bottle rather than the formula that he likes as he had the water last night from a bottle and went off to sleep as he does normally, for about 5 hours.

Do you have any idea how long it takes for their tummies to settle down if it is the formula causing the upset? As I said in OP, it's been 24 hours and currently we are getting worse in colour. His poo is now a dark, greenish colour and very runny and smelly, whereas up until today it had stayed mustard in colour, The frequency is less though today - we're on dirty nappy 5 since midnight. At its worst (Thurs-Fri) it was 25 runny poos in 24 hours, even though the colour was normal.

P.s. I already offer both sides - sometimes 3 or 4. He's a hungry lad!

abbymeg this may be a total red herring but my DS has just had a week of diarrhoea very similar to what you suggest - green, stinky, runny poo. My friend's DS had the same thing and her doctor told her it's a virus going round - she's seen loads of it recently. Is it possible your DS has picked something up which is affecting him alongside the issues with formula?

There is no good evidence that anything you can eat or drink will help with supply - though there is anecdotal stuff. There are prescription meds you can ask your doc about. Nothing is as good as doing what you are already doing, though - switch feeding, feeding often. Lots of short feeds close together (which are what your 'long feeds' are really ) are good for the milk supply.

If he has had a bout of gastroenteritis, then it can take some weeks for it to settle down, although some babies bounce back a lot more quickly than this.

First GP said it was probably a virus, but if we were still having problems by monday then it might be intolerance. Second GP today said if I was happy to do it, and because DS is well in himself and a good weight, then to try to stop the formula for a week and then reintroduce a different brand (which I hope we don't need if I manage the week) as that could be the problem - everything started last week as milk was changed from hungry baby back to first milk. This could be coincidence. I do suspect there's more to it, and I did BF DS in a particularly nasty baby room on the day it all started as there was nowhere else and he was screaming his head off.
Thanks cyteen and tiktok.