Please help - urgent advice about introducing formula to a young baby

[Rindercella]

Please can you help. I have a 5 week old (she'll be 6 weeks on Friday) DD2 who has been exclusively breastfed til now. She's gone through some serious growth spurts and has stayed on her line (91st centile), which is great.

Unfortuantely my DH is now in hospital, undergoing tests in the oncology unit. Obviously I am beside myself with worry about this. I have my MIL coming to stay tomorrow to help out (and obviously to see her son!) but my older daughter gets very clingy to me when she's around, so will demand a lot of my attention.

I am therefore thinking of giving DD2 some formula to supplement the b/fing and to take the pressure of me a little - basically anyone will then be able to look after DD2 leaving me free to deal with DD1 (who's 2.8 years) and also to go & visit DH by myself.

DD1 was breastfed until she was 2 years old and never even tasted formula, so I don;t really have a clue what to do. DD2 has taken a few bottles of expressed milk, so hopefully the transition to the occasional bottle of formula won't be too much of a shock for her. I really don't think I can express very much at the moment - I don't have time and DD2 feeds so much I just don't think I could keep up with her!

I have some little cartons of Aptimil coming in a while...so what do I need to do? When's the best time to introduce it to her? How much should a nearly 6 week old baby take at any one time? Am I doing the right thing?? (I guess I am going to be fraught with guilt about it ).

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

Rindercella, so sorry to hear of the stress you are going through. If it makes things easier, please do not feel guilty at giving your DD (congratulations btw ) some formula. I found, at that age, DD took about 3 or 4oz (it was ebm but probably a similar amount) and i started her on it at night when she was less alert to know the difeerence. i also found MAM teats were helpful,(they fit in avent bottles as well) they are flatter than most and, i am told, resemble the nipple more than some.

good luck with everything.

Thanks Olivo - yes, it is very stressful at teh moment. I have NUK bottles which DD2 seems to have taken well too when I have given her EBM.

ah, sorry, hadnt realised she had had ebm. dont worry about her actually taking formula then, she'll be fine. when i moved dd2 over to formula, i made sure i heated it to the same temp as the ebm she took ( she likes it quite hot ) and i noticed she took less than of ebm.

please, please, don't have any guilt trips, it sounds difficult enough for you without adding feeding guilt into the equation. And remember to look after you too.

You may find she just won't notice. DH gave DS a bottle of Aptamil two or three times at about that stage, when I was dropping with tiredness, and he didn't bat an eyelid. Agree that it might be easier at night or when she's sleepy.

Good luck with DH's treatment. You must be climbing the walls.

My daughter got quite constipated when i switched to formula, lots of tummy rubs and some water was the advice I was given at the time and it seemed to do the trick.

Good luck and hey, why the guilt? You and DH are important too you know, if formula is best for all of you then go for it.

I agree - don't feel guilty about this. Formula will be fine and if she has alreedy taken a bottle as well as breast it shouldn't be a problem. Good luck.

I am in the process of switching DS2 to formula because I have to take Parkinsons medicine and he is 7w. I make up 5oz bottles of water and add the formula when I need the feed and that way I can feed DS2 on demand much as you would with bf. I bf DS1 so I too have no clue about ff but am finding that if you treat it much the same as bf ie on demand it works quite well. I checked this approach with the health visitor, a friend who is a GP and of course,MN!! Good luck and I hope everything works out well for you and yours.

I found 5 weeks a good time to introduce formula to supplement bf and found mixed feeding went well after that with DS1.

nothing to feel guilty about at all, sounds like a tough time Only thing is with bubs being so young would introducing formula not affect your supply? I remember it being a couple of months til my supply regulated.

I had a really rough time for about 8 weeks BF and needed to have one feed a day (usually the midnight -ish one) where I just needed hubby to do it so i could grab a couple of hours rest. I used a decent electric breast pump and gave ebm. The hand pump was shit!

Im not sure about mixed feeding as don't have any experience except a few friends who started introducing formula and then reduced milk supply, so had to give more formula and so on. Hopefully there may be some people who have been where you are who can help a bit more xxx

Thanks to everyone for your advice. DH was diagnosed with prostrate cancer today.

I tried her with a little bit of forumla today and she seemed to accept it with no problems. She also switched to breast feeding very easily.

Right now I really do need to do everything possible to make sure we are all ok, so some FF will have to be included. If that ends up affecting my supply then I guess that'll have to be the end of b/fing. , but perhaps necessary given our circumstances.

Life can be a total bastard sometimes.

Rindercella I am really sorry to hear that; I hope he gets effective treatment very soon. Also that you have lots of support nearby and people who can help you out. As for the feeding question- you have done almost 6 weeks bf and that is a lot more than some babies get so you have done very well. You need to do what will help you and your dh.

I wish you and your dh all the best.

I am sorry about your dh's diagnoses.

Life can be a complete bastard and can bite you on the ass when you least expect it

be kind to yourself, you will need some 'me' time.

Saw your other thread Rindercella - so sorry you are having to go through this. Your DH sounds like a really tough nut though, I am sure that will stand him in good stead. Wishing you well x

We gave DS some occasional formula from about 4-6 weeks old, and had no bother switching from breast to bottle - I hope you have the same from your DD.

Wishing you and your family all the best - I hope the treatment goes well.

Rinders so sorry to hear about your dh. Good luck with the treatment. Just to reassure you I mix feed now as dd2 was constantly feeding, playing catch up after a week in scbu. I do 2 or sometimes 3 bottles a day and it hasn't affected my supply at all. You really have to do what is best for your whole family right now. Really thinking of you.

How shit for you and your family.
Prostate cancer can be treated very successfully, I hope this is going to be the case for your DH.

If you try and express in exchange for one of the FF feeds then your supply shouldn't be effected. Even if you do it in the shower or just before bed. Keep or chuck the milk.

Either way look after yourself. Your DH and your DD's need you to be strong & not beating yourself up about breastfeeding.
In the grand scheme of things does it really matter how long you BF for?

Hugs to you.xx
(looks over shoulder in case I get told off)