How bad is Formula?

[orangeguy]

I'm unable to breast feed. How bad is formula?

Thanks for the advice.

I've found ditching the breast pump bra has helped.

Managed to get milk out tonight.

100ml on second feed, similar on first.

How much breast milk is equivalent to formula? Eg 110 ml / 3 ounces is how much in breast milk?

Thank you

I'm sorry it didn't work for you

Who said I needed an education in this?

I also struggled with my bf my first baby due to flat nipples and large breasts. He could never latch regardless of the help i got, including lactation specialists etc. I pumped but could hardly get anything out.

My second baby is now 2 weeks old and apart from some colostrum, i’ve gone straight to formula.

The only issue we’re havinf with express ff is that my baby is constipated, which we’re trying to resolve. But this doesn’t happen to all ff babies and all babies are different. Nothing wrong with formula. I was formula fed and i’m a very healthy person.

I think my nipples are too flat but they've said they are ok.

I never had a drop of breast milk and 60 years later have (knock on wood) never had a serious illness, have a high IQ, high income and happy life. There is nothing wrong with formula feeding and it doesn't lead to poor outcomes.

At this stage this seems so very important.
This is probably the least important decision you will make as a parent. Don’t beat yourself up as much.

Have you thought about trying nipple shields? I am very flat and these enabled me to breastfeed my son for a year. You can get them from amazon.

OP, you’re getting loads! 200mL total in one pumping session is loads, especially with a 10day old.
Breastmilk volume per feed usually increases for the first month and then flattens out. My breastfed baby who I sometimes expressed for never drank more than about 180mL in one sitting even as a toddler. He did feed more often than formula guidelines for older babies.

https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

The Kellymom website is hugely helpful for questions like this. It’s not a terribly flash looking website but it’s updated regularly and includes links to actual research papers backing claims.

I breast fed until my mum, a very pro breast feeding midwife - ordered me to stop. Blood coming out of my nipples and all that jazz. Don’t torture yourself like I did. And I don’t believe it has any bearing whatsoever in children’s later development but will have a massive impact on you right now if you can’t manage it. Look after yourself. ❤️

It's no comparison to breast milk and can cause issues, but if you are unable to breastfeed then it's fine. At the end of the day your baby needs to be fed.

It's 100% fine and will make no difference as you child ages.

Breast milk is best, but that doesn't mean formula milk is in anyway a bad thing.

Formula has all the nutrients your baby needs.

Breastmilk has all the nutrients your baby needs PLUS some other immune and bioactive stuff that supports the balance of bacteria in their gut (microbiome).

The microbiome is important but breastfeeding is not be the only thing that affects it. Vaginal birth rather than c section, not using antibiotics, whether your house is overly clean, exposure to bacteria in childhood from pets etc, diet and lots of other factors influence it. So breastfeeding is important but not the be-all and end-all.

I am also big boobed - rugby holds didn't work for me, I'd feed holding boob up with the hand on the same side as the boob, supporting from underneath.

Enjoy your baby, however you feed.

This was over two and I'll prob not get any now

I bottle fed DS from a week old, and DD from 3 weeks. I had masses of support from the hospital, La Leche League, MW and HV - and the lady in the bed next to me was an nct breast feeding counsellor. Bit I still made next to no milk- I'd pump for an hour for 15ml. Ds lost 26% of his birth weight in a week, and we were still in hospital. Similar story for DD but I left her to starve for longer through bloody mindedness.

They are both healthy, intelligent teens now, with no significant health issues or allergies. Despite being largely ff and both born by c section. There is no way you'd look at them and think that I'd failed as a mother!

Formula is 100% fine!

A starving baby who’s not getting enough fluid and calories because breast feeding isn’t going well is in danger.
a formula fed baby has something like a 0.05% increased risk of being fat or having diabetes when they’re older.
it’s a no brainer really.
if there’s plenty of breast milk crack on, if it’s not working whip out the aptamil.

You’re only 10 days in, your milk supply will increase, I second going to an infant feeding coordinator or lactation consultant as it sounds like you need some more support to continue feeding.

I have 4 kids, 2 I fed myself and 2 I didn’t all 4 healthy boys. It just didn’t work for many reasons with 2 and formula was there to support me feeding them until they were weaned. I felt no shame or guilt, I also enjoyed feeding my bf babies and did it until 13 months ds2 and 15 for ds4 all 4 have tongue ties that weren’t picked up. Please get some support, ask your health visitor if she has any links to bf support I did bf support group via the local health visitor which was fab and made some friends too - also had quite flat nipples. Hope you get some support soon it’s out there just ask

Far easier to breastfeed than pump I found. I also have flat nipples so it took some effort to learn to do it but dd1 got it in about 5 weeks, dd2 within minutes

5 children here all ff from birth. It's no bad it's food.

It’s not bad at all! If you are having cows milk and baby has no reaction to your milk then baby is unlikely to be allergic to formula mad with cows milk. I recommend Hipp Combiotic - my son thrived on it and it has the bonus of also being available in ready to drink cartons, which will make travel / days out much easier!

My baby is 6 weeks old tomorrow. I tried to breastfeed but it was really getting me down. Baby wasn't gaining weight, I was exhausted (anaemic after a bad birth and my caesarean wound was infected). The midwives kept saying that I had persevered longer than most but I kept trying to carry on. My mental health was being affected massively. I was so emotional and tired.

I put baby on the bottle and he is thriving. Don't get me wrong i still feel awful about it and sad that it didn't work for us but he had took no harm and is a real guzzler. He is gaining weight now too. My midwife said to me one day "breast is best until it isn't".

I've put baby on kendamil. It's made locally to us and has no palm and fish oil in it. They also do a goats milk alternative. If you are considering formula do your research and then you can decide what the best formula is for your baby.

Ahh keep on going, you’re doing great! It’s so hard at first. I was a 34HH and it’s so hard! Lying down (on the bed was best) and rugby ball hold with the baby on a pillow bringing the baby to my boob (why are tiny babies so floppy?)

I was resigned to the fact that my breast milk was going to dry up so did 10-15 mins of trying to get baby to latch/feeding and then if necessary used one of the pre-made formula bottles so I wasn’t faffing with making up formula. She drank until she was full.
Then I pumped when she slept (never really got much milk from this) and gave that to her one or two feeds a day.

looking back on it now…what a faff 😂.

Somehow it started working and I reduced the formula.

I think if you really want to breastfeed you just have to tell yourself you are doing your best and every mouthful of breastmilk is fantastic and when it goes it goes.

I think a big part of the problem is that you are almost supposed to ‘decide’ if you are breastfeeding or formula. Just do a bit of both and see how it goes.

It’s also the hormones. Everything feels so intense and you just want to protect your precious baby. And you are doing the best you can xxx

It’s still plenty over 2 sessions.

at 10days old their little stomachs have expanded since birth but they are still really quite little.

Formula is also 0%bad, to answer your first question. Breastmilk has some great stuff in it (like antibdodies) that formula can’t currently replicate. But it’s a fantastic invention that has saved countless lives. Before formula, women who couldn’t breastfeed had babies who starved or struggled on whatever milk they could get from other mothers or livestock.

It sounds to me like expressing is going well. But if you need to top up with formula then that’s absolutely fine. If the pumping gets too much and you decide to switch to just formula, that’s also absolutely fine.

If you’re trying different positions for feeding direct from the breast remember you can use cushions to help prop up your baby or your breast or both. Lying down on your side can be a nice comfortable position too. In that position can feed from either the lower or upper breast or both (not at the same time obviously). It depends on what’s more comfortable for you.