How to get out of the house with Formula-fed baby?

[Cinai2]

My DS is 11 days old and I’m getting ready to prepare for leaving the house with him beyond trips to the coffee shop next door. Unfortunately I have insufficient milk supply and need to feed Formula, midwives are not optimistic that I’ll ever be able to produce more than 25% although I currently do what I can to boost supply (at the moment he only gets a max of 10% from breastfeeding at each feed).

How do people manage to feed on the go if baby is formula-fed? Do I just take formula with me and ask coffee shops or pubs along the way for some boiled water when I need to prepare a bottle? Are they usually happy to help, and is it safe (at home I always fill the kettle with fresh water and avoid re-boiling). Or do I need to get ready-mixed bottles of formula?

I pumped pretty much exclusively for about 12 weeks bar formula for out and about! Always just used ready made, yes more expensive but so much easier than carting about kit to make a bottle. With regards to your pumping if you really want to continue maybe check your flange size is correct it made a huge difference to my supply. Ones provided are often way too big for most women. Also things like not checking, much easier to do with a pumping bra so you can relax properly and watch a bit of telly etc during!

Oh my I'm sorry you got really poor advice on breastfeeding. The advice they have sounds like you failed or your body failed. It didn't!
Can you get to a feeding clinic? Or see a lactation consultant?
The early days and weeks even, the baby is literally on you for hours at a time, it's nature's way of telling your body to make more milk. It isn't something that happens quickly supply takes 6-8 weeks to establish.
Pumping is a seperate thing that the body adjusts to with practice but it doesn't represent how breastfeeding is going in most cases.
If you wish to, and no judgement if you don't want to give breastfeeding a proper go, please seek an expert. Most midwives are not breastfeeding specialists unfortunately, despite giving that impression.

We did this too - perfectly standard 18 years ago, frowned upon by the time child 2 arrived 13 years ago. Never had any problems. I think our sealed, ready to go bottles looked more hygienic than those I see now where people are opening bottles here, there and everywhere to mix them.

For both ours we used pre-made shop Aptamil until they were around 3 months. After that we made the bottles ourselves in a batch, kept in fridge and took one with us (assuming it’s just 2-3 hours that you are out). They will either be room temp when you need or get hot water in a cafe (we did try flasks of hot water with us but never really needed it). The bottles are fine pre-made and kept in the fridge for 24 hours, never had any sort of issue.

I only ever gave room temperature milk & used to take bottle with sterilised water & a travel container for powdered milk. I think the rules have changed though & they say you need boiling water onto the powder.

So I think in light of that I would make up a bottle with boiling water & take out with me made up.

The generation just before I had mine were advised to make up a batch for the day & to reheat when needed. So I think making one or two bottles up would be fine.

It's hard when you're a new Mum & I honestly think the guidelines make everything harder. Maybe they just want to put people off bottle feeding.

It's frustrating when people on here ask about bottle feeding & loads of people try to convince them they need to persevere with breast feeding. The baby lost 15% body weight. Do you all want the baby to lose more weight? Not everyone is able or wants to breast feed. As long as it's eating & gaining weight then all is good.

This was same as me…I’m now 10w pp and EBF. You should try do every 2 hours… app called pump log I use to track. Middle of the night is most important for increasing. Sunflower lecithin can help to make milk more liquid and helps prevent clogs. Drink lots - all the hydration drinks. I went from 20ml per day to enough to feed baby by 2-3 weeks

Mine lost this much too…I persevered and saw the lactation consultant. He’s now 75th centile as a premie. Breast milk IS factually better.

Please don't follow the 'stop top ups just feed advice'. It is not normal for a baby to lose 15% of birth weight.

It sounds like you could do with a good assessment from a specialist. Can your midwife refer you, most hospitals have infant feeding specialists (or at least one) somewhere although they can hide them.

They should look at why your baby lost weight, is it a supply issue and if so why is your supply low? Or is it an issue with your baby's ability to get milk out. There are lots of ways to boost supply and improve weight gain but a careful assessment of what's going on will work out which ones will work for you.

I have hypoplasia and my babies were fed breast and formula milk via SNS (I'm still breastfeeding my 5yo so the need for formula didn't hinder our breastfeeding journey) I had formula that wasn't available ready made so we used the second safest way, made up in advance, flash cooled and put in fridge and took out made up formula in a cool bag but honestly if you've got ready made just take ready made. This was also before the days of the Nuby cool which seems like a brilliant idea for out of the house formula prep.

My three were bottle fed from 3-6 weeks…all were healthy toddlers/ children/ adults. I would recommend the formula that suits your baby and buy the pre made formula. Game changer 😊

@ftm76

Mine lost this much too…I persevered and saw the lactation consultant. He’s now 75th centile as a premie. Breast milk IS factually better

Yes but OP asked about taking bottles made up so she can get out & about. She didn't ask for breast feeding advice. You're all just trying to make her feel guilty. As long as the baby is thriving it doesn't really matter. Nobody asks you how you were fed as a baby.

Answer to your first question I used to boil the water let it cool then put it in the bottles that I would take out. I would then use individual sterilised containers to add the formula. Once out if the water was cold I'd ask for hot water, place the bottle on top to warm the water inside. Then I would add the formula to the warm water.

About your breast supply in my experience breast pumps don't work efficiently and feeding your baby formula will drop your milk supply even more. Unfortunately my milk supply dropped and I was also very anxious my baby was not getting enough milk if only I had support and encouragement to keep going I would have continued to breast feed my DS. Fortunately I managed five months EBF I suffered from depression after not being able to breastfeed my DS which I'm slowly recovering from.
It's mentally taxing but if you want to achieve EBF you have to park yourself at home make sure you have plenty of food and drink lots of water. Your body is so smart the smell of your baby will get the milk flowing, also babies saliva activate the hormones to make the milk it's all designed perfectly you just have to trust in yourself. If your baby loses weight that's fine they always do and if it's too much weight you will be referred and supported just don't give up you will get there. Also if it becomes too stressful formula feeding your baby is not a bad option a fed baby is always better than a hungry baby. You have options and do what's best for you both.

I second the ready-made milk bottles for out and about. Games changers, took all of the faff from bottle feeding when away from home. From around 3 months I would also bring a pre-made bottle if feed was going to happen in next 2 hours.

If you want to breastfeed, a lactation consultant will have the most helpful and expert advice. But please don't feel like you're somehow failing if you don't - formula is absolutely OK. My 1 year old was exclusively formula-fed and went from 0.2 percentile to 60. Super healthy baby too.

Making her feel guilty about what?

She mentioned she's formula feeding due to poor advice. If she just wanted opinions on how best to formula feed when out and about then she needn't have added that in. The addition suggests formula feeding is her second choice hence the advice. We're also correcting incorrect advice for any mother who may read this thread or be advised similar.

If OP didn’t want BF advice she shouldn’t have given the unnecessary spiel. The question should simply have been “how do I leave the house with formula”

there isn’t guilt intended - I know how it feels. But ultimately, there’s very few people who can’t breastfeed.

My mental health suffered terribly trying to breastfeed, and I did everything suggested- saw a specialist, woke myself up to pump overnight, was triple feeding, etc. I really wanted to BF but my supply never came in. I had a quite difficult birth and I think it's related but who knows. I felt a lot of guilt about it (because you'll always get the message that you just didn't try hard enough) but my baby and I were both happier when I went to exclusively formula feeding at 3 months.

Of course if it's something you want to do then do pursue all avenues as pp have suggested. But please also know that it is fine if you decide it's not what's best for you and your baby, baby will thrive on formula too. Fed is best, happy mum is best, happy baby is best.

No one is trying to make the poster feel bad about formula feeding. This is a really sensitive topic obviously and genuinely no judgement on how anyone feeds their babies. But the context she gave indicates that she did want to breastfeed, and the details sound like really awful advice from the midwife that are likely sabotaging her efforts, which is super unfair. Breastfeeding support is awful (non existent) unless you find a proper expert. If formula feeding is what works best, then great! But I think plenty of readers are feeling sad for the OP who didn't get the right support yet.

Youngest is nearly 13 but...

I used to take out made up bottles in a bottle cool bag, then take it out and stick it under my jumper for 10 mins before it was needed. My babies (and many others) settle into a nice routine after a few weeks. Alternatively take a clean bottle and carton of pre-made formula, but this made both my dc quite sicky.

I was never able to pump much at all but EBF. It was supply on demand, so if baby was hungry after a feed, baby had another feed - this increased supply. Definitely worth getting a second opinion on this, saves money and hassle with formula if you can. Good Luck.

Thanks all for the advice! I don’t mind the posters giving advice on how to breastfeed, it was my plan A and it is on my mind, that’s why I included some details of my journey thus far..I might ditch the pump and explore other avenues to increase supply while still feeding formula. I wouldn’t feel comfortable to not offer formula and keep baby on the breast at this stage because I can’t bear the thought to leave him hungry, but I might try a second opinion and more skin to skin or comfort sucking in between feeds.

Hi OP, that's exactly what I meant -- I definitely didn't mean to drop formula as that would be horrible for your baby, I was just a bit alarmed at the crappy advice your midwife had given.

Oh dear, it sounds like the advice you've been given is not correct at all here.

A baby is much more efficient at getting milk than a pump. Some women can't express at all, but that doesn't mean that baby isn't getting enough milk. Power pumping can help increase supply but the only way to know your baby isn't getting enough milk from you is if they are losing weight or not producing sufficient dirty/wet nappies, and this is often down to a latch issue. It's really quite rare not to produce enough milk and usually down to an issue like previous breast surgery.

I would either join a breastfeeding group on facebook, such as Breastfeeding and Lactation Support UK, which is staffed by trained volunteers so response times can be a little slow, or contact the NCT helpline for support.

In the meantime, I would put the baby on the breast as soon as they start to show cues, as often as possible.

What supplements are you taking?

2 flasks. One hot, one boiled and cooled. I couldn’t use pre made as baby was on prescription formula.

I know there are a lot of well meaning people here but my first baby almost died of dehydration, while in hospital, because the midwifing team were so insistent that the baby could get milk out of my arrid tits. I spent the next 5 months power pumping to no avail. No amount of extra support made my dry boobies spring forth. Formula it is.

Second baby I had an abundance of breast milk and unfortunately due to severe and lingering jaundice she couldn’t have that either. It was gone by the time we got home from hospital and no amount of latching or pumping brought it back. Honestly DFO with implying we aren’t trying hard enough. Both babies ended up on a feeding plan.

I think for a baby who had a 15% weight loss it would be inappropriate for anyone to give advice to alter a feeding plan unless they are an expert doing a dedicated assessment. But it may well be possible to increase your supply with the proper support if you are able to access it and if it's what you want.

My DS2 lost 13% by day 3 due to tongue tie and I had to triple feed (breastfeed, top up with expressed milk, top up with formula). I received basically no support from the NHS in terms of protecting my supply or how to move from topping up to breastfeeding. Fortunately, I could afford a consultation with an IBCLC and with that support was able to gradually move to exclusively breastfeeding.

To give you an idea, I paid £80 which covered a one hour consultation plus follow up support by email. If it's possible for you to find the money and you would like to try to breastfeed more then I would massively recommend contacting an IBCLC, however I do appreciate not everyone is in the position to do this and I hope this doesn't make you feel pressured. I wish women were able to access better support from the NHS.

OP if you want to continue breastfeeding have you had any support from a trained breastfeeding professional?

It may be worth giving the National Breastfeeding Helpline at call just to chat things through on 0300 100 0212. Or looking for face to face breastfeeding group near you.

If you need more specialist support the highest qualified breastfeeding professional is a IBCLC.
You can find your nearest one through Lactation Consultant of Great Britain here. https://lcgb.org/