Author Topic: how to keep balance?  (Read 2112 times)

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Offline duoduo

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how to keep balance?
« on: October 19, 2014, 02:32:58 am »
I am doing mix feeding for my 19-day-old boy, but really concern about how to keep balance as his sister started with mix feeding and dropped bottle when she is ??months old (don't remember), and 2 of my friends' babies drop bottle when they were 2 months.

in Tracy's book, she mentions that at least one bottle a day helps with mix feeding, but in the real life (based on my and my friends' experience), for some babies, for some reasons, even though they started with mix feeding, which means they had more than one bottle a day, they still dropped bottle at certain age, how do I keep the mix feeding for my boy?

my question is: is there a guideline for mix feeding? how many bottles should I give to my boy a day? should I give him bottles at certain time of the day?

if I feed him more bottles, my milk supply will reduced, which is not what I want
if I try more breast feeding, will he eventually drop bottle at certain age?

for now, I feed my boy 8 times a day ( in average), 2 breast + 6 mix. started today, he doesn't want the bottle as he used to be. he used to want bottle so badly that he won't be contented until I give him bottle (almost every time), but I want to make sure my milk supply doesn't effected by the bottle, so I
try to feed him with both sides of breast 2 times, that works a little bit, I mean sometimes he doesn't ask for bottle after breast, but breast feeding only lasts for one hour (sometimes shorter, only 45 mins or even less),then he wakes up and wants more milk. I do believe that the more baby sucks, the more milk my body produces, but what about the bottle? more breast means less bottle, just don't know how to balance, need help and guide, thx.


Offline Lolly

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2014, 16:34:40 pm »
By dropping a bottle at 2 months do you mean refusing to take the bottle any more?

I'm going to ask some of the breastfeeding ladies to pop in and see if they can help! In the meantime, have a look at this link it may help.

A bottle (or more!) a day…  Mixed breast and bottle feeding

Laura
« Last Edit: October 19, 2014, 16:37:09 pm by Lolly »


Offline MasynSpencerElliotte

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2014, 17:45:01 pm »
Hi! I did mixed feedng with all my kids, more so with DD1 & DD2. I started with one bottle a day (formula) between 3-6 weeks old and stuck with that until they were closer to 5/6 months and then slowly changed one feed at a time over a matter of months. Did the same with DD3 but not until she was 5 months old.

When you say 6 feeds are mixed do you mean a mixture of formula and pumped milk? Tbh at 19 days old I am not certain only two breastfeeds a day will be enough to keep the supply up long term unless you are also doing frequent pumping (something I have next to no experience with as I could not pump effectively).

None of my three ever stopped wanting the bottle, they were more than happy to have either once I figured out which type of bottle they liked best.
Heidi




Offline duoduo

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2014, 21:30:43 pm »
thank u for both reply.

yes, in my & my friends' cases, dropping means completely refuse bottle, don't want bottle at all.

when I say mix, 2 breast + 6 mix means 2 times only breast(going back and forth between 2 sides), not ended with bottle, and 6 times started with breast and then added bottle after. I don't pump, to me ,feed after pump is same as formula, they both use bottle, and I want to keep stimulating my breast so my body produces more milk for my boy.

I know that every baby is different, for some babies, they stick to both bottle and breast, but for others, they don't, and since my boy's sister dropped the bottle and gave me really hard time,  I got to be precautious

Offline MasynSpencerElliotte

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2014, 22:15:57 pm »
Pumping will help keep your supply up (not as well as a baby can, but unlike just offering formula your body will supply what is demanded whether by baby or pump). Are you wanting to eventually go to formula or just use bottles to keep that option open while bf? The only issue I can forsee is when you get a growth spurt, instead of baby taking more bm he may take more formula and cause supply to drop even more.
Heidi




Offline *Ali*

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2014, 10:28:11 am »
Pumping and feeding that expressed milk is definitely not the same for your supply as feeding formula. Not sure if we have misunderstood what you mean there ???

Every ounce of formula you give is a message to your body not to make that ounce of milk whereas every ounce you pump is a message to your body that you do need to make that milk. So using formula reduces supply whilst pumping increases it.

Plus a greater volume of formula is needed than breast milk to get the same nutrients so the formula actually stretches your babies tummy past what it would need to be if baby were only getting breast milk.
 
I'd just be careful topping up with formula at the majority of feeds, especially if it is because you want to keep the bottle rather than due to any supply problems because a BF baby will often take a couple ounces from a bottle after a BF even when they don't actually need more milk. This is because it is so easy to drink and they have drunk it before their brain gets the signal from their tummy that they are full. So you may actually be over feeding without realising it which is a problem with formula and can lead to obesity issues in later life because baby lays down extra fat cells which they don't need and don't do only on breast milk.

I have no personal experience of mixed feeding but what I have seen a lot of mamas do on here and IRL is to offer breast only for most feeds and then pick one or two feeds a day where they only offer formula (or breast milk if they prefer) from a bottle. Most pick the BT feed, DF or another feed when it is more convenient to have a bottle, such as because dad is around to give it or they will be out somewhere they prefer not to BF (in the buggy on the school run for example).
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline duoduo

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2014, 01:36:06 am »
when I say pumping = formula, I am talking about teat and nipple, feed after pump means using bottle, same as feeding formula, both use bottle, both use teat. my boy already takes bottle couple times a day, no need to add bottle of pumped milk, otherwise he gets too many teats and less nipple.

some babies get used to both nipple and teat, but some don't, they pick either nipple or teat, that's why some babies only take breast milk and refuse bottle,  they don't like teat.I heard about some many cases that if the baby doesn't start with mix feeding, it's hard to add bottle later, not until weaning. and even if you start with mix feeding, there is a fair chance that the baby drops the bottle at certain age(month). my daughter dropped bottle after several months mix feeding, I don't want this happens to my boy.

the reasons I want to keep mix feeding?
1. in Tracy's book, she already talks about the benefit of mix feeding
2. in my case, my boy wants bottle himself, but not sure if he wants to keep it or not in the future
3. breast feeding only last for 1 hour or even shorter, I need rest, I need my own time, and I also have a toddler to take care, adding bottle gives me longer interval

that's why I am looking for guideline/help, I just want to make sure my boy stay with mix feeding until weaning.

thanks.

Offline MasynSpencerElliotte

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2014, 04:36:15 am »
In terms of your supply though pumping and offering that in a bottle instead of formula would help keep supply up. But then with a toddler in the mix finding time to pump would be tough as well. When I mix fed I chose the feed (or feeds) and did those entirely by bottle and the rest entirely by breast and my supply just settled into those times. I personally went with the bt feed first as then DH could do that one.
Heidi




Offline Martini~

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2014, 19:21:39 pm »
Hi Honey, just some additional point of view.

I think that you are afraid of something which is very very rare, so that kiddo will refuse bottle. If I am correct, most of babies do the other way around, they start to refuse breast when too much bottle feeding comes in:).
Tracy is saying in her book that bottle should be used early and I agree totally (we started at 3wo), but really one feed a day is a lot (concerning your BM supply). I heard that it's good to offer bottle for the first time before 6wo as if bottle is offered later, some kiddos may have problems with accepting it, but offering bottle is a different thing that offering formula and the frequency of doing that is also a different story.

I would say you cannot do much if your LO will refuse bottle at some point even if you offered it before and he did like it. And I would say: don't worry, it probably will not happen:)! I would say that offering one feed a day from a bottle (formula or BM - whatever) is really totally enough for LO to accept it.
Tip from my side, look carefully at teat size. Too small flow can stop your baby from drinking from a bottle and too fast flow can do the opposite. I usually used the smallest possible teat when mixed feeding and only tried bigger ones, when LO started to refuse bigger feeds from a bottle (was taking 100-150ml instead of 200-240ml previously). But as I said, be careful - when I was weaning DS from breast I wanted to keep 2 BF a day and offer 2 feeds from a bottle in the nursery. As he was refusing to take bigger feeds from the bottle (I used slowest flow 0+ until 5mo!), I changed a teat to a "older" version (1+ for a 6mo - haha) and still the flow was so quick for him that it was easier for him to drink from bottle than from breast...:(.

Ladies here are very concerned about your supply and I totally agree. I know that's not your main question, but please be aware that toping with formula milk after every feed is for sure impacting your supply. And you are already saying that your LO after BM can go only 1h apart, yes?
~Marta

Offline *Ali*

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2014, 06:45:29 am »
Ok, yes I think we are misunderstanding each other. Heidi was suggesting you may wish to pump and offer that milk instead of the formula not instead of the breastfeed. So you would BF then top up with the expressed milk which would help protect your supply better than offering a formula top up. It was just an idea since you said you didn't want to reduce your supply but if it isn't something you feel would suit your situation (with a toddler etc.) then that is of course your choice and totally fine.  :) We are just trying to help guide you to keep a balance as you requested because right now I think your routine is heavily weighted towards the bottle and therefore breast refusal and supply problems are more likely than if you, for example, offer one or two bottle feeds a day and BF the rest of the time.

I agree with Martii that one (and definitely 2) bottle(s) a day is ample to keep a baby used to the bottle, especially since you are starting right from the beginning.

1-2hrly feeds at 3wo is very normal. The more you nurse the more your supply will build and the longer LO will be able to go. I know it can feel like they are constantly attached to you in though early weeks though.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline duoduo

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Re: how to keep balance?
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2014, 04:01:15 am »
thanks for all reply, I used to agree that babies tend to like bottle than breast, but as I said at the beginning, his sister and 2 of my friends' babies dropped bottle at certain age, they are real cases.

and I know I might give my boy too many bottles now, I might need to pump my milk instead of adding formula, thank you for advise.