Breastfeeding and supplmenting (open fourm)

[brentlie]

I am 20 weeks pregnant and struggling on whether to breastfeed or not.  I did with my DD that is now 5.  I had a very bad experience, but I am not sure if it was because she had acid reflux and tore my nipples apart trying to eat and cried all the time because of that or if it will be a bad experence agian.  I had decided after talking with my Dr. about formula that it was ok not to do it this time, but I keep going back to how good it is for the baby and the weight loss benifits.  But at the same time I will be the only one who can feed her and then having to dry up my milk before I go back to work at 6 or 7 weeks just seems overwhelming.  Can I maybe breast feed 2 or 3 feedings a day and bottle feed the rest?  Will that hurt the baby's tummy switching like that and does that help your mild dry up faster if you don't breast feed all the time?  Do you think breastfeeding really helped you loose the baby weight?  Give me some of your stories PLEASE!!!

[jd1419]

I nursed exclusively for the first six weeks--took 8 weeks off--then after that I would start with feeding him in the morning and then switching to a bottle for two or three feedings inthe day and then nursing at night..this helped in the fact that my milk had a chance to slow down on production and I didn't hurt as bad--then when I went to work I tried the pumping but that didn't work for me so I quit that andolny nursed morning feeding and at night feeding for bed for another 5 weeks and it worked out well for me.  I hope this helps.  the only problem I had was my little guy had a hard time pooping when we switched and it did not matter what formula he was on--I had to use dark carro syrup to help the bowel movements for the rest of the year, at one took the bottle away completely.

[aridza]

I'm pretty sure going back and forth between formula and breastmilk is completely fine.
For me breastfeeding only hurt for about 10 days, until my nipples got used to have someone sucking on it all the time.
The first 3mo of breastfeeding, you body doesn't know yet how much to produce so you are producing as much as possible then your body adjust to the needs of your baby.
So if you do breastfeed, you will be producing left and right until about 3 months where it will settle.

[anxiousmomtobe?]

You should establish nursing only for the first few weeks but then supplementing is fine.  My dd took both the breast or a bottle with no problem at all.  My ds was exclusive to the breast.  My husband did the diapering, the bathing to have one on one time with him.  

If you are going to nurse, I would highly recommend a great breast pump.  Also, take a nursing class and find a nursing support group.  It is hard work at first.  People who say it is easy are deluding themselves.  It takes 6 weeks to get established.

Good luck.

Your baby will be just fine no matter what you choose.  I am a huge believer in breast feeding, but always put the sanity of the mother ahead of the boob.

[cutiemama]

I've supplemented with both my DDs and neither of them have had any problems going back and forth from breast to bottle and neither had any tummy issues with the formula. We all do what we can but I firmly believe that breastmilk is optimal for baby so if you can do even a few feeds a day or just even pump (which may hurt less) and give baby breastmilk in a bottle, that it's better for baby.

[twiceadopt]

our first was bottle-fed exclusively. the last 2, my partner breastfed and pumped, but we did supplement with formula whenever she wasnt able to pump enough - worked out fine. neither liked the taste of soy formula but didnt seem to complain about the regular milk-based formula. its not harder on their stomachs, tho if you give them a lot of formula it'll make their poops stinkier :)

[twinsmommy]

Did you ever pump with your first child? For me it worked great because I needed to know how much my kids were getting. But you need to do it on a regular basis to first establish and later keep your supply up. I had to supplement with my twins and they had no problem. My son got a little constipated with the formula and the breastmilk he got worked like a laxative ;-) They were mostly bottlefed (wheter it was formula or breastmilk).

[Trialanderror]

Most babies do accept switching between breastmilk and formula if the formula is given to them by someone else. Personnaly, I would however not switch but breastfeed your baby for as long as you can and then start supplementing. Reason: to make breastfeeding easy and pleasant for both, you need to establish a good milk supply which can only be done through exclusive breastfeeding for about 6 weeks at least, rather 4 to 5 months...Also, even though many mothers say there is no nipple confusion, I found the moment that other relatives introduced a pacifier to my son, he fogot how to latch on properly and rather "chewed" at the nipples. That gets painful and doesn`t allow the baby to nurse properly. A bottle nipple could have the same effect. When I went back to work, I breastfed my son in the morning and during the night and supplemented with formula and water during the daycare hours. He did not easily accept that, the bottles often came back full, but all my efforts to pump milk at work were just a desaster.

[Crritter]

I started with formula on my first and didn't nurse till he was a few days old then had a change of heart.  I went back and forth, nursed him a few times a day and used the bottle in the evening because it filled his tummy better and he slept better for me.  I did dry up pretty early though and my around 10 or 11 weeks had no milk.  My son was fine, although he did get every imaginable illness, but his Dr. said some kids do that.  I lost all of my weight within 2 weeks of having my son, but hadn't gained too much.  Hopefully I can lose it all again with this one, but you never know.  I think it's up to you and whatever you feel most comfortable doing.  I was going to just bottle feed, but have been feeling a little guilty too and my husband seemed crushed that I wouldn't at least nurse for the first week or so.  I may have a change of heart too, but it won't be exclusive for me either.