https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:50:58 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2255870 Wed, 05 Aug 2015 18:08:04 +0000 MrsH 2255870@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ldh112: my supply for DD1 and the amount of supplementing seems spot on to what you described. For what it's worth it is also going similar with DD2 although she is only two weeks old. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2255824 Wed, 05 Aug 2015 16:18:19 +0000 ldh112 2255824@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gingerbebe: thanks for the encouragement. it is SO hard to tell myself I am doing a good job but i do believe i am doing the best i can (a mantra from a former counselor) and having support here and from good friends makes all the difference. :)</p> <p>a friend of mine has 2 adopted boys (3 and 5) that were FF and a biological 11 month old thats been EBF.... her 2 FF boys have been sick maybe 3-5 times... She said she thinks it was the lack of anti-bacterial soap rather than what type of milk they consumed that has made them so healthy! Bring on the germs! (Good thing I have a dog!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2255653 Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:23:07 +0000 daniellemybelle 2255653@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ldh112: I'm definitely not a professional! :silly: But ties are so often missed or misdiagnosed. At 10 weeks I'd accepted that we weren't going to EBF and I didn't want to put my LO through a revision. But if we could have done it when she was a newborn I would have done it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2254509 Tue, 04 Aug 2015 13:58:40 +0000 ldh112 2254509@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@daniellemybelle: I think you are totally right that the two are connected. That's why I said I think my supply is adjusted to whatever she is transferring. So I guess technically I would have low supply but I don't think it's for any reason other than the fact that she transfers less efficiently. Maybe I am wrong but I feel like I would be able to produce more if she took more. Sometimes I am still full if she doesn't nurse at least a good 15 minutes on each side and especially if feedings get spaced out (at night for instance).</p> <p>What you said about ties is concerning... I've had four professionals look at her mouth :P </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2254458 Tue, 04 Aug 2015 13:28:54 +0000 daniellemybelle 2254458@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ldh112: Gotcha! The experts say your supply usually levels out to whatever it will be around 8-12 weeks. That was true for me. What I produced at about 10 weeks was what I produced at 19 months even when we were down to a couple sessions per day. </p> <p>For us, it was certainly a supply issue but it was connected to a transfer issue. Meaning she never had a fantastic latch and so milk was not being demanded the way it should have been, and so my body didn't know to make more milk. The two are usually related - does that make sense? Why do you feel like your issue is transfer, not supply? Are you able to pump a lot or do you still feel full after nursing?</p> <p>Most LCs that are really well versed in latching and the mechanics will tell you that the vast majority of the time a transfer or latch issue is a tongue and/or lip tie. I'm not telling you that you have to pursue diagnosing her with a tie or have it revised. But when you say that she is not an efficient eater - that usually means she has a tie. Some LCs and doctors are just not good at diagnosing them. I had one LC tell me, yes, she had lie and tongue ties but they shouldn't affect nursing - but that was wrong!</p> <p>Anyway. :) My daughter would definitely fall asleep while nursing. It wasn't a "milk coma" - nursing was hard work for her at that age so she would just tucker out! "Lazy nursers" (cough cough with ties cough cough) often do that. I would often just let her snooze and when she woke up I would give her a bottle then. She would be so knocked out that it was just hard to wake her up! I also learned to not always do marathon nursing sessions that would exhaust her. I'd nurse for 20 minutes each side, supplement, and then if she still wanted to suck I would put her back to the breast. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2254173 Tue, 04 Aug 2015 10:37:11 +0000 gingerbebe 2254173@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh man we worked soooo hard to try and keep DS awake. He was always a sleepy eater especially at the breast and never ate enough and then would wake up screaming hungry 20 minutes later unless we woke him up over and over again to finish his 3oz. So scheduling was really important - every 2.5 to 3 hours seems right except growth spurts. </p> <p>Just wanted to say you are doing a GREAT JOB. My SIL kept texting me that when DS was an infant and I remember crying so hard because I had been killing myself over the BFing thing. What helped was that she went through the same thing two months prior with her son and she switched to pumping and combo feeding so I knew that she understood. Formula supplementation really helped DS and I nurse and pump as long as we did and gave me so much less stress. Honestly DS could have been EBM at 6 months when his intake went down to 24oz (my peak of pumping was like 24-26oz a day) but I stuck with one formula feed a day and banked the difference. Unsurprisingly both my nephew and son are 13 and 11 months and are doing fabulously as combo fed and then eventually FF babies. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2254144 Tue, 04 Aug 2015 10:24:18 +0000 QBbride 2254144@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ldh112: don't focus so much on the numbers (like needing to make up 2oz sometime later in the day) and instead focus on your baby's cues. It is easy to get caught up in the numbers when bottle feeding and panic they're not getting enough - but if you were exclusively breastfeeding, you'd feed her when she seemed hungry and stop when she unlatched/seemed full, since you would have no idea what she was actually taking. Follow your baby's cues and you can't go wrong :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2254067 Tue, 04 Aug 2015 09:25:46 +0000 ldh112 2254067@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@daniellemybelle: also, did you feed on demand still or keep more to a schedule? At 6 weeks I find I am able to slightly schedule but she also isn't always predictable. It's usually between 2-3 hours at least during the day. But, like right now she fell asleep after nursing and had seemed to be fighting sleep a lot while eating so I didn't want to force her to drink a bottle (though now I worry I need to make that 2 oz up elsewhere today). I don't ever start with formula though, because I don't want to jack my supply up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2254030 Tue, 04 Aug 2015 09:07:26 +0000 ldh112 2254030@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@daniellemybelle: thanks for catching that! I meant my supply seems to be adjusted to whatever she is able to nurse which definitely isn't what she needs for a 24 hour period. If she was a more efficient eater maybe it would be different but we are going to combo feed and I am not going to stress it too much :)</p> <p>Did you have a supply issue or was it a transfer issue? I wish she would transfer 2 oz when nursing! I know she possibly could be since weighted feeds are just snap shots but it would've been nice to see one out of the four we've done be over the ounce mark. </p> <p>Sometimes she will fall asleep after nursing... Did that happen for you? Would you wake your baby up to continue with the bottle? What about with your baby @kemma? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2253924 Tue, 04 Aug 2015 08:11:06 +0000 daniellemybelle 2253924@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ldh112: Glad that you figured out how much to supplement! </p> <p>I'm wondering about what you said about your supply staying at what she needs... if that's the case you wouldn't need to supplement with formula, right? If you are ready to settle into combination feeding that's great - that's what we did! Just wondering what you meant there.</p> <p>Hang in there! :heart: I remember how hard it was. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2253289 Mon, 03 Aug 2015 14:03:39 +0000 ldh112 2253289@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@daniellemybelle @macintosh @ladygrey</p> <p>Today was our 4th visit to a local LC at a nearby hospital. My daughter has continued to not transfer well- taking in no more than 1.25 ounces in a feeding (upwards of 40 minutes). Today was about 25 minutes and a couple cc's shy of an ounce. The LC said nursing (assuming she continues to get around 1 oz) + 1.5-2oz supplementing per feeding would be best for optimal growth. She's been looked over for lip/tongue ties by my midwife, LC, and pediatrician so that is not the issue. </p> <p>My supply seems to be staying steady at just what she needs. I can't pump much before/after feedings (I've maybe hit 3/4 oz once or twice since trying). I nurse her for about 30 minutes on average, if she wants to go longer it can be closer to 45-50 min. I only top off after so I don't think my supply will be impacted too much unless I decide to replace nursing sessions. I am still debating because nursing + ff makes for very length feeding sessions, but if I do the math I may be able to push the feedings from 2 hrs during the day to closer to 3 hrs apart (going from 10 to 8 or so feedings) to get what she needs for growth in a day (LC says 23 oz). </p> <p>I have been referred for both craniosacral therapy/home visits with additional LC's but I am really burnt out from everything we've done the last 6 weeks, not to mention the additional costs these things would be with no certainty things will change. I am trying to come to terms with a different breast feeding relationship than I anticipated but if I am honest, I also am exhausted from trying to kill myself to make it work. </p> <p>At the end of the day, we got pregnant so easily (which is not the case for everyone) and I can't complain too much (other than that she is insanely talented at breaking free from swaddles and hasn't figured out the whole staying asleep at night thing). Parenthood has really challenged my desire to try to control everything (hell, pregnancy challenged that too!) and how/what she eats is just one part of our relationship. I am trying to remind myself of that but some days are better than others. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252756 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 22:01:21 +0000 lady grey 2252756@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ldh112: What is your goal? do you want to get to exclusivly breastfeed? If so I would make an appointment with an IBCLC asap. You can also rent a baby scale and weight your babe before and after feedings to get a better idea of what she is taking. Also you probably need to work on your supply, so I would recommend pumping after every breastfeeding session....<br /> as for pumping, are you "hand on" with it? meaning do you do breast massage or compression while pumping? Are you sure you are using the correct flanges? an IBCLC can het your figure out why you aren't getting much output while pumping as well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252732 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 21:25:30 +0000 Kemma 2252732@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@daniellemybelle: :happy: I think it also depends on what sort of bf'ing issues Mum is dealing with; low supply, transfer issues, tongue ties etc will all require a different response! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252730 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 21:21:14 +0000 daniellemybelle 2252730@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Kemma: Great point. I waffled between wanting to try to get to EBF (never did but nursed for 19 months) and just wanting a full happy growing baby. Ultimately I think my attempts to wean off formula were more stress than they were worth but maybe if I had been more hardcore we could have gotten to EBF? I'm in the camp - offer plenty but go slow and watch cues for fullness. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252720 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 20:50:01 +0000 mrsrugbee 2252720@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@macintosh: I think you were fortunate your LC was up front and the ped was competent. It's really hard because often peds are not very well informed on lactation and jump on formula at the sight of trouble (even before any weight is lost). Not every LC is made the same either.</p> <p><a href="http://www.thealphaparent.com/2014/08/why-some-lactation-consultants-fail.html?m=1" rel="nofollow">http://www.thealphaparent.com/2014/08/why-some-lactation-consultants-fail.html?m=1</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252718 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 20:46:37 +0000 gingerbebe 2252718@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At 6 weeks DS was taking 3-3.5oz bottles. We did combo nursing, pumping, and supplementing at that age. We would usually assume he was getting 1-2 ounces a nursing and then offer 2 ounces afterwards and he would take what he wanted. He would start playing with the bottle nipple when he wasn't hungry anymore. We gave him slow bottles and burped him frequently because he had reflux. So feedings took FOREVER. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252696 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 19:54:21 +0000 Kemma 2252696@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think the amount you give would depend on why you're supplementing and what your long term goal is with regards to bf'ing.</p> <p>If you were still trying to build supply then you would probably want to keep the amount to a minimum to encourage baby to keep working at the breast. If you were ok with your level of supply and mixed feeding, then you might want to offer a little more.</p> <p>It is worth bearing in mind that for an ebf baby, a full feed is 2-4 ounces 8-12 times a day, totalling 24-36 ounces per 24 hours. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252688 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 19:46:37 +0000 macintosh 2252688@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsrugbee: Maybe the LCs at my hospital weren't great, but I had one tell me she didn't know how much formula to recommend. She told me to ask the ped. The ped said it sounded like what I was doing was fine. Gee thanks for the expert advice. Thank goodness for the Internet! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252684 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 19:41:04 +0000 mrsrugbee 2252684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think seeing a lactation consultant is critical. Nobody can give you as good advice and supplementation is a slippery slope to supply crashing completely. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252681 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 19:37:17 +0000 macintosh 2252681@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel like this is the hardest thing about supplementing, especially because it changes so fast. Around that age I was offering 2-3 oz of formula at every feeding, which was 7-8 times per day. I had done a weighed feed early on and DS had transferred only 20cc. He was also a lazy, sleeper eater, so I didn't trust him to show hunger cues in the beginning. He used to fall asleep multiple times during nursing.</p> <p>As he grew he definitely let me know when he needed more at the end of a feeding, so I started increasing the amount I gave him 1 oz at a time. I tried to go by the rule of 2.5 oz per pound of body weight for total daily consumption. As my supply got slightly better, I could pump up to 2 oz. I assume he's getting 1-2oz from me at each feed.</p> <p>Now at 13 weeks, he weighs 15 lbs - over 6 lbs up from birth weight and right on his curve. He's cut down his feeding frequency so he's taking 5 feeding during the day with 4-5 oz. formula plus nursing at each feeding. He nurses 1-2 times at night to get back to sleep. He takes about 6 oz. of formula per feeding when he's with the nanny once a week.</p> <p>I will say that there are definitely times when he overfeeds from the bottle, but it just means a ton of spit-up. That's how I know he probably needs a little less. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252668 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 18:50:00 +0000 daniellemybelle 2252668@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>One thing to keep in mind - if you are practicing paced bottle feeding and using a very slow flow nipple like Dr Brown preemie nipples, you should be able to see when your LO is getting full and avoid over-feeding. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252667 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 18:46:17 +0000 daniellemybelle 2252667@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Have you seen a lactation consultant? They can help you figure out how much to supplement.</p> <p>At that age we supplemented 1-2 oz after each nursing session - but every baby is different. She was tranferring about 1.5-2 ounces from a good nursing session. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-1#post-2252663 Sun, 02 Aug 2015 18:35:50 +0000 ldh112 2252663@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How much do you supplement (I have an almost 6 week old)? Do you still offer formula if your baby isn't acting hungry after nursing? My pediatrician told me I can't over feed her but would those of you who have done this longer than me agree? </p> <p>Typically at weighted feeds she is only transferring a little over an ounce (she is a bit of a lazy eater), so I am offering her 2-3 oz at feedings where I can tell she isn't emptying a breast or is acting hungry after 30 minutes + of nursing. This has been happening at about 3-5 feedings a day. </p> <p>I can't pump much (even with a hospital grade pump), which would definitely help me know what she is getting from me, so I guess my question is geared towards those who have experience nursing and supplementing. :) </p>