https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 11 Apr 2026 04:01:46 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whenhow-did-you-make-the-decision-to-supplement#post-1136764 Mon, 07 Oct 2013 16:18:35 +0000 cascademom 1136764@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Elderberrygin: Sounds like you could wait awhile longer if she's still gaining and sleeping well. We pulled the trigger because he wasn't happy and hungry. Daycare waited for us to make the decision to switch and send formula along. I hated that time where we struggled to make the decision to go formula, but it took a lot of pressure off pumping at work when it felt like my supply was waning at that point anyway. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whenhow-did-you-make-the-decision-to-supplement#post-1136755 Mon, 07 Oct 2013 16:13:04 +0000 Elderberrygin 1136755@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cascademom: I supplemented at the hospital as well because she was born below weight for gestational age and dehydrated and was totally happy with that decision. I really don't feel guilty or conflicted about possibly needing to again, I just don't know when to pull the trigger and go ahead with supplementing. </p> <p>Daycare says she needs more, and I do trust their judgement, but she also seems pretty content, isn't waking up at night for extra nursing sessions and so on. So I just don't know how to tell if I should start. And its really difficult to find good, unbiased information on supplementing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whenhow-did-you-make-the-decision-to-supplement#post-1136738 Mon, 07 Oct 2013 16:08:33 +0000 cascademom 1136738@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Like @mrsbells, we supplemented until my milk came in for the first week or so. Once my milk was in, he only had breastmilk until 8 months old. The decision to supplement at around 8 months came when he was inconsolable one weekend. He was crying because he was hungry and I wasn't producing enough for him. Once we gave him a bottle of formula, my happy baby returned. It sucked to not be able to make it to a year as a first time mom and the whole "breast is best" rhetoric makes the guilt over it worse. In the end, LO was happy on formula, full, and thriving. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whenhow-did-you-make-the-decision-to-supplement#post-1136715 Mon, 07 Oct 2013 16:01:54 +0000 Mrsbells 1136715@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I "supplemented" from day one because LO needed formula in the hospital. Later she became EBF but then once I started work she was refusing the bottle and her weight gain dropped so her pediatrician told me to add formula to help </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whenhow-did-you-make-the-decision-to-supplement#post-1136685 Mon, 07 Oct 2013 15:53:25 +0000 Elderberrygin 1136685@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LOs daycare teacher has been asking us to send more milk and I'm getting to the end of my stash and only able to pump 13 oz per day, which is what I've been sending in. LO is 8 months old and eats solids for breakfast and lunch and has four nursing sessions in addition to her bottles at daycare. I'm not opposed to formula if she needs the extra milk but I'd like to avoid reducing supply even more so I'm trying to hold off on supplementing. But even with pumping four times a day during the week, keeping up one or two extra sessions on weekends, drinking fenugreek tea and eating steelcut oats, I haven't been able to boost supply at all. </p> <p>Moms who supplemented, at what point did you introduce formula and how did you come to make your decision? My goal is to continue breastfeeding, either exclusively or supplemented with formula, for as close to a year as I can. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! </p>