https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 19 Apr 2026 21:47:59 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747879 Thu, 15 Jun 2017 11:58:49 +0000 krispi 2747879@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had to supplement from the beginning. For us, it was a supply/demand issue. We started supplementing the first night, because although I was feeding her constantly, she was still screaming. (I had some other medical issues from delivery that led to a long delay in her first nursing session, and I think that had a lot to do with it too.) At her first visit, the pediatrician recommended nursing first and then if she still seemed unsatisfied, offering a bottle to see how much she would take. We eventually settled into a routine where we supplemented with formula for her second feeding of the morning and her last feeding before bedtime and we nursed for all other feedings, and we kept up with that until I went back to work. </p> <p>When I went back to work, pumping made my supply decrease further, so we gradually increased the ratio of formula. Thanks to supplementing, we were able to primarily breastfeed until 4 months, and I nursed her until 6 months, when she self-weaned. I think she just wasn't getting much milk at that point.</p> <p>I probably could have pumped more or tried harder to increase my supply, but supplementing worked just fine for us, so I didn't want to add any additional stress to our routine. And I was still happy that she was getting the benefits of mostly breast milk during that time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747751 Thu, 15 Jun 2017 08:59:27 +0000 maddyz 2747751@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My relationship to pumping was totally different with my second. With my first I never really pumped enough when I was at work. But LO2 has been a totally different story. I started pumping in the evenings before I went back to work to get my body used to the pump and to making extra milk and for a while i was pumping 8oz more then he was eating (he wasn't taking enough from the bottle during the day and I was making SO MUCH milk).</p> <p>Just wanted to say it might be different this time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747416 Wed, 14 Jun 2017 13:55:19 +0000 littlejoy 2747416@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We supplemented with LO1. </p> <p>I think there are a few things I wish I had done differently ...</p> <p>Most of all, I didn't really see any of those "this is how big your baby's belly is at this age" graphics until I had already started giving her more formula than she probably needed. Obviously, it likely had an impact on my already low supply. </p> <p>We introduced formula sometime between weeks 1-3 (because she was losing weight). We did supplementation via an SNS for quite awhile - so my supply wouldn't take a huge hit. </p> <p>Eventually, we just moved to nursing + bottles when needed. </p> <p>I was able to BF about 90% of her needs at first, but it slowly faded until she was nearly 90% formula fed at 1 year. </p> <p>I think it's important to look at WHO standards for weight (a little lower, since it leans more towards BFing), and remember your specific child will have their own specific needs. I freaked out so much that I wasn't giving her enough (which, I wasn't - I genuinely had low supply), but I think in retrospect, she was getting too much formula. </p> <p>One last thing: our bodies tend to build more gland tissue with each pregnancy, so there's a chance your supply will be greater this time around. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747371 Wed, 14 Jun 2017 12:54:45 +0000 snowjewelz 2747371@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pollywog: That's pretty much what I did too. </p> <p>With DD1, at 6 months, I wasn't pumping enough and didn't want to deplete my freezer stash so we started supplementing. I ended up having to wean tho b/c I dried up (I did keep pumping but I just dried up when she night weaned herself). </p> <p>With DD2, she's almost 6 months and my supply is def dipping a little bit. I have a bigger stash this time around, so I'm still waiting to see what I want to do. I'll prob get a few cans of samples from her dr to have around. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747353 Wed, 14 Jun 2017 12:33:04 +0000 Pollywog 2747353@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Revel: I had an oversupply at first and would pump one breast at my 5am feed and nurse off of the other. I ended up getting 6 ounces at a time for months. I wound up with 200+ ounces that way (that I had to donate due to MSPI :-( ) I plan to try that approach with my next baby </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747169 Wed, 14 Jun 2017 08:55:25 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2747169@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with the approach from @Pollywog: with a few modifications. </p> <p>I had a goal of 100 oz in the freezer before returning to work. So while on ML (12 weeks) I pumped extra here and there and froze it all. Our LC said having a weeks worth of milk is a great goal. </p> <p>Returning to work, especially for the first few weeks while I was ramping back up with work, I pumped 3 times a day (similar to what the baby's feeding schedule was). Over time though I needed some freedom to go out to lunch or run errands etc. Thats when I cut down to 2 pumps per day and eventually just stopped pumping at work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747161 Wed, 14 Jun 2017 08:46:55 +0000 sauerkraut 2747161@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I did not supplement from the beginning, but ended up adding in formula around 10 months when my supply dropped and my freezer stash was getting low. I pumped once a day on maternity leave and twice a day at work when I returned at 12 weeks, and do still have a little stash in the freezer now at 12 months. </p> <p>At 10 months, I was pumping maybe 1 1/2 bottles a day with three pumping sessions, and it was just too much pumping without an adequate payoff. I went down to 2 pumping sessions, then 1, and started feeding what I was pumping and topping the bottles off with formula, which she took like a champ. We're still nursing nights and weekends with no issue, although I suspect LO is getting lots of nutrition from solid food and drinking plant-based milks from a straw cup too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747049 Tue, 13 Jun 2017 20:24:08 +0000 Revel 2747049@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gingerbebe: @Pollywog: thanks for these detailed suggestions! I like the flexibility you both took with feeding, and the dream feed idea is a good one.</p> <p>@MrsSRS: seems like the before bed feed might be a good idea for us, especially if it helped with sleep. DD was not a good sleeper.</p> <p>@peachykeen: I didn't pump much, if at all with DD until close to when I get back to work, so I definitely think I'm going to try to pump more/earlier to help establish a strong supply in the beginning, given my experience last time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747028 Tue, 13 Jun 2017 19:10:10 +0000 HappyBaker 2747028@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pollywog: I LOVE this approach. Hoping next time around I will keep this in mind and not drive myself crazy over every bottle! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2747022 Tue, 13 Jun 2017 18:56:45 +0000 Pollywog 2747022@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Here's what our plan was: ebf on maternity leave. Pump twice a day at work. Never at home. If I ever had extra, I froze it. If I was ever short, I used my freezer stash. When that was empty I would supplement with a bottle of formula for daycare as needed. That was the approach my SILs took and their kids strived. I planned to do the same thing, but I managed to make it 16 months without supplementing (but there were months I heavily relied on my freezer stash) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2746987 Tue, 13 Jun 2017 17:35:14 +0000 MrsSRS 2746987@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>With DS we did formula for the last feeding before bed and I pumped before I went to sleep. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2746971 Tue, 13 Jun 2017 16:35:44 +0000 peachykeen 2746971@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We didn't have to supplement with DD1 until 9 months but I found the type/consistency of the formula mattered a lot to her. The closer the consistency to breast milk, the better she took it. We had the best success with Hipp but I think it's only sold in Europe (we happened to be traveling at the time so brought a few canisters back) but Baby's Own worked well when we ran out. </p> <p>I never mixed breast milk and formula because I was comfortable saving partially drank breast milk in the fridge for a few hours but not formula.</p> <p>Also, I learned from exclusively pumping to pump as many times as you can in the first 3 months because that will help establish your supply going forward, so I would definitely pump for formula bottles in the beginning (and worry less about it later if it's too much of a hassle - I definitely understand that!). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2746935 Tue, 13 Jun 2017 15:05:44 +0000 gingerbebe 2746935@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I supplemented with both my kids and I credit formula in keeping me able/motivated to put up with the hassle of BF and pumping. </p> <p>When they are still feeding MOTN, I like to give formula and then pump afterwards. I actually found that was faster because the baby could feed quickly with the bottle and go back to sleep on a full belly while I quickly did a 10-15 minute pump and go back to bed myself. (Even better if your partner bottle feeds and you pump and everyone goes back to sleep that much faster!) If I nursed instead, the baby would just conk out after a few minutes and then we'd be in a sleep/nurse/sleep/nurse cycle for hours. Any milk I pumped at night would be stash. I also pumped after the morning feeding to totally empty out and that would be stash.</p> <p>Once the baby is STTN and my supply is well established, we give formula at the 1030pm dreamfeed. It was the designated bottle feeding that DH did every night. I would pump during the 1030pm feed.</p> <p>While I struggled with supply with DS1, I was able to bank 6-8oz of milk a day with DS2. Which means I definitely made enough milk for him to be EBF, but I liked the flexibility supplementing provided me. Breast or bottle, formula or BM or a mix of both - DS2 ate it all like a champ. And I was able to pump wean at 9-10 months and have enough of a stash to get DS2 mostly breastmilk past a year old.</p> <p>ETA: When they dropped the dreamfeed, I just made the bedtime feeding a formula bottle and pushed my last pump to 9 or 10pm (i.e. I dropped a pump). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2746919 Tue, 13 Jun 2017 14:35:36 +0000 Revel 2746919@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hellobeeboston: thanks! Makes sense to introduce and kind of see how it goes. We did manage nights and weekends after one year without issue so I'm thinking I may be one who just doesn't respond well to the pump. I could rarely get more than 3 oz a session, no matter what I did! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2746911 Tue, 13 Jun 2017 14:24:02 +0000 hellobeeboston 2746911@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I supplemented with both of my boys. I nursed for about 10 months with my first, and I made it about 13 months with my second.</p> <p>I pumped 3x a day when I was back at work at 4 months old for both babies. It was around then (4 months) that I started introducing a bottle of formula here &amp; there for each. They would only get about 1 every other day early on. Then around 6 months they were definitely getting one bottle of formula a day, plus pumped milk and nursing.</p> <p>And then as they approached a year old they were getting more formula and less breast milk... but I was also pumping a little less so maybe getting 1 bottle a day, plus nursing and more food.</p> <p>It worked really well for us. I didn't have the best supply, so it took a lot of pressure off to supplement :) I would have liked to make it longer nursing, but I dried up... I know a LOT of people are successful nursing just at night, but it didn't work for me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/your-tips-for-supplementing#post-2746854 Tue, 13 Jun 2017 12:45:34 +0000 Revel 2746854@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm about 10 weeks away from my due date with LO 2, and I'm thinking about feeding. LO 1 was EBF, but not without a ton of work and time spent on the pump, including mornings and post bedtime once I was back at work to make up what I wasn't pumping at work. </p> <p>In thinking about feeding this baby, I'm not sure I want to do all that, nor will I necessarily have the time with another child.</p> <p>So, looking for some ideas on how to supplement and still keep up my supply. I'd like to be able to nurse for 2 years like I did with my daughter, so I'm wondering about when to introduce a formula bottle, do i pump to make up for it, at least in the early days, how much can you supplement without impacting supply too much, etc., and anything else that might be important to know! </p>