i know i want to breastfeed if i can, but i am envious of the convenience of formula feeding. i only work 1 or 2 days per week, but i won't be going back for 6 weeks or so after baby arrives. i'm wondering if anyone breastfeeds at home, and then does formula when you go out, if dad is watching baby, etc. i want to pump, but i don't want to spend my entire days pumping... i was thinking of maybe mixing pumped milk and formula for when we go out or someone is babysitting. is this ridiculous or do people actually do both?
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The only thing with giving formula if you're out or if dad is watching the baby is that you would still need to pump during that timeframe to keep your supply up (and so you don't feel engorged).
I'm a SAHM and we usually do bottles of pumped breastmilk while we're out or if I go by myself somewhere for a bit. Pumping takes a couple weeks to get the hang of but it's really not that bad now. I only pump once or twice a day in order to make one bottle for my LO to have each night when my husband gets home. Sometimes I pump more than needed so I save it up and store 4oz portions in the freezer.
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I agree, you still need to pump if you are away from LO. The one nice thing that I found later on (10 months) when we started using a bit of formula for the times that we didn't have enough pumped milk or to leave as extra for back up.
There are some arguments though against doing formula obviously (from KellyMom.com)
PDF Supplementation of the Breastfed Baby: “Just One Bottle Won’t Hurt”—or Will It? by Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
http://www.health-e-learning.com/articles/JustOneBottle.pdf
The Case for the Virgin Gut: Even the Occasional Bottle of Formula Has Its Risks by Ann Calandro, RNC, IBCLC
http://www.breastfeed.com/articles/issues-for-mom/the-case-for-the-virgin-gut-3451/ -
@Thehistoryofus: i'm not really worried about formula feeding. my entire family does formula, and my nieces and nephews are fantastic. that being said, i do want to try to primarily breastfeed. i didn't really consider having to pump a lot to keep my supply up though. thanks for the insight!
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I pump and supplement with formula on occasion.
I do find that formula is more convenient when we're away from the house. It takes less than a minute to prepare the bottle of formula vs. 5-10 minutes w/ breastmilk IF you have a way of heating it up. (When you have a screaming baby, every second counts!) I still have to pump, but at least my baby is happy!
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@BabyBoecksMom: Just curious, why do you say that the formula is easier to prepare than a bottle of BM? To me, the BM is easy to just grab and go versus having to measure and mix formula. Either way, most babies want it heated up and that takes the same amount of time for formula or BM.
We were happy to wean her of warm milk and she would take a room temp bottle which was great because like you said, every second helps when they are screaming!
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We do both out of necessity. I couldn't leave my kids all day without pumping, but I can go out for a few hours. That part depends on your supply I think. I do often pump in the car when we go out, then I'll have a breastmilk bottle for them and if they need more they get formula....or make sure to nurse both sides right before we leave.
It really is nice to let others help feed, especially at night. But I'm coming from the perspective of twins, where ebf is super time consuming.
But my kids are thriving on a breastmilk formula combo. They were really low percentiles on all measurements at their early checkups and are big and strong now at 8 wks...my son is 12 lbs!
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@Thehistoryofus: Oh, I guess I should clarify. When we go out, we bring a little thermos of hot/warm water with us. So all we have to do is put the warmed water in the bottle and add formula.
We're also trying to wean her off the warm bottles. It'll be SO much easier when she'll take room temperature!!
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@BabyBoecksMom: Ahh, gotcha. Yes, it was nice because we could just put the BM in the bag and leave it at room temp for a while and then by the time she wanted it it wasn't cold.
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Honestly this is still a huge mystery to me: I was a nanny for a bit and the lady I worked for breastfed when she was at home but yet left formula when she left. I have NO idea how her supply didn't end. I was only 19-22yrs old at the time so I didn't know a thing about about it and never asked....but now as I become more educated on it, it makes me wonder how. I know it is possible I just don't know how. Maybe she pumped & dumped while she was out to keep up her supply?
*I plan on EBF but I also plan to have emergency formula in the house hidden away just in case -
@TurtleDoves: This would be really hard for a little baby, but for an older baby its not that hard because they stretch feedings out anyways. I stopped pumping at work when she turned 1. She gets WCM at daycare and nurses at home.
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In the beginning we did both and we now we add little formula to her bottles. But like previous posters have said you still have to pump regularly otherwise you will feel engorged and very uncomfortable.
What we do is we have a cooler bag and ice packs so we prepare her bottles of breast milk and then carry them with us in a cooler. Then whenever she is ready to eat we just warm it up with a bottle warmer. I find it more convenient to go out with bottles that are already prepared, versus mixing formula when you are outside of the home -
I'm doing both right now and my supply is fine. I work full time and I'm only able to pump twice while I'm working so I don't get enough for what he eats at daycare. He usually gets 2 bottles of breastmilk and 2 bottles of formula. On the weekends depending on our plans he might get a bottle or two of formula and I don't pump when we supplement. I just make sure to drink tons of water and feed him when I can. He is almost 6 months old and I have been doing this for around 2 months.
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I never produced enough BF so we've been supplementing as well as BF the entire time.
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I only pumped for 4 weeks, but did mix formula and breast milk together. And sometimes gave just breast milk and sometimes just formula. Your baby will let you know pretty quickly if their system is okay with that!
If you mix, the important thing to remember is to have the two items at the same temperature. If the breastmilk is in the fridge and you want to make a breastmilk/formula bottle, make sure the formula is also at a refrigerated temperature.
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I supplemented for the first three weeks but once I got my supply up, I ebf. I think it might be difficult to not pump and yet still keep up your supply, at least in the beginning...
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i do both. supplement with 1 bottle of formula. the rest is boobies or bottle of bm. if you want to use both for a single feeding, you should feed the breastmilk first and then the formula in case they don't finish the bottle, they'd at least get all the bm.
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