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I've been pumping and supplementing with a bottle of formula a day since 3 weeks. DS never had any problems with BM and breastmilk combinations even when we switched his formula like 5 times. It's just one bottle and I always do it at bedtime. That way DH can feed him while I rest or pump.

I buy a regular sized tub because I use it slowly and you're not supposed to keep it open past a month. I find a few drops of gas drops in the bottle before I shake it up gets rid of all the bubbles so it's nice and flat for DS.

We started with Gerber gentle and then switched to Similac Sensitive (sample) then Target's version of Similac Sensitive and then finally to full regular dairy formula. I did it that way as he grew to introduce milk lactose a little more at a time (he had reflux and colic and all sorts of sensitivity in his gut for a few months). Otherwise I was afraid it was going to be hard to go from a super gentle formula to whole cow's milk. I'm slowly weaning from the pump at 7 months and I think I'll be totally done by 8 months so I just ordered some Honest brand formula to try out since he will be totally on formula here soon and I figure I want him on something organic for full time formula feeding. I didn't care that much with one bottle a day but with exclusive formula I guess I care more!

we supplemented for the first month, and then again around the 4-5 month mark for a few months. i didn't notice any issues mixing formula and breastmilk (i would mix them in the same bottle and send to daycare). for some reason i liked the idea of him getting breastmilk with every bottle, but obviously it wasn't necessary.

We supplemented a little, and now only every couple weeks or so. Gerber gentle is supposed to be the gentlest for their tummies. We started with that and then switched over to similac advanced. You can call the formula companies and ask for samples if you don't know which one your LO will take.

We did this when I went back to work, and it took a lot of stress and pressure out of my life. I had to mourn not being able to exclusively meet his needs, but in the end we were all happier. I found it didn't mess with DSs stomach, and he didn't care if it was all one or the other or mixed, he was just happy to be fed Good luck!

We started supplementing around 8 months or so, just a bottle of formula a day (couldn't pump enough while at work) but at the very beginning I did mix the formula with BM, started 1/4 formula, then 1/2, then went to a whole bottle of it. It went smoother than I thought, and luckily we had no digestive issues. Per friends rec's we used Earths Best Formula and we were good to go.

@snowjewelz: yup. pretty much. LO might go 2 weeks without any formula, and then one day I'm short so I'll just give formula. For awhile when she was only getting BM, she refused formula, and then eventually started taking it. So, now even when I do have BM, if its been a while, I'll offer formula so we dont have the same problem. But now, I'm trying to wean off the pump.

With my twins I had to supplement one bottle a day. By 1 in the afternoon I was always out of milk and they were always hungry. I just used standard enfamil and they had no troubles. At around 6-7 months when they started getting some foods I didn't have to supplement anymore so then they would eat and nurse.

I EBF'd while home on maternity leave (so 14 ish weeks) thought i had everything going well when i went back to work. By the time her 4 month appt can around she didnt gain what they felt was appropriate. At the time i was sending 4 3oz bottles each day they wanted me to up that to 4 4oz bottles and i just wasnt pumping more than 12 oz a day at work. So i burned through everything i had stashed in the freezer during my maternity leave. At the next weight check i told the ped this and they recommended Enfamil Gentle Ease when i expressed concern for how her digestive system would react to the change. They gave me a couple cans to try out.

For awhile i would send 3 4oz bottles of BM and 1 4oz of formula. Sometimes on weekends she would get a bottle if i didnt feel like i was satisfying her or we wanted to go out. I stopped pumping at home, so she either got formula or from the tap. She continued to BF and I pumped until she was 13 months. she completely weaned around 15 months.

Sometimes the formula was just easier and it was definitely a relief to not be so concerned about being short for the next day when i pumped.

@snowjewelz: The relief was huge, once i allowed myself to offer the formula instead of constantly trying to squeeze blood from a stone. It freed me to go out for a couple hours on the weekend without feeling like i "needed" the pumped milk for monday. I did cry a little the first time my mom fed her a bottle of formula and she cried and refused for the first 20 minutes (at the time she wouldnt take a bottle from me and i wanted to make sure she was ok with the formula before i just sent it to daycare)

@snowjewelz: Really just that one bottle, more so because she knew I was around (in the next room, pumping....) and just knowing "hey, this is different, this isnt breast milk" kinda way. Within a few weeks I was able to get her to take a bottle of formula from me, and it was pretty seamless between BFing, bottle feeding BM and formula.

@snowjewelz: Yeah Mylicon drops. I use half a dropper in the bottle and shake it up. I get my drops cheap on Amazon (major brand gas drops).

@snowjewelz: I started having trouble with meeting my daughter's demands once I went back to work at 8 weeks. I tried to pump as much as I could but we ended up using our freezer stash because I just couldn't make enough. I really wanted LO to have exclusive BM for at least 6 months but I realized it was probably not gonna happen as my supply continued to decrease (even though I pumped 3x at work and once in the morning). It was really stressing me out and I would try to get in extra pump sessions just to squeeze out a little more but I didn't want to pump instead of being with my daughter, and I hated pumping! lol

Anyway after the 3 month mark, we started mixing formula with BM. We used enfamil gentlease because we had a free sample and she had absolutely no problems with it! At first we did a 2:1 ratio of BM:formula, then DH tried it the other way and even gave her formula-only bottles and she took it just fine. No extra gas or tummy troubles at all. I am soooo much happier now that I can pump without having to stress over how much I'm making. Whatever I make, she drinks and the difference is made up with formula and I still BF when I'm home. It's really liberating and I think I should have introduced formula sooner lol.

Good luck to you!

@snowjewelz: Oh I forgot to say, the only downside to giving formula was that she started pooping everyday and sometimes more than once hehe. Before, she would only poop once every few days so this was one of the drawbacks. Oh well, it's still worth it.

We supplemented from one month to one year, and eventually DS got half formula and half milk. It took a lot of stress off me when my supply was too small or I had to cut down on pumping at work because it's too much of a time drain. The only issues we had were that the formula gave him constipation, and that he had some reflux from bottles. Once he started solids at five months, the tummy issues got much better. By one, he didn't need the formula any more, but I kept up nursing and a little pumping for another few months.