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@ShootingStar: no advice but I'm having similar concerns so I'm following. My 90th percentile baby is difficult to keep up with while pumping. Plus my period came back a few weeks ago impacting my supply.

I've heard people suggest mixing BM and formula to ease them into it (and gradually increasing the amount of formula in the bottle and decreasing the BM until you get to 100 percent formula). Would you want to do something like that?I don't know if it's necessary, but it's an option. So you could do combined what you pump and formula starting now, and keep the frozen for a bit longer.

ETA: So if you pumped 12 oz and want to send 16ish, you could send three bottles, each with four oz. breastmilk and 1 oz formula.

I supplemented with lo1 from 2 months on due to low supply, and what my pediatrician basically told me when I was down on myself for not providing enough was that any amount of breastmilk is beneficial. So with that, I'd probably try to stretch out your frozen stash as long as possible (and 360 is seriously impressive!! well done!). Although, when lo starts solids her bottle consumption might go down a little, so your supply might still be enough. So, maybe I'd dip a little into your frozen stash for now, since you do have so much, but then if you keep consistently needing more, start introducing some formula as well?

Just like you, I was sending 16 oz with my LO when he first started daycare at 5 months. I was only pumping about 9-10 oz so I was dipping into my frozen stash quite a bit. Now at 11 months, we actually send only 12 oz because he eats so much solids! He gets 4 oz with oatmeal in the morning, 2 bottles of 4 oz each and 1 meal of purees. I breastfeed him at home before and after work.

So consider that your LO may be ramping up on solids soon and one of his bottles may get replaced by a meal of something else.

@ShootingStar: Hello August mom! I'm having the exact same issue right now! I just noticed it yesterday. And same with today. I don't want to use formula so I'm hoping to get my supply back up to where I want it. My baby girl will be 20 weeks tomorrow. She's also nursing a ton during the night right now and I was home a lot over the holidays and not pumping. Yikes!

I think this really comes down to what you feel you are comfortable with. DD was EBF until 4 months, then I started to introduce some formula here and there to build up my freezer stash. I wasn't sure how long I would really keep BF, and I was hoping she could get at least one bottle of BM a day for as long as possible. I didn't mix the formula with any breast milk. I found that adding the formula into her diet really took a load off of me, because I knew I had more options.

DD is now 8 months and I recently went down to only pumping twice a day (with no BF), and it is AMAZING. I feel like a am no longer tethered to the baby or the pump! She still is getting some BM every day, along with the formula. I was just thinking that in the future I am going to transition to this waaaaaay sooner. I will keep this up for a bit if my supply lasts, if not, oh well!

Every baby is different so it's hard to say, but we are in the same situation as you (with a smaller stash since it has been months of producing less than he eats but with the same job concerns). With my first, i opted for trying to up my output and avoid formula, and it backfired because we waited too long to introduce formula and she rejected it. We had to introduce wcm at 10 months.

This time, my job is different and my baby eats like a large animal, so we're supplementing. We're still finding the right formula, but I'm not mixing it with bm, and just slipping in a few ounces a day to help me keep up. He's taking it fine (digesting it is another story) and I'm feeling so much less pressure to produce. It's very freeing! And i also feel good that he still gets mostly bm, so best of both worlds.

I would mix a little formula into the mix to see how baby does... Sometimes it takes a little while to find a formula that your LO will like and not have an allergic reaction to so it might be good to jump ahead of the curve. I was a crappy pumper so I gave DD formula mixed into BM and then gradually increased the ratio to more formula- she did great with it! I continued to breastfeed normally at home.

I was in a similar position to you. I started giving DD a bottle before bed at 4.5 mos to encourage her to sleep through the night. I would get a pumping session in then before bed, and one in early in the morning to help supplement my shortfall from what she drank at school to what I pumped at work.

I also took a ton of conference calls while pumping in my mothers room - not sure if that is an option for you?

@ShootingStar: yes, is STTN the holy grail, or what hopefully your stash will last you guys for a while. can I ask what kind of formula are you using? and does she eat all 19 oz at day care? my boo will only eat 13~ish there on a really good day (and he's there 10 hours)--I try to get another 15-17 with two huge morning and bedtime feeds, but doesn't always work.