is it wrong to beastfeed and use formula at the same time?

Question

my son is 2 weeks and a day old and today i pumped for the first time. from both breast i got only 2.5 ounces and i thought wow thats good! i didn't think he would drink all of it and he did in like 5 mins and was still hungry. my mother said babies his age only eat about 2 ounces a feeding. well usually if im just breast feeding i feel like i am feeding him constantly. and its not like an every hour thing...its like a every half an hour thing. he had one good nap today and thats it. he barely sleeps. ANYWAY i just felt like he wasn't getting enough from me so i made a bottle of formula. it was a little under 4 ounces and he drank all of that! everyone says that breast feeding is beast for baby so i was wondering if by giving him formula is it going to mess up anything or is it fine? i feel like i have to give my breast some time to build up some milk.

Answer 1

It is perfectly fine to breastfeed and nurse. I am doing both b/c I felt the same way you did. That my daughter wasn't getting enough and she drinks about 6oz of formula in a sitting. So I know I was only producing little milk. I talked to her ped and he said that both is fine. As long as she is happy and gaining weight. I nursed my son for the first 5 months, then I wasn't producing enough for him, so he went to exclusively formula after that and he is fine. My daughter is only 4 weeks though and I am nursing so much during the day. If she isn't nursing she is sleeping, if she is not sleeping she is nursing. And I nurse for like an hour and a half at a time. It takes up so much time and effort and I still have to watch my 23 month old son who needs attention which I cant give to him if I am nursing my daughter for the hour and a half. So I started giving her formula and she sleeps longer and actually sleeps through the night and is great now. So don't worry about it, your baby will be fine either way. Goodluck

Answer 2

ACCKKK! You are getting A LOT of bad advice! Supplementing will DIMINISH your SUPPLY!

You need to let that baby nurse as often, and for as long as, he wants for the first few months. Every bottle of fake milk you give him causes a dip in your supply. Soon you will end up giving up on breastfeeding because "you couldn't make enough milk" when, like these other posters, it was because you limited time at the breast so your body didn't get the signals to build supply.

Does your baby wet at least six diapers a day? Is he gaining weight? That is how to tell if he is getting enough.

A pump is a wonderful tool, but is is nowhere near as effiecient as a baby and NEVER indicitive of how much milk you are making. I have exclusively breastfed both my children and have NEVER been able to pump more than 1.5 ounces from each breast EVER!

So, sleep with your baby, latch him on whenever he makes a peep (and doesn't obviously need a diaper change) and your supply should even out in a month or so.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/

Answer 3

My son is 6 months old and I went through the same exact thing. First thing that you need to remeber is that the more you nurse your baby the more milk you produce. I would pump like every day at least 2 times. I would get about 3 ounces from each breast. I know how you feel--- like if you dont exclusively give your baby breast milk that youre poisoning them, but your not. I had it all-Mastitis and sore breast it's hard. Everyone would say "you get use to it by 2 weeks" NOT TRUE- it will take at least 2 months till you feel real comfortable with it. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!
I do know that if you give your baby formula you want to give them the DHA type- this is for breast fed babies. My baby liked the Isomil Advanced Soy formula.
Supplementing with formula is fine:) I didnt start until he was 3 months with the formula, however when he was 2 weeks I did the same and gave him a bottle here and there when he was going through a growth spurt(which happens about every 2 weeks) and he would suck it down in no time...so it is totally normal and he will be fine. Just remeber the more you nurse or pump the mopre milk you will produce:) GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

First off, Congratulations on your baby!

Second, did you notice a change in his sleeping when he had a full stomach from the formula? He may not be sleeping because he's hungry.

Third there is absolutely nothing wrong with supplementing. Don't listen to anyone that says otherwise.
Breastfeeding doesn't work for everyone and do not let anyone make you feel guilty for using formula.

I fully believe breast milk is best, but the health and wellbeing of your baby should be your top priority.

My second baby breastfed until he was 2 years old, but I had to supplement with formula when he was 9 weeks old. There was no 'nipple confusion' or anything else wrong from switching back and forth. I simply couldn't make enough milk to feed him and I tried everything. I ate a lot and it was healthy food. I drank 8 glasses of water and 5 glasses of milk per day, I even had water while I was actually breastfeeding. I tried pumping and got 1 ounce out in an hour, even tried to get help from an experienced pumper and she had no luck either.

Now, how did I know I wasn't producing enough milk? Well, he would drink and start to get fussy, I would switch to the other side and he would drink again then get fussy again, so I had my husband check to see if anything was coming out and guess what...he said "barely anything". So, I decided to breast feed until he got fussy, then supplemented in the same feeding with 2 ounces of formula, then put him back on the breast to suck and go to sleep.

I spoke to my pediatrician and he said it was fine and my son was healthy and thriving.

Now, my son is a healthy 5 year old big boy.
He's in the 90th percentile for height, is a perfect weight compared with his height. He also spoke early - in full sentences and clearly. Currently his reading and writing and social skills are advanced for a 5 year old. I guess that formula did a number on him.

Answer 5

If you want to have a successful breastfeeding relationship with your baby, then do not offer a bottle of formula. There are many reasons not to do this:

• Breastmilk production is supply and demand. The baby needs to demand the milk in order for your body to produce the milk to meet his demand. If your baby is two weeks old, he is nursing exactly the way he should for his age. It is called "cluster nursing" -- feedings that seem to run into each other with barely a break in between. This is perfectly normal. By continually nursing, your body will make more milk. By giving your breast some time to build up milk, you will end up doing the exact opposite: no one is asking for the milk, so your body will not produce it.

Unfortunately, a lot of new moms don't realize this and simply decide their bodies aren't producing "enough milk" and give up, resorting to formula. These moms aren't at fault -- they simply did not have a good support system there to help them while nursing, and nursing is not an easy thing. It takes a lot of patience, time, practice, and discipline to continue nursing.

Yes, it can be a pain to be constantly on call to nurse, but this is what a nursing mother does. And at 2 to 3 weeks, when the first little growth spurt begins, your baby will nurse take a tiny break, nurse, take a tiny break, etc. Cluster feeding will build up your supply -- but you need to be patient and not sabotage that by offering a bottle of formula instead. Also remember that breast milk is much more easily digested, so your baby will be ready for more breast milk much faster than with formula.

• Bottle nipples are very simple for a baby to manipulate with lips and tongue, versus nursing from a breast where many more mouth muscles are involved. Also, formula (or whatever fluid is in a baby bottle) comes out much more quickly than the speed at which breast milk is delivered. By introducing a bottle, your baby is becoming accustomed to the easy way to food and may not wish to exert himself to get the milk from your breast.

• Breasts don't have markings on them showing how many ounces a baby has eaten. A baby simply nurses until he is full. There's no way to say he's gotten two ounces, four ounces, or more. Plus the intake for a baby this age can range from one ounce to four ounces. Simply keep your baby on the breast until he himself pulls himself off. This way, he gets his fill as well as the all-important hind milk (full of lipids and proteins) that follow the lighter blue-white milk in a feeding.

I'd also recommend joining your local La Leche League chapter (http://www.lalecheleague.org ). LLL is a group dedicated to supporting and promoting breast feeding. The leaders are highly trained and will help you better establish your milk supply (water, water, and more water) and build a better nursing relationship. Good luck!


Ana

Answer 6

I had to do the same thing with both of my daughters. With my first daughter, I was only making about 2 oz. of breast milk every 30 mins or so. I tried so hard to just breastfeed, but she was on my breast all day long, and with the cracking and the bleeding, I just couldn't take it anymore, so I gave her formula too. She would drink about 4 oz. at a time when she was a week old, but she was a little big for a newbie. She was 9 lbs at birth.
With my second daughter I also tried to just breastfeed, but it didn't work out like the nurses told me it would and my daughter ended up losing a whole pound after only a few days, so I just started giving her formula. I would rather see her getting something from the formula than to see her losing weight just because I want to breastfeed exclusively.
I still continued to breast feed when they wanted until they were about 3 months old. They are both very alert and active babies, meeting all developmental milestones and sometimes exceeding them. So don't worry that you wont be giving your baby the best you can, some breast milk is better than no breast milk =0)

Answer 7

You are exactly right that you have to give your breasts some time to produce milk that matches your baby's needs. Your little one is so new and tiny that it will take both him and you several more weeks to get things balanced out. It is very normal for breast fed newborns to eat almost continually. Breast milk is produced strictly on supply and demand. The more your baby demands (by nursing frequently), the more you will produce. Eating and sleeping will be 99% of your baby's days for a couple more weeks. If he isn't sleeping, he'll want to eat. It is considerably easier for babies to drink from a bottle than from a breast, it requires a different sucking motion, so if your son drank from the bottle like he drinks from the breast it may have seemed as if guzzled it down and wanted more. What he likely wanted more of was the extra sucking that he gets when he nurses. It is not wrong to breast feed and give formula. Many babies thrive just fine on that. However, if your goal is to breast feed exclusively, than you will want to stop any supplemental bottles. The more formula he gets, the less breast milk he will require which in turn will lessen the amount of breast milk you produce.

Answer 8

Breast milk is best, but sometimes you just can't do that. Giving your baby formula is SUPPLEMENTING what you are unable to give him. Yes, some babies may drink only 2 ounces at that age, but apparently your baby needs more - babies won't drink what they don't need. Continue to give him as much breast milk as you can produce, and when you need, supplement the formula.
Your best bet would be to talk to a lactation consultant about producing more milk, the hospital where you gave birth should have some lactation nurses on hand to help you.

Answer 9

It's not wrong if you're okay with quitting breastfeeding. You see, when you supplement with formula that is at least one feeding your baby will not get from your breast. The production of breastmilk is "supply and demand" which means that your baby needs to provide the stimulation to your breasts to continue the process. Supplementing such a young baby before breastfeeding is well established can actually lead to less and less breastmilk being produced, eventually leading to weaning.

If your baby is wetting 5-6 diapers daily, pooping several times daily, is gaining weight well (your doctor can advise you on this), and is nursing 10-12 times in a 24 hour period he/she should be fine. Some babies just have a very strong need to suck. It is actually a good thing to be a "human pacifier" in the beginning as this helps to establish your breastmilk.

If your baby is not gaining, wetting/dirtying enough diapers or is wanting to nurse nearly continuously, he/she may have issues with latch on or positioning.

Please read the links I've provided, hopefully they can give you some reassurance that all is well. If you still have concerns, please contact your local LaLeche League group or a local Lactation Consultant. They can assess whether your baby is having latch on problems as well as provide you with support for breastfeeding.

Remember, breastfeeding is a learned thing, it is not instinctual. Moms need information and support in order to successfully breastfeed in most cases.

Answer 10

I did the same thing...you baby will probably eat about 4 oz not 2. Due to issues with my son, I had to pump..he couldn't feed at the breast...I didn't get enough from pumping so my pediatrician said it was ok to mix 1/2 formula and the other half of the 4 oz could be breast milk. My son did fine on this.