supplementing breast with bottle?

Question

Can anyone give me positive advice on supplementing formula and breastfeeding. I know breast is best, I don't want any lashings, just other moms who did this successfully.I was able to feed my son a bottle at 4 am and breastfeed the rest of the time with my first. With this, my second, i will be in R.N school so pumping is not an option. Please, please tell me I can still breastfeed and give a bottle 2 or 3 times a day!

ADDENDUM: All the people that are thinking you can pump in nursing school are way off. My next 2 semesters are clinicals and labs thru one of the toughest programs in my state, which means from 6 am to 3pm, i will be solid with a patient or at a hospital or nursing home or in surgery, so no, i cannot pump. i will be lucky to get a 15 minute break to eat.i'm not a total idiot and i remember clinicals with my associates degree. they were brutal.the girl who said her SIL pumped, where did she go to school ? I have never heard of that. my instructors impresssion will be that it's my problem. BSN clinicals are not easy, so lay off the idea of pumping in the middle of my ICU or ER rotation.

ADDENDUM: All the people that are thinking you can pump in nursing school are way off. My next 2 semesters are clinicals and labs thru one of the toughest programs in my state, which means from 6 am to 3pm, i will be solid with a patient or at a hospital or nursing home or in surgery, so no, i cannot pump. i will be lucky to get a 15 minute break to eat.i'm not a total idiot and i remember clinicals with my associates degree. they were brutal.the girl who said her SIL pumped, where did she go to school ? I have never heard of that. my instructors impresssion will be that it's my problem. BSN clinicals are not easy, so lay off the idea of pumping in the middle of my ICU or ER rotation.

Answer 1

my son was born 9 pounds and very hungary-he started nursing 4 hours at a time crying because he just was'nt getting enough he would'nt sleep though the night because he woke constantly trying to fill his large tummy...finally i decided that i would secretly(yes like a criminal) start giving him a bottle or two a day it changed our lives he loved it and had no problem going back and forth(everyone told me he would reject my breast if i gave him the bottle)it was not true at all he loves to nurse and we get our time together closeness and the great nutrion and he loves the bottle to-the milk is heavier.I give him a warm bottle of formula before bed it helps him to sleep right though the night and because i dont feel comfortable breastfeeding in public its convenit to pack bottles on our outting's i also let him have forula all day on sat. (the only day i work)pumping just didnt work for me! When my mom or other relitives would see him drinking from a bottle they would make rude comments and i would have to defend myself i felt guilty at first but now i see how well its working for us he is a very healthy happy boy dont let family or friends that are hardcore breastfeeder sway you from doing whats good for you and baby!Also my supply is just fine it didnt "dry up" at all!
I use simulac organic and it is very easy on his tummy and you are asured it has no extra's in it i also have had great success with the soothie bottle it's nipple is most like a womens nipple so the transistion is easy i swear by them!
Good Luck!!p.s. while in class you will need plunty of nursing pads and after a few hours it may get painful enough to have to manullay express some milk in the bathroom but they will adjust after a while

Answer 2

Pumping is not an option in nursing school? If you don't want to pump, fine, but I'm sure it is an option. My SIL pumped constantly while in nursing school.

You can probably give a bottle 2-3 times a day and still breastfeed in the evening. Use the weekends to build your supply back up, just like a pumping mom would. Offer the breast first all weekend long (and any other days off) and only give a bottle at regular bottle times.

Edit: She attended the two toughest nursing programs in the state. When she was working on her MSN, she pumped in the car between her locations. My point is, if you want to do it, you can. Ask LLLI for help. They are familiar with the laws in your area. If you choose to use formula instead, then do it and don't worry about it. It doesn't matter to me, but I'll support anyone who wants to breastfeed and/or pump any way I can.

Answer 3

I supplemented with my son, he's now 15 months. I started supplementing right away with a bottle a day. Sometimes, I did two or more...especially if it was a bad day. Like I was still recovering from the delivery and we'd been up all night. Other times, he just wouldn't nurse.

Your going to have supplement don't let it or other moms get you down. Your baby will be fine. Your nursing relationship may change so just be prepared for it if it does.

My son would fight nursing - nursing strikes. But, after battling that for MONTHS at five months he gave in and never put up another fuss. However, my supply went down. So, nursing became harder for us both. Then, he went through a period were he didn't have the patience for it. It was a struggle!

But, my girlfriend did the same exact thing with her son and he had no problems! LOL. He loved to nurse and could have cared less that it took more work for him to get the milk. Because he loved to nurse so much she didn't have a problem with her supply at all.

So...I guess the real answer could be either of those instances. :)) Or, something in the middle. It just depends on you and your baby...and your individual nursing relationship.

Kudos to you for keeping up the nursing! Most mom's quit when they go back to work/school. It's very hard and I think your doing a great thing for your baby!

Answer 4

lol, you should know this...learning to be a R.N and all, instead you ask yahoo people. Sorry just thought it was humerous. Anyways...yes you can do both. I know people who have. This is the thing though, you dont want to confuse your child. Don't do breast and bottle. If anything use a pump and put that breast milk in bottle. If i were you though, i would honestly mix them together. 1/2 your milk, 1/2 formula. But if you cant pump then maybe i would just go straight to bottle. It is up to you. Let me tell you something, 1 time breastfeeding is better for your baby than none. So, you already did something good. Dont worry about it. Do what you want to do, you are the mother...and you are the one who knows best. You do what YOU want, dont listen to nobody else. I breastfed for about 1 month and then pumped for another month then i just said forget it and weaned her onto a bottle. Good luck

Answer 5

Hi. I breastfed and formula fed my son from 4 months to 9 months. I work part-time, 4-6 hours a day. It was really hard for me to pump while at work. Sometimes I couldn't pump more than three ounces and by the end of my son's third month I was stressed out at the whole process. I decided to have my daycare provider supplement with formula when I couldn't pump enough. It was wonderful. I was able to keep nursing and didn't have to stress if I couldn't pump enough or didn't have time to pump one day. Then @ 7 months, I stopped pumping all together. Slowly my milk supply decreased and at 9 months I ended up weening him. Sometimes I really miss nursing, but he doesn't seem to miss it. I think it was the right time to ween him. He wasn't ready any sooner.
You can do it! Just be aware that the less you pump, the less milk you will make. But, when you nurse again all weekend your milk supply will pick back up again. My son also nursed one to two times in the middle of the night, which I think helped to keep my milk supply going.

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

Hello:

Well,I can tell you that even if you do breastfeed exclusively,I hate to say it,but you will still have to pump some breastmilk into a bottle for your baby to take at a later time. The reason for this is because as a nursing mother,the more you nurse,the more milk you produce! If you try to save your breastfeeding sessions for a more convenient time,then your milk supply will start to deterioate,not kidding! I know that it maybe very inconvenient,but you have to find time to pump some breastmilk into your baby's bottles,so that you don't get engorged,which makes your breasts VERY BIG and very uncomfortable because they can get very painful,and hard like a rock.

When I used to nurse my daughter,I was able to breastfeed and supplement with formula only because I pumped my milk to use at a later time,because as the old saying goes,"If you don't express your milk into a bottle when you should,you may lose your entire milk supply altogether. I had to use Isomil soy formula for my daughter when she was a baby,because her poor little stomach couldn't handle Similac formula which made her projectile vomit and have severe diarrhea due to a milk allergy.

I found that the Playtex nursers bottles were the best for helping to prevent nipple confusion when you are trying to change between giving formula and breastfeeding. I ALWAYS measured my daughter's correct amount of formula and water an a tall eight ounce baby bottle,and I would prepare it,then transfer it to the Playtex baby bottle,because it is IMPOSSIBLE to try and measure water and formula in those bottles,because the markings aren't as accurate as regular eight ounce plastic or glass baby bottles are.

I wish you the best of luck and I know that you will do just fine!! (((HUGS)))) ;-)

Answer 7

I am an RN with a 3 months old child. This one is my first so I'm having to wing it but I'll tell you what I do :-) I try to exclusively breastfeed when I am home with my angel. I can't pump enough while I'm home during the week to feed her when I'm at work so she gets formula while I'm at work. I find that the ready to feed stuff helps keep her stomach from getting upset from mixing the two. While at work I do pump and she does get that breastmilk the next time I'm at work but it's not enough for a whole day. She appears to be a happy enough baby with no problems from the formula. I strongly believe in breastfeeding but if you can't do it all the time you can't do it. The important thing is to make sure your baby is fed and happy :-)

Answer 8

You should absolutely do this! God forbid you're not around and you're child is hungry (or you're not producing enough milk). It's such a relief to know that the child can drink formula when needed. Don't let people make you feel guilty about this! We used Infamel -- first with low iron,and then regular according to our pediatrician's instructions. Both my kids (now 9 and 7) were healthy babies who rarely got sick.

P.S. Try to pump when you can. Who could be more understanding than the staff and students at RN school?

Answer 9

I tried this, but my milk supply ran out. I was in a different situation.. my son was sick at first, so he never got the whole latch on thing- therefore, i was strictly pumping and giving it to him in a bottle. My supply only lasted 1 month, so every boob is different :)

Don't knock yourself up about it... give your baby whatever breastmilk you can. When you need to give him formula- give him formula. I know that breast is best, but you can only do what you can do. Breastfeeding is VERY demanding, so it just don't work out for everybody and that's ok.

I wish you the best of luck!!!!

Answer 10

My wife was unable to fully breastfeed our daughter, so she had to supplement with formula. Our daughter will be a year on Saturday and she is still breastfeeding and being supplemented with formula. Some breast milk is better then none.