Canging to formula

I need to face facts that Jackson is too unhappy breast feeding, and not drinking enough and therefore not gaining weight.

Pushing the issue is making us both terribly, terribly upset. Any time I have offered EBM in a bottle he is a different baby.

Yes I am defending myself over giving up breast feeding! I feel awfully selfish and emotionally I kind of feel like I have a broken heart.... Sounds dramatic, but whenever I think about all the issues I cry and the pain in my chest is intense.

My next step is to pump exclusively and give Jackson as much breast milk as I can for as long as I can handle doing so and produce milk. I figure over time my supply will begin to drop off.

I am very sad but I feel this is a good start.

My question is around the transition to formula.

Is it possible to mix formula and breast milk to get Jackson used to the taste and slowly increase the ratio of formula to breast milk? By this I don't mean making up formula WITH breastmilk, but having 100ml of breastmilk and 50ml of formula (correctly mixed) added together. Hope that makes sense.

Has anyone done anything like this? I am going to ring formula companies to check, but just wanted to know if anyone has had experience. On the couple of occassions I have tried to give formula, Jackson won't have a bar of it.

Ooops, posted before I meant to ...

Don't feel you have to defend yourself here. You have been through an incredibly trying time and no one can doubt that you have been really wanting BF to work, and it certainly seems like you have done everything that you can.

My one comment - be kind on yourself about the pumping. I hear where you are coming from, but it is time intensive, by the time you feed him via bottle, then pump ..... You are not a bad mother for giving formula. Just do what you can and keep remembering - happy mum makes for a happier baby.

I never did the mixing. He didn't seem to be fussy about the taste being different. I've heard by a few people that S26 is the closest standard formula to breast milk. Funny that this is the only formula we didn't have an issue with.

But I agree with Emmas comments there the basic ones are the best to try, not the gold ones.

We did, if I didn't have enough EBM in the fridge i just made up the required amount of formula and warmed them both separately in a bowl of warm water and mixed together when they were both the same temp. Never had an issue and Fay was on 70:30 EBM;formula for 6 months.
Never justify your decision to anyone else but your self. do what is right for you and Jackson. Belive me I learnt the hard way the knots it gets you in

Ummmm Im not sure if you can mix it....personally I wouldnt.
Caden never had any problems changing to formula, and formula has to be made up to what it says on the tin.

I would just gradually put him onto it, Caden had 3 bottles aday to start with and 3 breast feeds, and then we eventually over a week went formula full time.

ETA- Definitly use the basic formulas, the gold ones give most babies sore tummys. We use S26 Newborn on Caden and he has been great on it.


Edited by Sheza

Nope, not too negative. I am interested in what people are doing and what can be done!!

I am planning on expressing and feeding EBM as long as humanly possible. We're going to introduce Farex once he hits 4 months too.

Hopefully it helps!

Thanks for the tips about basic formulas. When the time comes we're gonna try S26 first as it seems to be a common recommendation. Though we may need an AR formula.

Firstly I just wanted to say you should feel exceedingly proud of yourself for BFing for this long, you've done an AMAZING job! What you are going through is heartbreaking and it's only natural for you to feel this way, but those feelings will fade in time and the main thing is that you and your son are both happy and healthy. And its awesome that you want to express EBM for him ...I always told myself that although it would have been lovely to have the bonding experience of BFing, what really mattered to me was ensuring the BM got into DS, one way or another lol  (because I wanted him to have the health benefits of the milk for as long as possible).

We occassionally mixed EBM with formula, but DS didn't seem to mind the taste of formula since he had both from birth until 12 weeks of age. As far as I recall, the reason the midwife and LC advised not to mix the two was to ensure any precious EBM wasn't wasted ... especially in those early days when bubs often won't finish a whole bottle. They thought it was better to use up the EBM first and then offer formula if he was still hungry. But I did mix them on the odd occassion when I was confident he'd drink the whole bottle and EBM supplies were low. Didn't seem to do him any harm whatsoever, but I'm no expert. Could you ask an LC if there is any *medical/health* reason why they don't recommend mixing the two?

With expressing, if you've got a good supply, you may be able to increase the amounts you express at certain times of the day that work for you (eg times Jackson is sleeping?) - ie pump more at those times but cut down the number of times per day you need to pump? That way, you might be able to only express enough EBM during the day and not have to express during the night, so you can get more sleep. Sorry, don't know if that makes sense!  Pumping and bottle feeding is exhausting though, so take care of yourself. I found supplements like fenugreek great for increasing supply - you only need to take them for a day or two, not on an ongoing basis like some others. 

Lauire S26 do a AR one Does he have reflux quite bad or is it fairly mild? You may get away with the normal S26 and just use his reflux stuff(losec?)

Expressing all the time Ive heard is quite hard on the boobies, as its a lot more rough than babys suckling, so Id be careful there.

You really have done a great job laurie I wish I could have lasted as long as you have, but I couldnt as Caden just couldnt stay latched and my nipples were very very damaged and sore

Thanks guys. I know in my heart that I have done all that I can, but there's still the devil on my shoulder asking "are you SURE you're not giving up too easily?" I feel as though I have failed, even though the rational side of me says not to be so silly.

And I'll really miss BFing Jackson. Plus, part of me enjoyed being the only person who could give him his milk.

I have so much respect for people who have struggled on longer than me when things were not going well. And I respect people who endure all the physical pain to establish, or try to establish breastfeeding. I was lucky that it never hurt (until he started biting in frustration).

Sheena, we are going to start on a basic formula when the time comes. The Losec helps the burning, but not the spilling so will just monitor how that goes. I'd like to avoid AR if possible as J got constipated on a thickener before.

Being a mum is hard sometimes!

I have to say I never had half the problem's you have and I still gave up feeding my boy's. Purely cause I did not like it I did have some mummy guilt, but the reality is by the time Jackson is 4 no one will even care how he was feed as long as he was feed. So honestly You don't need to justify your desion's.    You have done way better then most.