EBF > formula fed

Hey! Just so you know you’re doing amazing and making your health a priority is so important! And you’ve done amazing giving your son 7 weeks of breastmilk so well done!

So I’m combi feeding my little girl (giving her breastmilk and a little formula) I would imagine doing it slowly is the way to go. You could add a couple bottles of formula in and slowly increase it over time so as not to upset her stomach.
I’m using SMA pro which my little girl seems to have taken well to.
I have a tommee tippee prep machine which helps make it quickly. I know others do it differently.
Could do kettle method. But some people use the nuby rapid cool which I’ve heard is very good too.

thank you 🫶🏻

breastfeeding was going so well I decided to sell my formula making equipment lol sure regret it now 🥲🥲 but I don’t mind doing kettle method. I’ve always done that with all the little ones in my family no one ever used any fancy gadgets so I’m kind of used to it.

i was thinking to maybe give him breastmilk in the morning and night and try to do bottles in the afternoon. would that be too much straight away? should i do one bottle a day of formula and slowly do more bottles eventually?

Kendamil goat is apparently closest to breastmilk

I’m confused about your back problems — is it caused from leaning over to breastfeed or is it caused from your boobs getting larger?

You should be sitting up straight when breastfeeding and using pillows under your arm and lap to elevate your baby to breast level. Never bring breast to baby, as of course it will cause pain from scrunching over for long periods of time. Always bring baby to breast. Hope this helps!

I had to stop breastfeeding for a myriad of reasons, and combi-fed pumped milk and Kendamil. Some people don’t like it but we LOVED the Tommee Tippee prep machine. Life saver or did fridge method by big batch in the morning for the day. Whatever you do you’re doing the best for you and your baby xxxx

personally I would bring it up slowly 1-2 initially then maybe bring it up slowly. To however many you want

@Marie Some comments and questions about your posts:

@Marie “Fed is best” I completely agree. This is why a good IBCLC will have donor milk or formula on hand - because a baby can’t learn on an empty stomach when they are starving.

“There is no added sugars in the formula we used so actually my breastmilk was way sweeter. Formula tastes nothing like milk, and lacks the sugar.” So being ‘sweet’ isn’t a bad thing because breastmilk has components that protect your teeth and oral biome…unlike formula. This is one of the reasons why it’s VERY important to brush your baby’s teeth if you formula feed but it’s not necessary for EBF babies until the introduction of solids. The oligosaccharides that make breastmilk sweet are also different than the cane sugar that was added to formula.

@Marie “other than the antibodies from breastmilk, there is no added benefit. Formula is fortified especially with iron so you won’t need an added supplement either.” This is unfortunately not true. Formula companies may tout the addition of some IDENTIFIED components (such as DHA and oligosaccharides), but there are potentially thousands of still unidentified components in human milk. Formula companies scramble to add these components as they are identified, but the process is still continuing, and with mishaps. For example, when they identified iron and started adding it to keep babies from becoming anemic, it was found to be ineffective because formula also lacked lactoferrin, which is abundant in human milk. Lactoferrin makes the smaller amount of iron in human milk fully absorbable. Human milk also contains more cholesterol compared to cow’s milk, which is a precursor of hormones and is also important in brain development.

@Marie Finally, large quantities of oligosaccharides are present in human milk — 10 to 20 times the amount found in cow’s milk. Oligosaccharides have health benefits that include balancing intestinal microbiome and lining, protecting against pathogens, and supporting immune system development. The type and quantity of oligosaccharides is determined by the mother’s genetics and thus not replicable by formula companies.

@Marie “my breasts drying up for weeks at a time.” How did you know that your engorgement wasn’t just going away? How did you judge your output? If your baby’s diaper output remained the same and they are still gaining normally, as established by their initial curve, then there was likely nothing wrong with your supply.

@Marie “breast feeding & position, even with a boppy pillow and trying to stay upright it’s near impossible.” I’ve used that pillow. It does not offer enough height (for me, who is short) to bring baby to breast. I ended up using 3 pillows that I positioned myself, as suggested by an IBCLC. Also the side lying position was very helpful — you don’t have to be upright to breastfeed, and there are LOTS of alternatives.

@Marie “Also, my cycle returned immediately postpartum…the prolactin increases and cycles return at different times…The only moms I know continuing beyond generally 6 months usually don’t have their cycles back & don’t have pre existing back conditions or hormone sensitivities…To add, I was extremely sensitive to progesterone during pregnancy & my doctor noticed sensitivity to the increased prolactin levels too.” Hi there, hello. I have Ehlers Danlos, hyper mobility, and LOTS of joint, back, and hip discomfort and am prone to subluxations. Pregnancy was rough to say the least. I also had hormonal imbalances pre-pregnancy which always resulted in my period being MIA or spotty at best, and being very sensitive to synthetic hormones (progesterone worsens my hyper mobility and I have a clotting factor which means I can’t do estrogen). Every postpartum woman is different in terms of when their period will come back. Despite this, you CAN do extra pumping or let your baby suck for comfort

@Marie to help maintain or increase supply — an IBCLC could have been helpful for you.

“get severely pinched nerves in my back from retaining fluids due to the elevated prolactin levels…Prolactin causes swelling throughout the body. It doesn’t feel good & is very painful. Think Edema/ fluid retention- it’s the same thing. Some women will experience higher levels of this fluid retention like myself & that can contribute to joint pain including back joint pain.” Man, I had horrible fluid retention during the last couple months of pregnancy. But it all went away within the first 6 weeks postpartum. I wasn’t able to find any medical literature that supports normal prolactin levels causing fluid retention in parts of the body other than the breasts. Could you link some sources? I am always learning. Is it possible it was a different hormone or something that coincided with your lactation journey? I can, however, confirm that prolactin promotes joint laxity, which I, myself, still experience because I am long-term breastfeeding.

@Marie I have had to be extra diligent with my Ehlers Danlos, subluxation and pain during breastfeeding. It’s been a lot of trial and error, but it’s been worth it to know that not only am I reducing my LO’s risk of acute diarrhea disease, asthma, atopic dermatitis, childhood leukemia, diabetes mellitus (types 1 & 2), inflammatory bowel disease, lower respiratory illness, obesity, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), but I’m also reducing MY risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, and breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer. Especially with my hyper mobility, the osteoporosis is important to me. And it should be noted that duration of breastfeeding has frequently been found to affect the magnitude of the protection.