Any mamas in this situation? Doc says she needs formula

How much did your baby weigh at birth?

Hmmm if you do end up needing formula, look up enfamil optimum (a little pricey) it’s the most similar formula out there to breastmilk! Best of luck ❤️‍🩹 (my baby got super chubby on it lol)

I went through the same thing earlier on. We ended up adding a small amount of formula (like 2 tsp) to bottles of my breast milk to increase the calories of my milk. We did this for about two months and were able to stop and she is back to exclusively breastfed now.

Have you completed a weighted feed to see how much she is transferring? Any allergies/intolerances? Reflux? You can fortify breast milk with formula. It doesn’t need to be one or the other!

My doctor said the same thing. I asked to speak with the lactation consultant and advised to start pumping and feeding him everything I was pumping, in addition to feeding him at breast. After I started doing that he gained weight rather quickly. If youre bigger breasted (like i am) the LC said its harder for little ones to get the milk all the way down the breast so they end up getting tired and going back to sleep

My doctor said the same thing and my baby had been exclusively breastfed, I decided to just do formula like my doctor said even though my baby was doing all the right things too except gaining weight like he wanted (we had already been supplementing when I was away from him at work because I couldn’t pump enough). My baby seems to be gaining weight from even just a week or two ago when we started and he seems happier. I didn’t mind having to give him formula but it just depends on what you want for your baby. You can try supplementing or whatever works for you, but for me doing the formula, even if it was just supplementing worked for me!

I just went through something similar. Breastfed since birth, slow weight gain noticed at 1 month and told to supplement at 2 months.

My little man was doing great, no other concerns, seemed happy/content. I ended up supplementing about 4-5oz of formula per day & that helped him pack on the weight.

I was confused about the same thing, why wasn’t my baby fussy after feeds if he wasn’t getting quite what he needed. After a week or two of supplementing, I (surprisingly) noticed a change in behaviour after feeds..he was happier, energetic and stayed calm for longer (even though he was pretty happy and chill before). Your baby may be getting enough to keep her happy but just needs a few more cals to help gain.

Another thing to note is having to supplement with formula may not be forever. We supplemented for just 1 month and got cleared from the paediatrician.

Sorry for the long reply but I can relate to you and can understand the curiosity. Feel free to reach out❤️

We had a similar issue with our son. He was on high calorie formula from birth due to being a premie and needing to gain weight which we were not super happy about. After some positive weight gain, we were fortifying breastmilk (adding formula to breastmilk). Once our doctor was happy with his weight gain we were able to stop giving him formula and he only had breastmilk.

Definitely went through a similar situation but doctor was convinced he had a dairy allergy. Had to supplement with dairy free formula for two weeks while I stopped all dairy products (still breast fed just did like 2-4oz of formula before nursing) then went back to only nursing. Did this back and forth a few times. To this day I truly do not believe he had a dairy allergen but either way once he got back on track we stopped formula all together and has been fully on breastmilk since maybe around 3 months we stopped formula completely. Never stopped nursing though and I always did the formula before nursing.

I would say she is fine my baby boy didn’t reach his birth weight again until after a month and then only gained very little until 4 months old old because he had a tight latch ! Ultimately it is your choice they wanted me to supplement with formula and I chose not to !! I continued to help my son get a better latch and learn to drink more efficiently, making sure he fully emptied my breast we did weighted feeds with a lactation consultant!!
If anything, mama, if you want to offer more milk, why don’t you just feed your baby in the morning time like you always do and after your first speed of the day pump for like 10 minutes to add extra milk to your supply do this for about 1 to 2 weeks and also try sitting with your baby on you for 30 minutes to an hour that’s what I did and my baby gained so much weight. Do you know seven months old still breast-feeding

I did! I didn’t have enough fat in my milk supply and we started adding formula to fortify my breast milk and eventually ended up just switching completely to get her to keep gaining weight! You can have your milk tested to check whether it’s giving her everything she needs

Same with my breast fed baby, they were concerned about his weight until about 1 years old and now they just realize he is just little lol... diffently get a second opinion if you have any concerns.. but your baby could just be little, my baby is a year and two months and I definitely seen a growth spurt on him even though he is still smaller then his playmates lol

Maybe try adding a bottle of breast milk and seeing if she gains more weight before immediately jumping to formula. To be honest she prolly won’t like the taste.

Maybe try pumping to get your supply up? Many women who exclusively breastfed don't reach their full milk producing potential because they are just producing enough to feed their baby. Which is normally fine, but if your doctor is mentioning that your baby should be gaining more weight you could pump to get your supply up and instead of doing formula feed her the excess.