When did you introduce formula?

Question

I’m starting to think my milk is not enough for my 7 and a half week old. Today for example he had a bottle of expressed breast milk (130ml) at 2pm, 3pm and 5pm. Smashed the whole bottle every time. I just got him down to bed (6:30pm) and considering giving him a bottle of formula for his 9pm feed. If he sleeps longer then 3-4 hours that’s a bonus but during the day he eats very often. I’m feeling the guilts a bit considering giving him formula but he shouldn’t be eating that much and that frequent surely.. I’m burping him several times through a feed, tilting the bottle so it’s not just guzzling down easy. During the night he feeds every 3-4hours. Sometimes wakes after 1.5-2hours but I manage to easily settle him back to sleep for a little while with cuddles or dummy.
How old was your bub when you introduced formula? 
How many bottles of formula a day did you start with? 
Did it upset bubs belly? 
Did you find formula made your bub sleep longer? 
Did you regret it?

Answer

My son never have any formula. But it's all normal for babies to eat that often, some even eat every 30-45minutes! It's also extremely rare for breastmilk to not be nutritious enough, just saw what you wrote as a response to another answer.

Answer

Hello. I briefly did and sort of
regretted it really. It didn’t help either. It’s highly unlikely you wouldn’t produce enough milk if you feed on demand. At 7 weeks your supply is probably stabilising so it may seem as though you’re producing less but you aren’t, your body is just more efficient at it and it’s more comfortable. It may be that you pump less though as pumping and BF are kind of separate things. I’d suggest feeding from the breast as much as possible for now to make sure your supply is properly established and then you can pump after as well if you’re really concerned. Unless you want to use formula there’s never a point that you would need to introduce it, breast milk is always all a baby needs in additional to solids from around 6 months until they are fully weaned. Formula does sometimes make a baby sleep longer (it never did with mine though) but that is not really a good thing. It’s one of the downsides I’m fact as it means they can enter a deeper sleep that babies very occasionally don’t wake up from which is why formula feeding is associated with a slightly higher rate of SIDS cases so I wouldn’t choose it just for that reason. Ask a lactation consultant if you’re concerned or need advice :) x

Answer

Normal. Baby’s digest breastmilk instantly. Mine still eats 6-8 oz every 2-3 hours. She’s 9 months and 23 pounds.

Answer

Sounds normal. My LO eats more frequently during the day — sometimes an hour, but typically between 1.5-2 hours. At night he usually goes 3-3.5 hours.

Answer

Every baby is different and I suggest following your baby's cues. My son took 5oz of breastmilk every two hours until he was 8 months old!!! Even did a weighted feed at 5 weeks old and that's what he transferred nursing so I took all those ridiculous charts and chucked them. If I didn't have the supply, I would have introduced formula as soon as I felt it was necessary, no shame in keeping your baby happy and full! Just be sure to keep an eye out for changes in gas and bowel movements- maybe try a "sensitive" formula first

Answer

Babies go through growth spurts and cluster feed at different times, just like in the beginning. Breastfeeding is supply and demand so as baby grows, he has to signal your body to make more milk for him.

When did you introduce formula?

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey