how to start formula?

Ok, my ability to pump an adequate amount breastmilk is dwindling, and now I
am feeding mostly thawed breastmilk that I have stored up since January. We
have about 400 6 oz bags - enough to last about 3 more months, which will
put Emily at almost 8 months. At that point, we will need to do formula. I
guess it's a little early, but in looking at all the formulas available,
it's mind boggling. There's powdered, ready to drink and liquid concetrate.
Then there's "supreme" with dha and ara, and all this other nonsense. When
we get to the point we are close to running out of breastmilk, I'd like to
have some plan in mind on how to switch. Or do I supplement now? Like,
feeding formula in the morning, or evening and feed breastmilk the rest of
the time?

Betsy

"oregonchick" wrote in message
...
There's powdered, ready to drink and liquid concetrate. Then there's
"supreme" with dha and ara, and all this other nonsense.

We did Enfamil powdered. The liquid stuff only lasted a day or three, and it
was at least the same price as a big can from WalMart.

When we get to the point we are close to running out of breastmilk, I'd
like to have some plan in mind on how to switch. Or do I supplement now?
Like, feeding formula in the morning, or evening and feed breastmilk the
rest of the time?

Sure.

Seriously, whatever works for you.

Jess

"oregonchick" wrote in message
I guess it's a little early, but in looking at all the formulas available,
it's mind boggling.

I used Enfamil with iron, powered. You might want to get her used to the
formula now and make sure she doesn't have any problems.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

I would start on one bottle a day to try to eke out the ebm for as long as
possible. When you start is up to you.

Jean

--
LeinsterFreecycle Co-moderator
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LeinsterFreecycle/

DD June '02
DS May '05

I used Enfamil with iron, powered. You might want to get her used to the
formula now and make sure she doesn't have any problems.

I can't recall Emily's precise age, but I recall that there is a distinct
advantage to delaying formula until after solids have been started,
essentially treating it as another solid food. Sounds like you have enough
milk to get you to that point, so I'd probably wait until the last month
before going to mixed feeding.

Anne

I would wait to start the formula until after six months when you do
other solids. That keeps her exclusively bf till then, which is the
ideal. Then I'd start with just one bottle a day at first. Will you
continue pumping?

When we had to supplement, we used Enfamil or Bright Beginnings,
basically whatever I could get a coupon for or get through Freecycle.
I wouldn't use Good Start because of the boycott, but I think they are
really pretty much the same.

Leslie

oregonchick writes:
: Ok, my ability to pump an adequate amount breastmilk is dwindling, and now I
: am feeding mostly thawed breastmilk that I have stored up since January. We
: have about 400 6 oz bags - enough to last about 3 more months, which will
: put Emily at almost 8 months. At that point, we will need to do formula. I
: guess it's a little early, but in looking at all the formulas available,
: it's mind boggling. There's powdered, ready to drink and liquid concetrate.
: Then there's "supreme" with dha and ara, and all this other nonsense. When
: we get to the point we are close to running out of breastmilk, I'd like to
: have some plan in mind on how to switch. Or do I supplement now? Like,
: feeding formula in the morning, or evening and feed breastmilk the rest of
: the time?

: Betsy

You want too be able to continue to feed her breastmilk for at three
months after you start on solids. I think that means if you have to
start ramping up the formula so the breastmilk lasts until 9 on 10
months, that would be workable.

Larry

"oregonchick" wrote in message
...
Ok, my ability to pump an adequate amount breastmilk is dwindling, and now
I
am feeding mostly thawed breastmilk that I have stored up since January.
We
have about 400 6 oz bags - enough to last about 3 more months, which will
put Emily at almost 8 months. At that point, we will need to do formula.
I
guess it's a little early, but in looking at all the formulas available,
it's mind boggling. There's powdered, ready to drink and liquid
concetrate.
Then there's "supreme" with dha and ara, and all this other nonsense.
When
we get to the point we are close to running out of breastmilk, I'd like to
have some plan in mind on how to switch. Or do I supplement now? Like,
feeding formula in the morning, or evening and feed breastmilk the rest of
the time?

Betsy



We've started introducing formula due to low supply. The research i've done
seems to show the consensus as keeping the formula separate from the
breastmilk (as in a separate bottle of just formula, not mixing them
together) so as to not waste BM. I'm still pumping, so my strategy is to
give daycare all the breastmilk I pumped the previous day and then they can
give formula if they run out. IIRC you're feeding from an EBM freezer
stash, so I'd say give one formula bottle a day for X days, then two bottles
a day for Y days, etc. Meanwhile Emily may be old enough for solids, so you
may want to introduce a meat (more nutrition). We've introduced rice
cereal, bananas, and sweet potatoes. Haven't worked up to meat yet. I saw
that gerber is making "rice cereal with formula ingredients", but I opted
for plain rice ceral made with formula (didn't want to waste the EBM since
she doesn't always agree to eat solids).

Oh, and I'm using the Enfamil Lipid formula that I got sent as a sample (two
little cans). so far so good!
Amy

Hi, I'm new here. Just finding my way around all of these boards. I've
had breastfeeding friends encounter many problems during the switch to
formula - the big one being that baby just doesn't like it. So I would
personally start with one bottle a day and not at the same time every
day so baby doesn't figure out that the bedtime bottle is the icky one.
lol. Most started off by offering one bottle a day and some had to
switch to half breastmilk and half formula and adjust that mixture
upward. It worked for all in the end, but I wouldn't wait until there
was no breastmilk left at all in case baby boycotts all feedings;
nothing like that to give ya a good case of mother's guilt. My first
two babies were formula fed and used Enfamil with iron. The Enfamil
with LIPIL and the others with LIPIL is relatively new. When
supplementing my current baby with some of that this time around, I
found it caused him problems; it made him terribly fussy. When I wrote
to the company to find out if they were planning of eliminating the old
version without the LIPIL and the reason why, they did admit that there
are bigger particles in the new version. They did not admit to any
babies having problems with it, but bigger particles are harder to
digest. My other two children are nowhere near deaf or dumb from not
having LIPIL, so that is what I went back to. You just have to pick the
norm for the normal baby, meaning one without digestive situations, and
see what develops; from there, you can switch around until you find one
that works.

oregonchick wrote:
Ok, my ability to pump an adequate amount breastmilk is dwindling,
and now I am feeding mostly thawed breastmilk that I have stored up
since January. We have about 400 6 oz bags - enough to last about 3
more months, which will put Emily at almost 8 months. At that point,
we will need to do formula. I guess it's a little early, but in
looking at all the formulas available, it's mind boggling. There's
powdered, ready to drink and liquid concetrate. Then there's
"supreme" with dha and ara, and all this other nonsense. When we get
to the point we are close to running out of breastmilk, I'd like to
have some plan in mind on how to switch. Or do I supplement now? Like,
feeding formula in the morning, or evening and feed breastmilk
the rest of the time?

I'd agree with whoever it was who said wait till you start weaning (6 months
or so, but see how it goes). You can then use formula to mix with food, so
she'll get a hint of the taste, and start introducing one bottle a day then.
She would probably start taking fewer BM feeds around then, so the expressed
milk might last even longer that way.