Giving Breast Feed Baby Formula While She Is with a Sitter

if you do give her formula you have to introduce it slowly and it can bring on problems..like trouble sleeping at night b/c formula is harder to digest..if you do use it try Good Start Supreme Comfort Proteins and only give one ounce to begin with...i would try to keep baby exclusively on breast milk if possible but if you really need to i would use the formula i just recommended and do not give baby a full bottle the first time.

good luck

When I went back to work my son got formula from bottle at the sitters and a bottle of formula before bed, because of it being thicker and more filling he would sleep thru the night. I never pumped. My supply was fine for breast feeding in the morning, after work and evening time.

I have been told that if you are going to bottle and breast feed, that its important to remember that formula is much thicker and more filling that breast milk, so baby should get just a wee bit less. For example, if your baby usually has about 4 oz. of breast milk in one feedings, she should probably only get around 2.5 oz. of formula, and then wait to see if she is still hungry enough to fuss and root for more. My son is one week old and I've had to be really wary of this, because he's thrown up formula a bit because I've accidentally given him too much, even by only 1/2 an ounce!

I'd suggest what Miranda W. says to do...that's how you get started with a breastmilk "bank". ;) When I did this, I had the most success doing it on the first feeding of the day. Also, I would nurse on one side, and then pump on that side while DD nursed on the second side. It seemed to help stimulate my milk production for another let down. THEN, once baby starts to drop a feeding, she can pump that feeding for a week (or however long) to build up. I did this frequently when my daughter started sleeping through the night...I'd nurse her at like 7 or 8 before bedtime and then pump right before I went to bed.

But she won't be nursing when the baby is at the sitters..... So she should pump and then would have some milk for the baby. To get a small supply now she just needs to pump a short while right AFTER baby nurses. That way she'll still have plenty of milk 2 hours later for the next feeding.

I'm wary of supplementing because I had a friend who did that and then the baby quit drinking the breastmilk....... So she ended up dumping what was left because the baby would only drink formula out of the bottle.

I'd pump. I had this issue when my son was born. I used to pump at times the baby slept longer than normal. I'd get engorged and start leaking if I didn't pump at these times. It helped me build up a stock of frozen milk for when I returned to work and helped when I needed some for an outing. Especially this early in the game, demand dictates supply. I'd start incorporating a daily or every other day pumping just to get a stock of breast milk in the fridge/freezer. Then dad, grandma, whoever can give an occasional bottle. Tell mommy to be prepared to pump after she gets home too... and take lots of nursing pads out with her. If she misses a feeding while she's out she'll likely get engorged and start leaking. If you decide to give the babe formula while with the sitter I'd do a few trial runs before hand... my son exclusively breast fed and refused the first few bottles of formula I tried to give him when I needed to start supplementing after my return to work. But keep in mind... giving formula and skpping breast feedings may cause your supply to diminish. Good luck!

I think it is fine to supplement with formula if necessary. It is not going to hurt the baby at all and you don't want the baby to be hungry while mom is away. The baby may take a week or so to get used to the new formula, but maybe not. I wouldn't miss formula and breastmilk in the same bottle. I would have one full bottle of breastmilk and then the next feeding give the formula.

Generally, if she pumps, she will make more milk, not less. It sounds like she needs to get some education about breastfeeding if she is worried about that. If the nursing is going well, she will make enough. Find a lactation consultant (sometimes even offered through the hospital where she gave birth).

Well even if she pumps a bit she will still have milk left over... That is why we have "let-down" the baby sucking triggers a need within us and we make the milk. I know we feel like we have to fill out boobs up before we feed, but many times I was flat out of milk from the last feeding, but when baby got on and worked a bit, sure enough more milk came in.

However I will say that giving formula and a bottle isn't bad at all. Might even be a good thing.
I have to little ones that are 16 months apart and I did the same method with both. I breastfeed full time, but did one formula bottle a day. Usually at night to help them get full and sleep a bit longer.
I am a SAHM so I didn't need to do this for any other reason but peace of mind. I like knowing my babies would take a bottle and deal ok with formula. Took a large weight off of me should I have to leave the house for a bit or god forbid something happened to me. I also didn't mind breastfeeding in public, but there were just some times when it wasn't so easy to do and having a bottle just helped to calm the situation. Especially when #2 came and I was also chasing after a toddler.

Getting a little one to take both breast and a plastic nipple is never a bad thing in my opinion. Some babies will fight it, but they will eventually take it. However it needs to NOT be mom that gives it to the baby. They can smell your breast milk and want that instead :)
I would suggest starting out with breast milk in the bottle just so the baby will take the bottle nipple and get used to it. Then transition that to formula.
I don't regret doing this method at all and feel like it helped me be a better and more calm mom. I still consider myself a full time breastfeeder since only ONE time a day they got a bottle. To me it is the best of both worlds....

Both of my children were breast fed AND formula fed. I couldn't pump enough to store extra and I wanted my husband to be able to help with the night feedings. They are both healthy and happy.

If she wants to keep her milk supply up she may need to pump at regular intervals while she is working.

Breastfeeding is supply and demand. If she pumps, her body will produce more. My first son ate every 2 hours and I would pump 1 hour after he ate, there was still plenty for him and I was able to build up a great freezer supply. I found the most success pumping in the morning when I seemed to have more milk. She needs to pump while she's away anyway or she'll start to lose her milk.

If she takes a bottle there is no problem with some supplementation. My son had about 80% breast and 20% formula...and he is the healthier of my children. My daughter who exclusively breastfed had ear infections like crazy.

She'll have plenty. She should pump a few extra ounces after she nurses this week/weekend. Then when baby is with the sitter, your daugther should pump whenever she would REGULARY nurse.

ie: If the baby's with the sitter from noon till 5pm, and baby normally eats at 1:00, then at 3:00, then at 5:00, then your daughter should pump at 1, at 3, then feed her at 5 when she picks her up from the sitter.

AND - make sure the sitter warms the milk in warm/hot water, not in the microwave. I've heard that the microwave is bad for breastmilk. Don't remember why, but I think it's bad.

NO - don't give the sitter formula. Baby will not be happy with that if 1. she's not with mom and 2. has a weird tasting milk and 3. There could be an allergic reaction and that's NOT what you want to happen when with a sitter.

What a wonderful grandma you are! Your daughter will do fine pumping enough breastmilk for her baby - she won't even have to bother with formula. Breastmilk will protect the baby from the 'germs' she will encounter at the sitter's. You daughter needs to pump enough milk for her first day back at work. THEN, your daughter will pump when she is skipping feedings and she will get much more milk then when she is pumping getting ready to go back to work.

The best to your daughter. If she would like to talk to a Lactation Consultant please have her visit my website:

www.VirtualBreastfeedingHelp.com

L. Haessly, MA, RD, IBCLC

Updated

You usually don't pump as much as you would nursing. But I know lots of moms that pumped for up to a yr after they went back to work. Five weeks is very small....so if you can pump I would.

I used both breast and formula and my kids did just fine. They took both just fine. I think if she wants to do both the baby will be fine.

Really good advice regarding pumping. Education on this is KEY! I mixed breast milk with formula to stretch the breastmilk as far as it wuold go. I think the only confusing thing is if mama tries to feed with bottle and then with breast, etc.... good luck!

The more you breastfeed, the more milk you make. Pumping counts as breastfeeding. So she won't run out of milk from pumping. Just tell her to drink lots of water and eat good healthy food and the milk should keep on coming.

I agree w/other comments, have her pump whenever she's not feeding, otherwise her supply will decrease. However, if she does give her baby formula, that won't hurt either.

I exclusively breast fed until 6 months & my girls easily made the transition to formula, no problem.

Best of luck!!!

I'd pump too, and I did. My milk greatly reduced when I went back to work, but every bit of breast milk the baby can get is good. I'd tell her to at least do half milk/half formula in the bottles for the sitter.

My almost 6 week old daughter is getting 4-8 oz of formula a day and is doing just great...now she will still want to try and pump while her daughter is in childcare to keep suply up

Breast milk production is based upon demand.

While some breast feeding purists will advocate strongly for using nothing but breast milk, I will encourage her to try to pump breast milk, increase her demand to appropriate levels and supplement if needed.

There was a similar post yesterday by a mother who wanted validation to stop nursing after 5 months because of the emotional and physical toll it is taking on her. The best thing the baby needs is its mother.

I was able to exclusively breast feed one child for a year while working 50-60 hours/week and pumping in my car multiple times per day. Exactly 2 years ago today, I was diagnosed with cancer just a few weeks postpartum (and the day before my son's 2nd birthday) and had to stop nursing at 12 weeks to begin chemo.

My daughter survived the formula experience with flying colors.

So, my opinion today is different than it would have been 2 years ago. I'd still encourage her to pump while she's at work and begin stockpiling breast milk (if possible). But, if it doesn't work for her or her daughter for whatever reason, her daughter will do very well with the formula supplements as well.

Wish her well in returning to work soon.