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Combination Feeding

Hi Ladies

I'm looking for some help with feeding please.

LO is 11 days old and has been combination fed from the start due to needing to stabalise her Blood sugar as I had gestational diabetes. We were initially feeding 10 mins on each breast while in hospital and then topping up with SMA.

When I came home Midwife advised that I stop breast feeding and express milk for lo while I allowed cracked nipples to heal, as LO is not great at latching on. Which we did, Midwife then suggested a change in formula as LO was being sick after feeds so have now started using Cow & Gate.

This seemed ok for a few days until I tried to introduce more breast feeding, now LO will spend 15 mins or so on each breast or have expressed breast milk and still cry for more, so we offer formula, the combination of the two seems to make her sick as well, but if she just has one or other she seems better.

But I just don't know what to do, I'm obviously not able to provide enough breast milk as she won't settle and screams after a feed. But I want to try and give her the best start so don't want to give up altogether and just feed formula.

Is anyone in a similar situation, or have any advice for me - is any one formula better than the rest, what have others found? Really need some help, as this is really starting to get me down as I don't know what to do for the best and just keep getting conflicting advice from the so called professionals - at the end of the day they're not the ones sitting at home with a screaming baby or one that keeps being sick! :cry:

Any advice gratefully received. :\?

Cx

Replies

  • when shecomes off the vreast is she still showing hunger signs??? i fed my lo on each side for about 25 mis and if still not full put back on first one again, as she is 11 days old she is trying to establish your milk supply so will pretty much feed all f the time i literally did not move off my settee for the first few weeks. its not tha you havent enough milk your lo just needs to tell your body to make more, her reactions are normal for her age.

    obviously u had to give formula for medical reasons but if it is not required now and you want to bf i wouldn't give it to her as what shell do is fill up on it and will not be telling your body to make mlre milk so it wont make enough and so the cycle continues.

    bf IS tough one of the hardest things i have stuck out so your feeligs are normal too chick - you do whst is best for you as happy mummy = happy baby

    my ds1 was bf for 2 weeks (severe anaemia on me = no milk) and was then bottle fed, he is alive and well today so its not the end of the world if u have to do it xx

    lastly if she is being sick on formula it vould be thst she is allergic and perhapd you could try a soya milk to see how thaat goes - cow and gate do infasoy

    good luck xx
  • wanted to ask as well r u from NI? just thought with the name emerald, if so where abouts?
  • I'm not sure if you're still just feeding for 10mins from each breast. Basically if you feed your baby on the breast on demand your body WILL make enough milk to satisfy her. You need to put her on your breast and let her sit there until she decides to come off and then offer her the 2nd breast and do the same, do this at each feed and she will get your supply up to what she needs to be satisfied. This will take a few days so don't give up. Also maybe baby is unsettled when coming off because you only give her 10mins and she's a slow eater and never getting the hind milk or maybe she's going through a growth spurt and wants to just sit on the breast to make more milk for herself. On demand is literally as it says, so feed her whenever she asks for it and for as long as she wants it (get ready for hours on end!!!)

    Sounds like a crap HV to be honest who told you to use formula only cos of sore nipples, sore nipples are because of a bad latch and if you saw a breastfeeding counsellor they will eb able to help you with that, the HV can help you get in touch with the BF counsellor.

    I have never heard of a baby that can't stomach breastmilk, I should think it's the formula making her sick. How about ditching the formula and just giving her breast for 4 days, long enough for supply to get up and see what happens? Do this in consultation with HV/doc to make sure she's ok for gaining weight and sugars, maybe get daily checks or support on this during those 4 days. But basically nature would sort this out given the time and opportunity and baby would be better off in the long run as breast is better nutritionally. Good luck.

    [Modified by: dollywotsit on May 29, 2010 07:07 PM]

  • i had a similar problem and tried to top up with formula at every feed as i wasnt producing enough milk, in the end i would breast feed and then top my lo up with some expressed milk in bottle and then the next feed (maybe 3 hours later) feed him formula (or someone else would) so i could express for the next feed as the top up bottle? i found he wasnt sick as he didnt end up with boob milk anf formula in his tummy at the same time,
    I did this for 3 months and it seemed to work well, fingers crossed you find something that works well for you and your new baby girl, and congratulations!

  • ps. we found aptimal was best for us, x
  • Why not try expressing all your breast milk, then you can combine it all together so that you can feed her with it and not run out. If you get pumping and do it every time your baby feeds, it will help your supply to increase. When I came out of hospital I was using 50/50 BM and formula, took me a few weeks to get my supply up so that we could go 100% BM but for me it was worth all that effort. Good luck xx
  • I've been giving ds formula top ups since he was 3days old as his initial weight drop was too much. On my midwifes advice we've been using aptimel as she said it's closest to breast milk and touch wood we've had no problems with it x
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