Breastfeeding - supplementing with formula .... Help !!

basically as already said below; the way your milk supply works is that your breasts are constantly trying not to make too much milk, they want to be efficient and make exactly the right amount your baby needs so that you don't end up with tender full breasts (once your supply is sorted they feel more or less like "normal" breasts all the time (so long as you are feeding reasonably often). If they make too little in a day, your baby will be hungry and try to feed for longer, or feed again more often which tells your breasts to make a little extra the next day etc. When you start giving formula at the end of, or in between feeds your baby doesn't give your breasts the same feedback so (since they have no way of knowing about the formula) they assume that your baby didn't need all the milk they made, and make a little less the next day and so on. So basically as you give more and more formula, your breasts are making less and less milk, effectively you have been WEANING your baby :(. At around the 12 week point, babies become very aware of the difference between the breast and the bottle, yours is starting to prefer the bottle and if you want to keep breastfeeding for much longer I think you will have to take ALL bottles away. (I had to do this at the 16 week mark as my baby absolutely refused to breastfeed at all for 10 days, don't make the mistake I did and let it get that bad!) Go and see a good LC ASAP, and probably the best thing you can do is simulate a growth spurt, by feeding your baby hourly for 3-4 days (or as often as she will feed). Give her the smallest amount of formula possible and expect her to be hungry and unsettled while you are doing it. Make sure you explain and have the support of other people in your household (husband, maid, MIL etc) so that you don't get talked into giving formula along the way. As far as the feeding to sleep, your baby is unlikely to spontaneously "put herself" to sleep at her age but you can teach her sleep associations (things that she learns happen when she foes to sleep). Sucking to sleep is a common association which she has already learned but if you go this path you will find yourself having to get up in the night increasingly more often once she hits the 16 week mark. I would instead recommend you start settling her off the breast/bottle by feeding her and when she is very drowsy but not asleep, taking and out of her mouth and continuing to hold her/pat her etc. You [i'>could[/i'> introduce a dummy at this point, it might help the transition if its really not going well BUT you will find you still end up having to get up in the night and replace the dummy instead (I know this from experience). Its easier than feeding but not ideal. Try holding a soft toy or small flannel against her while you are feeding her, and then putting her to bed with the same toy. Only give it to her for sleeping so with time (and it could take quite along time so be patient) she begins to associate the toy with sleeping, and will find it soothing when she wakes in the night. To transition from the feeding to sleep, you might want to read about the [url=http://www.pregnancy.org/article/when-your-baby-wakes-frequently-feed-pantley-pull'>Pantley Pull off[/url'> which is basically a gentle (no-cry) technique to teach your baby how to fall asleep without sucking on something. [i'>When your baby wakes, go ahead and pop his pacifier or his bottle in his mouth, or nurse him. But, instead of leaving him there and going back to bed, or letting him fall asleep at the breast, let him suck for a few minutes until his sucking slows and he is relaxed and sleepy. Then break the seal with your finger and gently remove the pacifier or nipple. Often, especially at first, your baby then will startle and root for the nipple. Try to very gently hold his mouth closed with your finger under his chin, or apply pressure to his chin, just under his lip, at the same time rocking or swaying with him. If he struggles against this and fusses or roots for you or his bottle or pacifier, go ahead and replace the nipple, but repeat the removal process as often as necessary until he falls asleep. [/i'> I would tackle the breastmilk vs formula issue immediately, and then once your supply is sorted and you are no longer giving bottles, then move on to the pantley pull off (making sure your baby is well fed before pulling-off of course)

I second pretty much everything that JoannaS just said. She put some great information there. The best way to increase your supply is to nurse, nurse, nurse. Each bottle you supplement with tells your body that your baby isn't drinking that and your supply will drop. Babies drink faster from bottles since milk comes out of bottles without them even sucking on them. So they often drink from bottles even when they aren't hungry. So it might not have been that your baby was still hungry it may have just been that she had to drink just to keep up with the milk that was coming out of the bottle. It can be very difficult to continue a successful nursing relationship if you start to supplement with formula. It isn't impossible, as I am sure other mothers can attest, but can very easily make things very complicated. Are you able to talk to an Internationally Certified Board Lactation Consultant or breastfeeding counsellor? I know the BFC has some fantastic links on here. It might be great for you to meet with someone to talk through your situation. Hope that helps.

Hi Natasha, if you are supplementing with formual then your milk supply will deminish as your are putting your LO less on your breast and your body will react to this. Your breasts are never empty. If you want to increase your milk supply I would suggest putting your LO on the brest as often as she is hungry and pumping on top of this for some time in order to stimulate production. It is also worth doing as much as possible of skin-to-skin to crank up production of hormones and consecutively milk. If you can relax on the sofa with a TV on, put your LO across your body and cuddle and feed her for hours (if you can). I dare to say that your LO was not hungry! It takes longer for formula to be digested, hence it seems like baby is calmer. Your milk is full of goodies, so if you want to continue breastfeeding and can do without supplementing I would suggest to do so. As long as your have adequate number of wet and dirty nappies and your LO is putting on weight 120grams+/week I wouldnt worry. Eat well, drink loads of water as it seems to help with supply. Expressing doesnt indicate how much your produce as babies are way more efficent when it comes to bringing milk out. Your breasts will never be empty! If your LO will empty 1 breast, offer her 2nd one, and 3rd one, etc. Dr. Newmann's web site http://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/ is full of good tips or speaking to lactation consultant helps! I am sure ladies here will also come with some helpful tips. HTH edited by JoannaS on 19/12/2011 <em>edited by JoannaS on 19/12/2011</em>