re: Bottle/Formula Feeding

Quoting jaydelouise1991:" It's nice to see something like this. My Little boy is a week old today and at 4 days my milk just stopped ... [snip!] ... now I don't feel bad, my little man is healthy and loves his formula and I know in doing the right thing for him and myself."

I had the same thing happen to me my milk never came in and the WIC people made me feel so bad. My little girl is a month now and I worry she only eats an ounce at a time then falls asleep for a bit it feels like she's eating all but only 22 oz all together

My daughter is almost 5 months old and I have been breastfeeding her from the start. I'm about to switch to formula because I need to go back to work and I honestly just don't want to deal with the stress and difficulty of pumping while working. She has a doctor appointment at the end of this month, so I am going to talk to her doctor about formula feeding and get some answers to my questions then, but I thought I would post in here too! Is it recommended to gradually switch from breast milk to formula? It seems like abruptly switching would be kind of extreme for the baby so I was wanting to gradually switch over the course of a couple/few weeks. How would I do that and what would her feeding schedule be like with both? Also, I have seen the chart, but I know nothing at all about formula feeding because I have never needed to educate myself on it before now. How many oz does a 5/6 month old eat and how often? Also, I am on WIC and will be getting the majority of my formula through them which I believe is Gerber Goodstart. Is this a good formula and one that works well for most babies?

Also, two more questions! I give my daughter a bottle of breast milk occasionally when we are out of the house sometimes. She isn't picky about bottles at all so we just use Gerber First Essentials. The nipples on the bottles are slow flow. They're 5oz bottles so I'm going to purchase some bigger ones of the same brand when I start formula. Should I purchase ones with a slow flow nipple or move to the medium flow? The slow flow doesn't seem to bother her, although it does take her a long time to finish the bottle and I know that breast milk is thinner than formula so I thought I would ask.

When I give her a bottle of breast milk, it's always cold/chilled because I keep it in the diaper bag with an ice pack. She seems to have no problem with the chilled breast milk. Do you think this means she will have no problem drinking cold formula too?

Quoting Lindsay...:" Also, two more questions! I give my daughter a bottle of breast milk occasionally when we are out of ... [snip!] ... to have no problem with the chilled breast milk. Do you think this means she will have no problem drinking cold formula too?"

I breastfed my son for 2 weeks, he wouldnt latch and nothing was helping, I switched him to formula, he is on gerber goodstart gentle and he does GREAT on it, that is what our WIC gives us, (he's 2 months btw) he eats about 4 oz in a feeding so purchasing bigger bottle and prolly the medium flow nipples, he can't hardly use slow flow nipples, the only one he can really get anything out of that is slow flow is the parent's choice bottles, (which are just over $3 for a pack of 3 at walmart, $0.98 for one) I don't recommend giving her a cold bottle though, make sure the water is warm when you mix your formula, we CANT feed our son a cold bottle or he spits the entire thing up and gets a belly ache (he was never like that on BM),

Quoting Brantley's mama 8-24-12:" I breastfed my son for 2 weeks, he wouldnt latch and nothing was helping, I switched him to formula, ... [snip!] ... we CANT feed our son a cold bottle or he spits the entire thing up and gets a belly ache (he was never like that on BM),"

So even though she is okay with the slow flow nipples with breast milk she will probably need medium flow for formula? The bottles that I use (gerber first essentials) are also $3 and some odd cents for a 3 pack. I'll be using tap water for my bottles which I know has to be cold so how do you warm it up? In the microwave? And do you do that before or after you mix the formula in?

I have read a lot that cold formula will give some babies a tummy ache. But I have also read that some babies don't mind cold formula. Is it worth a shot to at least try?

Quoting Lindsay...:" So even though she is okay with the slow flow nipples with breast milk she will probably need medium ... [snip!] ... some babies a tummy ache. But I have also read that some babies don't mind cold formula. Is it worth a shot to at least try?"

yeah we learned he cudnt take a cold bottle when it had gotten cold after ten minutes of sitting out and he got a horrible belly ache and started spitting up, we just wait till the tap water gets warm, or if im trying to fix his bottle fast i will put it in the microwave (without the nipple on) for about 10 seconds and just shake it up real good so there arent any hot spots, i heat the water before putting formula in, trying a cold bottle is worth a shot but just make sure its not too cold. and considering her age, i would get the medium flow nipples, unless you are going to be switching her back to the breast after having a the bottle, when i was still trying to nurse my son i used the tommee tippee closer to nature bottles because they feel and are shaped like your breast.

My daughter is one month old and I feed her 4oz every 3 hours. Do you think I'm feeding her too much? She doesn't usually finish all 4oz. And is she too young for the medium flow nipples? Sometimes I feel like the formula is coming out too slow

Quoting Lindsay...:" So even though she is okay with the slow flow nipples with breast milk she will probably need medium ... [snip!] ... some babies a tummy ache. But I have also read that some babies don't mind cold formula. Is it worth a shot to at least try?"

Ally prefers her formula cold. She;ll refuse to drink it warm or even room temp I always thought it upset her tummy but she has less gas with it cold and she's easier to burp

So I have an almost 4 month old little boy (holden  ) We breastfed for about a week but after having latching problems, and him being such a big baby and birth and not getting enough and not gaining weight and having to supplement with formula anyways, we just switched to bottle feeding all together. We had to switch formula several times due to him having slight reflux and being a big spit upper. We have WIC and in our area they use Enfamil. With my daugher we used Gerber Good Start and she never spit up pretty much EVER so his Dr. recommended we switch to that sense it may be a little easier on his tummy. This too didn't work so we ended up switching to, and are still currently on, Enfamil AR. He still spits up occasionally but is doing much better. He can't eat more than 4 oz at each feeding as he will just spit most of it back up when we try to give him more. Some days he will eat 4 oz about 6 times a day (including night feedings) and some days he eats up to 8 or 9. Is it normal for him to eat different amounts differing day to day? Is the 8 to 9 bottles occasionally too much? My daughter is only 2 but I feel like I didn't feed her that much and she was on more of a schedule by this age? Any feedback?

I have five month old twins and one is now on formula and one gets expressed breast milk in a bottle. The formula is because one has suspected allergies that we could not resolve with my own diet changes. Anyways, I feed them 5-6 ounce bottles five times per day (and they sleep through the night). I find the formula-fed baby eats a little less than the breast milk one... maybe it's more filling! In total, they eat an average of 24-27 ounces per day and they are 11 lb 5 and 12 lb 5 and growing well. Hope that helps you!

Quoting Lindsay...:" My daughter is almost 5 months old and I have been breastfeeding her from the start. I'm about to switch ... [snip!] ... of my formula through them which I believe is Gerber Goodstart. Is this a good formula and one that works well for most babies?"

I should have mentioned that they were premies so that's why I included their weights. If your baby is bigger at 5 mos he/she might need more...

Quoting mom of twins A + M:" I have five month old twins and one is now on formula and one gets expressed breast milk in a bottle. ... [snip!] ... In total, they eat an average of 24-27 ounces per day and they are 11 lb 5 and 12 lb 5 and growing well. Hope that helps you! "

Formula is more filling.

Quoting Brantley's mama 8-24-12:" Formula is more filling."

And it also stays in their tummy longer because it takes longer to digest, so that would make for less frequent feedings as well.

Quoting sooz the formula guru:" Okay, I have a little chart that I wanted to post that really helped me out in the beginning. I know ... [snip!] ... more frequent feedings). Thought it might help out those mamas that have no idea what they are doing, like me when I started!"

Thanks this helped

I regret not EBF my now 6 month old. Shes been FF since birth.
I still produce alot of milk for never ave BF. Ive been told by someone is that i could start whenever i wanted since i still produce but im not sure. I feel stupid for saying this. haha
I really rather BF her than FF. :/