Breastfeeding and formula

Following x

My LO wasn't putting weight on fast enough so the midwife suggested I introduce formula. I offer the breast first and then the bottle. I started with 30ml but LO was still giving hunger signs so I increased to 60ml and then to 120ml. Sometimes LO does not finish the whole bottle but seems full and doesn't take it if offered again. LO is now 6 weeks and putting weight on.

We were put on a feeding plan when our little boy lost over 11% of his birth weight in the first week. Breastfeed every 3 hours (at least) for min 20 mins and then top up with 50ml formula. It worked really well - within a week he was above birth weight. We’ve strayed from the plan now though as he’s cluster feeding and just constantly on the breast, but combo feeding def worked for us x

It was suggested we pumped and topped up with 50 ml of breast milk 4 times a day from day 3, we did this for 3 weeks and she still wasn’t putting on any weight and seemed a little lethargic. At week 3 we introduced formula and she was way more alert during her wake windows and generally more content. We saw a private lactation consultant a to support me increasing my supply and she mentioned that there’s new research that suggests giving as little as 30ml of breast milk a day gives baby the same benefits. So now I pump whatever I can and she is bottle fed that, alongside formula and is offered breast throughout the day as and when but she uses it more for comfort rather than nutrition, which I found took the pressure off breastfeeding for us. Introducing formula Was deffo the best thing we’ve done - she was back to birth weight in under a week after 3 weeks of consistently losing.

@Megan similar experience here. Its very odd she is so much more alert after formula than she is breast milk, even if its expressed and she's getting the same volume, interesting you saw the same! Now similarly to you I offer the breast at the start of every feed and also pump then top her up with either expressed milk or formula and it seems she mostly breast feeds for comfort. Way more energy with formula tho!

How much is not as expected? We got ourselves in a stress over this too because she dropped from a I've the 9th centile to the 2nd and we're told she wasnt gaining as expected. I was considering ebm top ups, formula, allsorts. The following week she was weighed again and is not following that 2nd centile just nicely. I wouldn't panic just yet x