Can An Exclusively Breastfed Baby Have The Occasional Formula Bottle?
January 6, 2010 by Guest Author
Filed under Breast Feeding Supplies
My mom wants to be able to give my baby formula bottle when I’m not there. Can this be done? He is exclusively BF, 4 months old..
Why doesn’t she give him expressed milk instead?
————————————–…
I think it’s ok, 4 months of exclusive breastfeed are a great achievement already, I would have said it would be a pitty to supplement on a regular basis since you are so close to weaning but occasionally feeding formula can’t make a difference.
I am also doing exclusive breastfeeding for a 4.5 month old baby girl, I might be a bit extreme to give her only expressed milk when I am gone – but that is primarily b/c we are all alergic and want to avoid exposure to formula.
Just in case you happen to have extra expressed milk you can freeze b/c your baby doesn’t need it immediately, I found these very useful for storing:http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN…
Good luck with your little one!
As others have said, it can be done, but you might find it just as easy/convenient to express your milk so your mom can give him that in a bottle instead.
When my daughter was that age, I found my breasts filled up rather quickly and it was uncomfortable for me if I missed even one feed. I ended up having to pump anyway.
An occasional bottle is probably unlikely to cause your milk supply any great harm, but it is a possibility to consider. Every time baby is given something other than breastmilk, it is a signal to your body that you don’t need to produce that milk (unless you pump at the missed feeding instead).
One other thing to consider is some exclusively breastfed babies’ tummies don’t tolerate the formula very well, so it could cause him to get an upset tummy. The few times my daughter had formula, it constipated her and gave her a lot of gas/wind.
Hope that helps! Good luck with what ever you decide.
OK the answer is yes but then the question “why?” comes to mind. You’ve made the effort to BF him which indicates you think it is the right/easy/best thing to do (no offence to formula feeders out there). So you could keep him exclusively BF by expressing and then your mom could give him that in a bottle. You can store expressed BM in the freezer too so if it’s a question of planning or last minute visits, you can always have a supply at hand.
It can be done, but exclusive breastfeeding offers health benefits that mixed breast and formula feeding does not.
Useful: http://www.breastfeed.com/articles/issue…
In another couple of months you can leave baby with Grandma with a cup of water and some food, not a bottle, so the hassle in not doing formula is really minimal…
yes it can be done. At first your baby may not take like the taste but eventually he’ll get used to it.. But please put in mind alot of mum’s actually get use to the formula as it’s easier and more convenient to bottle feed. You can express ur milk and put it in the fridge that way when ur out ur mum can feed it to the baby while your out.
He has been eating expressed bottles, I am just there so much i don’t always plan to leave and bring a bottle…mostly just for convenience.
Then express some milk, freeze it, and leave it in your mom’s freezer with some bottles over there.
I’m not anti formula as I have ended up using formula with both my daughters…….but if I had a 4 month old that I had managed to exclusively breastfeed I wouldn’t change that now!
If you have access to a pump, try that if keeping him exclusive is important, otherwise, yes, babies are supplemented with formula all the time. Be prepared to see some discolored poop though, bottle feds have a dark green-gray poop.
The only real harm in that is the damage it will do to your supply. When he has formula, it tells your body that a feed isn’t needed and your supply will drop. You could always express if you don’t want to do that?
I would check with your pediatrician. But we have been doing this for some time now with our 4 1/2 month old and she hasn’t had any problems. Plus the breast milk is still coming in. We alternate between breast milk and formula.
Yes. I do the same thing I try to nurse before I leave and come back before the next feeding but it dont always work and I dont really get anything when I pump.
Yes.