What If My Mom Runs Out Of Milk To Feed My Baby, Formula Ok?
February 13, 2010 by admin
Filed under Breast Feeding Supplies
My baby is 11 weeks old. If my Mom is babysitting her, and she runs out of breastmilk to give her, would it be OK to give her a bottle of formula ? How would baby react?
Depends on the kid. Some will take to it readily, and others might refuse it. You could try giving her a little once yourself to see how she reacts.
i would express extra so she always has some and never has to use formula. You can freeze expressed or pumped milk for up to 6 months.
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To be honest though, if you are breastfeeding, its best to keep the baby with you at all times – i wouldnt just give her to a sitter … however if your
returning to work i would go with extra breast – formula is no where near as good as breast milk, and as it fills your daughter up more, it may be difficult to get her back on to breast again once you start her on formula and bottles …
Also formula milk rapidly increases the chances of your daughter getting colic – so i just wouldnt risk it!!! Breast really is best!
honestly, the most likely reaction is the Stinky Diaper From Hell.
formula is WAY hard on a breastfed baby’s digestive tract. it’s not sterile and your baby’s system might react to all the crud that was introduced during the manufacturing process – this is why you use boiled water – not to make the water safer, but to make the formula safer.
another likely reaction is your baby will be exclusively on formula within a few weeks because a) your supply will diminish if you use formula to make up the lack instead of increasing your own supply and b) the freedom is insidiously seductive – baby’s best interest tends to end up on the back burner in favour of “good enough”.
your best bet is to increase your pumping so you’re always a day or two’s supply ahead. breast milk can be kept safely in the fridge for eight days, six months in the freezer, four hours on the counter at room temperature.
Well it’s certainly better to offer formula than to let a baby cry in hunger for the most part (ie unless you were coming home very shortly) imho.
That being said, I would work on having a supply so that your mom will have some extras in her freezer. It will be extra work for you, but better than having a baby up all night with a tummy ache from new food or having her crying from hunger.
I wondered the same thing early on. My mom watched my daughter overnight once and ended up running though my milk (she way overfed her and wasted my milk) and ended up offering formula. That was a nightmare. She spit all of it up.
I am more than prepared for that now. We, of course, ensure our daughter is being properly bottle-fed http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottl… … and I have quite the freezer stash. We have not had a problem so far that requires us to use much of our freezer milk. We pretty well can predict how much she eats while I am at work.
Just be careful offering formula for the sake of your supply and baby’s possible rejection of it.
Why not just pump extra? Set aside time on every night when baby is asleep to pump and whenever you have an extra hour to spare so that you have a good stash in the freezer.