why is your mom paying for the formula?

i don't know the answer to your question since i didn't breastfeed. but why formula feed at night? from what i hear it's so convenient to just pop a boob out rather than make a bottle.

sorry, but i'm siding with your mom on this one. if you were buying the formula i'd say do whatever you want, but if you're capable of breastfeeding and do it sometimes why not just do it all the time?

She has to pay for it for the next 2 months until I go back to work. And it's easier for me to bottle feed at night because 1) she sleeps longer on formula, so I don't have to wake up as often, and 2) I fall back asleep, and I don't want her sleeping in my bed because I don't believe in co-sleeping at night. Plus my nipples are too damn sore, they need that break by the end of the day.

Couldn't you give her pumped milk at night at least until you go back to work and then tell her to screw it if she don't like it b/c you'll be paying for it after that?

Can Katrina's dad pitch in for formula too? I don't remember his name, sorry.

My dad, or Jaydens dad? Currently all the money Jacob (Jay's dad) is giving me is going towards paying my hospital bills, and my dad made it very clear that he wants nothing to do with me or Jayden, so he's no help.

I actually JUST decided to give her pumped milk, because I'm storing it up like crazy and we don't have room to keep it in our freezer XD So yeah, I will probably do that.

Looks like you have an answer to your situation.

But for your question, here's the answer: if your milk is already established (you have been feeding your baby for about a month) and you breastfeed your baby all day and don't at night, you will not hurt your supply. The only bad thing is that you can have that excess and discomfort from having too much in the morning from the skipped feedings, but it's great for pumping and saving for later.

Just be careful and wear a comfortable but supportive, non-underwire bra at night tho, because you could easily end up with a clogged duct or mastitis.

It's only been 2 weeks.

But I don't understand the difference between giving her formula and giving her pumped milk.... I'm still skipping the night feedings, so wouldn't that decrease my milk production just as it would with the formula?

Yes it will. Sorry, I didn't know when you had the baby, so you might still want to keep up the supply by at least pumping a bit (although maybe just a couple times, say 4 hours between pumpings) during the night.

The point is that if you want to breast feed, you need to keep up the supply so that you will always have enough during the day. You could even just nurse her 2 times a night if she wakes up hungry near when you would normally pump, and this would keep you from having to feed or pump more than you need. Or you could drop the formula feeding at night and just breastfeed only, and wait the extra couple weeks to start using formula at night.

Don't worry, you will only have to do that a little while longer.

Just one more thing that I thought of: your baby should be able to last at the least 2 hours on your milk. How long is she going on average between feedings? I know that just waking up with 2 hour feedings every night is already draining.

If she wants to eat more often than every 2 hours constantly the problem is either that she isn't hungry (and she is tired, or has a gassy tummy or something) or your milk isn't supplying her with the nutrition that she needs. IF you suspect this, you should contact a lactation consultant.

I'm sorry if I sounded harsh in the above posts. The only way that you will know for sure that you can already begin to skip feedings and maintain the supply is to just do it, but unless you're willing to have the possibility of just going on formula, then I don't think it's a good idea to skip any feedings at all just yet....and I say a month because that is when it's ok for most women (4-6 weeks). It is different for different people and you will just have to find out what's best for you.

If you start having trouble breastfeeding during the day because you skipped the nighttime feedings, and still want to continue to breastfeed, there are ways to increase your supply again.

Best of luck

hmm i dunno im sorry i wont be of much help on this one
i actually (i think?) i remember reading your not suppost to formula and bottle feed?
maybe im wrong?

I found this cool site for you that you can read up on this topic....

"Combining breast and bottle feeding

Many mothers do manage to combine feeding by breast and bottle - this is also known as 'mixed feeding'. Women who return to work, or know they're going to be separated from their baby for a length of time, may choose to use a combination of breastmilk and formula.

Some women express breastmilk so their baby can continue having breastmilk when they're not together. Breastmilk is made in direct response to your baby feeding - giving formula alongside breastfeeding could affect your breastmilk supply, but it's possible to combine successfully.

Speak to your health visitor or a breastfeeding counsellor about how best to manage this, so you can maintain breastfeeding.

* Wait until breastfeeding is well established, so formula has less of an effect on your breastfeeding - for most mothers a good time to do this is after five to six weeks
* Waiting also reduces the chance your baby ends up preferring the bottle - babies who are happy breastfeeders seem less likely to end up being confused between the different sucking methods at breast and bottle
* If you're giving formula at the same feed as breastfeeding, breastfeed first to keep up your supply, if that's what you want


http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/your_kids/b abies_feeding.shtml

I say go breast milk all the way. I was reading journal articles from Google Scholar on the health benefits of breast feeding and there is a ton of info!

1) Breast milk is more complete nutritionally by a loooooong shot.
2) Full breast-feeding infants had lower odds ratios of diarrhea, cough or wheeze, and vomiting and lower mean ratios of illness months and sick baby medical visits.
3) There is a reduced risk of being at risk of overweight for ever breastfed children.
4) Babies that are full breastfed acquire the mother antibodies which protects against infection and future allergies.

etc etc etc... AND you save money
Just FYI

(Man, I really hope I can breastfeed - my mom couldn't for all four of her babies!)