Baby Refuses Formula... Need Suggestions/alternatives to Breast Milk

Make sure that you are drinking LOTS of water to keep your milk up. Your pump may be faulty or may not be strong enough to really get the most out of your pump times. But definitely take your prenatal vitamins, drink lots of water, limit caffeine and eat veggies/fruits. You also need to take in more calories -- more than when you were pregnant... so make sure you're eating enough.

Actually my son took breastmilk wonderfully and when I was ready to stop breastfeeding/pumping, he would ONLY take Nestle Good Start. But I did try all the different brands - I would buy the small versions first just to see if he would take it. Really -- formula is a personal taste thing. Each baby is different. So I would buy small cans of each formula you haven't tried yet.

Look online for goat's milk receipe. I used it with my daughter because I sometimes had a problem with low milk supply. I think it was goat's milk, carrot juice and maybe something else. You can also had oils to it as well if you are giving it to her for more than half the feedings. If you just use it once a day then you don't have to mess with all of that. It worked great for my daughter when I needed to supplement.

This may be more extreme than you care to go, but you can always check out milkshare.org and find a donor for supplemental breastmilk. I was a donor with my 2nd (I produced tons of milk) and it was very rewarding. It seemed a little odd at first but once you get past the stigma it is such a great idea for those with excess to share with those in need. They also have tons of advice for increasing your supply. Good luck.

If money isn't a big issue, you can buy screened, pastuerized breastmilk from the Fort Worth Milk Bank www.mmbnt.org provided they have enough to be seeling (they save most for the babies in greatest need). Or try Milk Share to get milk from willing moms, http://milkshare.birthingforlife.com/.

Have you tried mixing the Bmilk with the formula a little to stretch it out?
Does she cry when it's just the formula? She may have an allergy to that formula, mine did.

Good luck. :-)

You need to push the pumping to the max that relieves you Freeze it or pass it on.
Trust me there athere has to be babies that need breast milk either by individual families or hospitals somewhere.

Unless you have been breast feeding to long. Then you are all gone.
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To transfere over to a formula, you must do it :

98% breast milk. 2 % formula
for 2 or 3 days.

then 95% breast milk. 5 % Formula for 2 days.

then, 85% breast milk. 15% formula.

And so on!

go to www.breastea.com

order you some breastea to increase your milk supply and be sure are drinking lots of water. i noticed an increase at the end of the first day and definitely on the second day. it's been a life saver for me during the last 14 months and i am still nursing my daughter.
good luck you're doing a great job!!
blessings,
A.

I would try other brands first, but what if you made a bottle with 1/2 breastmilk and 1/2 formula (or 1/4 formula and 3/4 breastmilk) and slowly increase formula while decreasing breastmilk? Maybe that would get her used to formula taste slowly? Just an idea...

I had the same problem with milk supply. Hang in there--I know it can be so time consuming and energy draining to pump so much!! Take care!

My son was the same way-the really scary thing was when we put formula in the bottle, he tasted that it was not breast milk in the bottle, as usual, he got mad and didn't want the bottle at all anymore-even when it had breast milk in it! He would turn his head and refuse it completely. We finally got him back on the bottle and got him different shaped bottles for the formula so that wouldn't happen again. I went out of town and when the breast milk ran out he finally got hungry enough that one morning he drank the formula, after that he kept drinking it and breast milk too. We used the different bottles, but he just had to be super hungry and drink it. After that he loved it and at 15 months weaned himself off the breast. We made our formula from an internet receipe, it included goats milk, fortified rice milk, black strap molasses, liquid vitamin c, acidophillous, calcium magnesium liquid, infant vitamins, flax oil, concentrated minerals and wheat germ. He broke out in hives and vomited up regular formula-we figured it was a cows milk allergy.

Mine wouldn't even take breastmilk out of a bottle and she ALWAYS refused formula, so I was stuck. Once she began eating solids (cereal, stage 1 foods), at 4 months, it was easier to handle. If I wanted to go somewhere, I would nurse her right before I left, and had my hubby feed her solids after 2 hours. That way, I could be gone for up to 4 hours if I needed. It's a pain, but totally worth the hassle to keep it up for a year! Make sure you're still taking your vitamins, fenugreek, and eating well to keep your supply up. I was never a good pumper either.

Oh my baby HATED Nestle good start.........he would ONLY take Similac Advance or Enfamil w/iron.......he'd actually take any of the Enfamils because I remember we had to switch around the brands due to constipation or spitting up but anytime I tried Nestle, he absolutely refused. Go get her some Similac or Enfamil and you'll probably have better luck. That's good she's starting to at least take the bottle, all you need is the right formula.

Take care!

My milk supply was extremely low with my son, so I understand what you're dealing with. I suggest, based on experience, that you make sure you are doing everything you can to increase your milk supply (including taking in enough fluids). Perhaps this would be a good time to start a little runny rice cereal with your milk? For my son, it helped in extending the milk I pumped, and he ended up liking that mixture more than any formula. In the end, no formula was needed. Good luck to you and your daughter!

My daughter did the same thing. It was SUPER annoying. We use Nestle Good Start as well. I started mixing some breast milk in with the formula for about a week and now she's fine. You don't have to mix a ton, but a little might get her past the dislike. I think it is a taste and texture issue. Good luck!

From experience, the baby will take the formula if it is hungry enough. With the breastmilk you have probably been feeding on demand whenever he wants it. Often times when doing that the baby is not actually "hungry" for a meal when the eat, they just want the breast or just want the breastmilk, but they are not HUNGRY. I would suggest that you try Enfamil. It does have the best nutrition value and is the closest to breastmilk. I would try that. Commit to feeding the baby a bottle of formula for whatever feeding you are wanting and just stick with it. If he will not take the formula, then she probably is not hungry, he is not accepting it because it is not the breastmilk that he desires. Put the bottle away and cuddle with the baby, read to the baby, keep her distracted as long as you can until she is fussing again about being hungry. Offer her the bottle of formula again. IF she doesn't take it that time distract her as long as you can and then reoffer. Eventually she will be hungry enough to take it. Notice, I did not say to let her cry or be upset until she takes it, just keep her distracted. She will take it eventually take it. If you think that she doesn't like the formula, one thing that I guarantee she will take is the liquid ready made formula that can be bought in cans or small individual feeding bottles. It is more expensive, but if money is not a problem try it. If you can't afford the ready to feed stuff, try the concentrate that you mix half concentrate liquid and half water. Both of those options taste better than the powder. They are much richer, milkier and sweeter tasting, much more like breastmilk. If you are just supplementing, it shouldn't be to much more of an expense to buy the good stuff.