Breast Milk to Formula

I don't get why doctors try to push people to formula. If your baby is growing fine, why change it? I'd stick with breastmilk. It's so much easier and starting formula doesn't mean that your baby will sleep any better. If anything, it will probably create problems with your milk supply. Your baby is getting exactly what she needs if you just breastfeed her on demand.

I breast fed my daughter solely for her first six months and then started pumping and supplementing once she started baby food. She was the same way, eating about every two to three hours when she was three months and then I was not doing any pumping. It's hard on you, I know, but you make as much as they need. Just sometimes they need it more often than you want to give it to them! As far as the formula keeping them asleep longer, I think that's a bunch of junk! I've read that babies will sleep through the night because they are "ready" not because of what is in their bellies. My daughter is 7 months old and still won't sleep through the night. My advice is to just hang in there if breastfeeding is the way you want to go!

With my daugther when she was an infant (now 3) and my 3 month old son, we give a bottle of breastmilk at night. That way we know for sure that he's getting 4,6,8 ounces (whatever he's drinking at the time). With my daughter, she used to get so cozy and was so sleepy at night that she'd drift off before she would eat enough to get her through the night. When we gave her the bottle, she would eat it quickly and then sleep great. An added bonus is that I would get a little alone time...my husband did the "putting to bed" routine, and I pumped for 10 minutes and had close to an hour to myself! This worked well for us. I BF my daugher for 14 months, worked full time, and never supplemented with formula. Good luck!

My husband or our nanny have been giving my breastfed 7-month-old baby 3 - 8 ounces of formula a day since he was 3 weeks old, and it has worked very well for us. It gives me a chance to catch up on sleep, and I don't have to pump at work.

You have to be careful that your baby doesn't start prefering the bottle though. If she starts getting fussy at the breast, stop the formula until she starts preferring the breast again (1-2 days). I don't think you need to do it for nutritional reasons, but you could experiment and see if she does sleep better at night, and you could also give yourself a break.

I agree with the first person. Breastfeeding is indisputably best, and if you start to "supplement" with formula your breastmilk supply will go down. There is no reason to give formula--and studies have not shown that babies given artificial infant formula don't sleep any longer. Congratulations on your daughter and on having breastfeeding work out this time! Doctors should know better than to recommend formula in situations like this!

Formula won't make your baby sleep longer, she is 3 months old and will hit the biggest growth spurt any time now, and she'll want to eat constantly, so just nurse her when she is hungry.

I agree with the others, I don't get why doctors pus hformula. I know they get a big kickback from formula companies (which should be illegal anyway) but c'mon, if your baby is nursing good, then let the relationship be.

Formula is harder to digest, her little body will have to work twice as hard to digest it. I do'nt think thats a better route at all. Breastmilk has EVERYTHING she needs, its tailor made for HER and changes every feeding to meet her needs! Formula cannot do that, ever. Plus breastmilk is alive, it has antibodies in it that protect her, line her belly, its easy to digest, and has a way higher fat content than formula.

If she is nursing good, then let her nurse. ITs not worth it by using formula.