so I'm reading on line that it's not recommend to add formula to breastmilk. 😩 But the doctor at the…

I got the ready to go fomula for jj to help his weight,it's only 2oz a bottle so that and a boobie helped him now he's 18 pounds at 7 months

I would go with the dr bc he knows best sometimes & he did go 2 alot of school for it

Trust your doctor. Not what you read online, your doctor knows your babies situation, an online article doesn't. We fortified my milk with formula for my daughter and it helped tremendously.

@lil_bigmama yea this is true. @jjbaby0902 how often did you give her a bottle with formula? I just started today, with one bottle. but I only had 4 ozs pumped so I also gave her boob after. she also eats solids 2xs a day. I'm trying to increase it to 3x. Are you still supplementing with formula or did you stop once she gained weight?

sorry for all the questions lol

the reason it's not really "okay" to add formula straight to breast milk is because at room temp breast milk is good for 12 hours, formula is good for 1 hour. so if you pumped and have a 4oz of milk and add 1oz formula and your baby doesn't drink all of that within the hour it has to be thrown away. also pumping and mixing milk with formula decreases your milk supply. you should nurse your baby then give them an ounce of formula. if you're not making enough milk you should focus on building your supply which means nursing as much as possible, and pumping every time you give your baby formula (that way you're telling your body you need extra milk to make up for the formula and eventually you can exclusively breastfeed soon)

@crunchymomma thank you! she usually drinks the milk cold! and she drinks it all! she's a lil piggy! lol but I'm only adding 1 teaspoon per every 3 ounces. I'm also trying to increase my milk supply to be safe. I'm trying to pump more often also, and deffinently when in offer the bottle. she nurses every 2-3 hrs and sleeps through the night. so I usually nurse her 4-5 times maybe 6 at the most.

@rosalinasmami, my daughter had a hole in her heart which caused her to not gain weight, so we are probably in a totally different situation than you. But we fortified my milk for about 2 months with formula. We added 1 1/2 tbsp of formula per 3oz of milk which increased each ounce of milk to 27 calories instead of 20 calories (what milk normally is). She has since had open heart surgery to fix the hole and I have also stopped pumping (I never nursed, always pumped and bottle fed since it was so important to know how much she was getting) and she is on only formula now - we are still adding more formula to make it 24 calories per ounce instead of 20. In the long run you need to do whatever is best. Listen to your doctor, do what they say. You won't need to add formula forever, but if it's what your baby needs now just do it. We saw a good weight gain when we started fortifying my milk with formula.

just remember to stay hydrated and be persistent :) a pump doesn't stimulate milk production like nursing does, so always choose nursing over a bottle if possible. also a lot of women don't know, there's no such thing as being out of milk. an "empty" breast produces more milk than a "full" one. because when it's full it's signaling your body to stop making as much milk since you don't need it. but an "empty" one tells your body to go into over drive and produce more milk because you need more.

@jjbaby0902 oh wow. glad to hear your daughter is doing better! yes we deffinently have different situations. I'd like to think my baby is just petite, but I would like to know that she's gaining a good healthy amount of weight. she dropped off the scale so that's why our pedi was worried and so she referred me to take my daughter to Gastroenterology to make sure there's no underlying issues. he is 6 months and weighs 10lbs. she hasnt doubled her birth weight yet but she's totally hitting all her milestones, she's growing in length and she's a happy baby. I'd prefer to breastfeed so I'm definitely hoping she gains a good amount of weight soon so I won't have to add formula for too long. she can drink up to 6ozs of pumped milk plus eats 4oz of solids! idk where she'd putting it!😂 I want the very best for baby, I think we all do! Thank you for all the info!

@crunchymomma yes I chug water like a mermaid!😂😂 yup no such thing as an "empty" breast! thanks for the input!

@rosalinasmami, my daughter will be 6 months at the end of the month and is 11lb, so she's also "off the charts" small. We know it's because of the hole and hope with surgery it will help her gain quickly. Sounds like you just have a petite girl, which I do too.. She was only 5lb at birth.. She's destined to be small. Best of luck to you, hope your little girls gains soon!