Breast to Bottle? - Springdale,AR

Your pumped amount is not indicative of how much milk you are making per feeding. Your daughter most certainly is getting more than that when she breastfeeds. Your indicators for if she's getting enough should be weight gain and wet diapers. I'm not sure how your doctor thinks you can adequately measure how much milk you are producing per feeding... If you truly want to know the only way I can think of is to weigh her before and after a feeding, which is what a lactation consultant did for me when my son was just born. She had a formula to figure out from those weights how much milk he had consumed. You could try to contact a lactation consultant, which would probably be a good idea in the first place, since she would have the best advice for you for continuing breastfeeding while pregnant. Most docs know a little about breastfeeding, but unless they too are a certified lactation consultant, their training is probably minimal in that subject area.

My son never took to a bottle, and it took several months of trying to finally get him to accept a sippy cup. He also likes to try to drink from a regular cup, especially when he sees me or daddy do it first. Your daughter is hooked on the boob, lol. Keep breastfeeding, but also offer her milk (pumped breastmilk) or water in the sippy cups. Also, try a straw. Sucking from a straw is very natural for babies. Even if she only takes a sip here and there it's practice for her. My son forever would only ever take water from the cup. Just this week he finally took about 2 ounces of milk from my cup, he still won't touch it in the sippy. I don't know what to tell you, some kids just have a really hard time giving up the boob!

the pump is not a good estimate of what you are producing. My daughter drinks about 7 oz at daycare and one of my pumping sessions, I only get 3 oz. I would increase your water intake, eat some oatmeal, and feed her more often. You can try some cluster feeding in the evening to make sure she can pump your supply up for those feedings.

Your pediatrician is a dumbass. Breastfed children aren't regulated by how many ounces they consume like the inferior nutrition of formula. Nor can you assess your milk production from pumping - it's isn't even remotely close to the amazing suction a baby's mouth makes during suckling. MANY Moms tandem nurse their whole pregnancy and have no issues.

You probably were unable to pump much after the 5-6th month when your body becomes tailor fit to your child's needs. Doesn't mean you aren't making an abundance of milk, just means your body no longer allows a machine to pump it out easily.

Nurse on demand, offer it too. This age is full of distractibility, so dimmed quiet rooms for nursing is best, night time nursing, and don't forget the growth spurt cluster feedings!! You are doing just fine with only nursing and offering baby/pureed foods.

Babies will wake up frequently up to 2 years old when breastfed, for multiple reasons. The optimal breastmilk is quickly assimilated/digested and used - so they are ready for more, plus they love the comfort and love they receive during breastfeeding. She's not waking up because you lack breastmilk!

Keep yourself eating healthy, eat more oatmeal, drink more liquids and take your prenatal vitamins. Google "Tandem Nursing", visit the websites: www.kellymom.com and www.llli.org for more correct information. These women research, experience, and actually KNOW the female body's abilities first hand and aim to educate Mothers on what can be expected of their bodies.

You may have already tried this, but my daughter will not take a bottle if I am in the room. If she can see/hear/smell me, she wants me. My husband has to give her the bottle, and I have to be long gone during that time. If you haven't already, try removing yourself completely from bottle feeding and see if that helps. Good luck.

My daughter, breastfed, would NOT take bottles at all, no matter what age. And despite trying many different bottles/nipples/brands.
My son, breastfed, would.
Some babies, just won't.

Pumping, I would not get much milk.
But I did produce a lot of milk... my kids fed often and grew like weeds and was always in the upper 95th-97th percentiles.

9 months old... is ALSO a growth-spurt time in a baby. Every 3 months is a growth-spurt. So, at times like this, they get hungrier and feed more often. 24/7, day and night.

ALSO, when pregnant, the composition of breastmilk changes, as well as output. And the taste changes too....

For the 1st year of life, breastmilk/Formula is a baby's primary source of nutrition... not solids and not other liquids. This is per our Pediatrician as well.

I think her cues will let you know if she isn't getting enough. I was never able to pump very much...

I also nursed when I was pregnant, but I lost 10lbs in my first trimester and couldn't continue. Your body will feed your babies first, so make sure you take care of yourself. I had HORRIBLE morning sickness with my first baby and my body couldn't keep up. I wish you the best of luck and congratulations on your pregnancy.

Skip the bottle. Right now you're trying to wean her off the breast. If you get her on a bottle, you'll have to wean her off that soon.

Your doctor may be concerned that the milk you are able to give her is not enough alone and that's why he/she wants you to suppliment with formula.

Try offering the sippy cup at every meal. If she's thirsty, she'll drink. Also, my kids didn't get what a sippy cup was a first, so we took out the little valve or plug (Gerber and Playtex both have a valve or plug that keeps the cup from leaking). It was messy, but they learned what the cup was for. Once they understood, we put the plug back in. So much less messy with the plug!

I would second the advice of having your husband or someone else try and feed her the bottles to start out with. We use the medela bottles because the nipples are supposed to be closest to mom. My friend transitioned her baby to bottles at 4-5 months and had a really hard time. She said that the playtex with the inserts was the only one that worked for them. In case you haven't tried those yet-worth a shot. Are you using formula or breastmilk in the bottle? If you are using formula maybe mixing breastmilk and formula would help. Also, when you try to give her the bottle hold her like you would when you breastfeed so she is really close facing you instead of facing out like most babies that take bottles and put the bottle near your breast so that it is simulating nursing. To try and get more milk, besides drinking lots of water you could try pumping after you feed her to make your body up the supply. I got really sick a few months ago and my supply dropped drastically. I was able to bring it back up by pumping right after I fed my baby every time. I wouldn't get much but it tricked my body into thinking that the baby needed more and I was able to save the little bit that I had in case I needed it. I still pump every night before I go to bed and in the morning after I feed him. I typically have 16-20oz. or so extra a day because of this. Maybe that can help you build your supply back up. Have you talked to a lactation specialist in your area? I have found that my lactation specialist was much more knowledgeable than my doctor or my pediatrician when it came to anything that had to do with feeding my baby.

Good luck and congrats on your pregnancy!

First off, congratulations!!!

You may want to up the amount of food she gets at mealtime and possibly give her regular soft table foods (if she can handle them yet). Also, keep in mind that your pump isn't as efficient as your daughter, so she may actually get more at each feeding than you are able to pump (even ounces more). Try water in the sippy cups instead of breastmilk, and maybe even a tiny bit of whole cow's milk in a few weeks - my pediatrician said cow's milk is okay before a year old as long as you don't completely switch over from breastmilk or formula...an ounce with food meals is okay.

Otherwise, just keep trying with the cups...she's going to need to use them soon anyway :) Have you tried Nuby brand cups? I like them for introducing sippy cups because the tops are squishy silicone which helps babies figure out how to get the liquid out immediately, plus they feel a little like a bottle/breast, so it's a good in-between for them.

Good Luck!

I can't figure out why doctors say that. I would never know how much milk my babies get. I exclusively breastfed them all for 6-12 months before introducing any foods and they were all thriving, healthy and even chunky. But when I've pumped, I barely get anything. I had to pump once when I had surgery. It took me a couple weeks to get enough for a couple of days. Sometimes I only get as little as a couple of drops, hardly worth my time... having said that, your baby may be getting more than 2 oz. But I'd probably wean anyway, if I were pregnant. Try using a cup. My kids never used a bottle. One of mine weaned himself at 9 months old and I went straight to the cup. You can even use a regular cup if she won't do a sippy cup yet. Good luck and CONGRATULATIONS!!

If you can eat more yourself it will richen your milk. I had to finally stop nursing my first son at 6 mos because I was pregnant with his brother and just ran out of good milk. I know now that I probably could have kept on nursing had I forced myself to keep up the supply..... I just wasnt hungry enough to force it tho :(
Have your husband try to give her a bottle instead of you, they will usually take one easier from someone that doesnt have the boobies that they are used to.
Go to the store and buy an assortment of nipples, eventually the magic one will appear and she will take it. You can snack nurse inbetween other methods. A bottle with some rice cereal at bedtime might help her sleep longer.