Breastfeeding Mom Having to Give Bottle...

I am so sorry to hear this, I know you are committed and want to continue nursing. I'll tell you what I would do. Nurse first and then offer a bottle. If he truly is not getting enough, he may take the bottle pretty easily or Daddy may have to offer the bottle to him. I'd start with 4 ounces. If he doesn't seem satisfied, then add formula one ounce at a time. I am of the opinion that until they are a year breast milk or formula is best. I wouldn't increase his food, it sounds like he is eating plenty of it already. Another idea is to mix formula in with his food. Skip the juice, he doesn't need it. To answer your question, according to Parenting Magazine he should be eating 2 jars of Stage 2 food a day and 7 ounce bottles for a total of between 28 and 32 ounces a day. At nine months I think the bottles should increase to 8 ounces. I can't find my magazine, with the chart, but here is a link to a good article.

http://www.parenting.com/gallery/Baby/The-Truth-About-Fee...

Best of Wishes!

N.

Talk to someone from la leche league about ways to increase milk production. I know that an herb called "fenugreek" helped me a lot. I think there are others, too.

Natalie's suggestion about offering a bottle AFTER breastfeeding is a fabulous idea. That way you're still encouraging milk production while offering more food.

Start pumping in addition to nursing (that way you have some to put in the bottle rather than just formula). Pump on one side WHILE you're breastfeeding the baby on the other -- you'll have the best let-down that way. More "demand" (the pumping) helps with your "supply" (and gives you more to put into the bottle.

Finally, get this book: "Super Baby Food." It was AWESOME. It gave great recipes for feeding babies at all stages, what foods to offer at which month, and basic nutrition. It also gave EASY EASY EASY strategies for making your own baby food. We loved it.

So much good luck to you!

I agree! Try going to a lactation consultant first! They are amazing people, and have all kinds of ideas for relaxing and stimulating your milk production. At just about 6 months my milk began to taper off due to my own illness, but even visiting a lactation consultant helped me feel less like a failure. I got a pump and used it while my son was on the bottle to supplement the formula and while my son ended up completely on formula by 11 months old, I felt good about the almost year of breast milk he did have.

Telephone the hospital where your child was born and they can direct you to their lactation specialist.

Best of luck

At least your doctor is monitoring the situation... that 's good. Lack of weight gain can be due to many different reasons... and it's good he will be doing tests. It needs to be followed up.

At least you are open to supplementing with formula. He needs it. You also want to be sure that his lack of weight gain does not affect his development.

Certainly, supplementing him with formula is important... don't worry, lots of breastfeeding moms need to do this.

In my case, I breastfed both my kids. With my second baby, he was such a voracious feeder, that I could not keep up... and although my output was fine, I had to supplement him with formula as he got bigger, and per Pediatrician recommendation.

I use the "MAM" baby bottles... you can find it on www.amazon.com Mind you, these bottles do NOT contain the harmful BPA plastic poisons in it that can leech into baby's systems. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Da...

When you supplement with bottle/formula...give it too him AFTER your nurse. If giving formula before nursing, this is usually done to "wean" from breastfeeding.

At this age, a baby typically drinks at least 6-8 ounces... some babies drink more. Since his weight gain is an issue...ask your Doctor how often you should be giving it to him...

At least he seems to eat solids fine. Still, for the first year of life, a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition is from breastmilk/formula.

Again, since your son has special issues and needs, per his lack of weight gain, really go according to what your Pediatrician says. Only he/she would know the full scope of your son's health background.

Take care and all the best,
~Susan

I had the same issue around the first or second month. My daughter was gaining though just not as much as our pediatrician would have liked.
I went to the local hospital and visited with the lactation consultant (on my peds recommendation) and they weighed my daughter before I fed her and after to get a more accurate description of how much milk she was getting.
We worked on her latch (which was still a little off) and techniques to readjust her (it takes a while for both you and your baby to get a rhythm going) and I was sent home with some formula to supplement with and mother's milk tea.
I drank the tea religiously. It's a bit bitter so you can add sugar if you want but it helped. When I would give her a bottle with formula, I would pump like crazy to make sure I was still being stimulated (so I wouldn't decrease even more while she was taking the formula)
The consultant also recommended fenugreek if the tea and reworked latch didn't help but I didn't have to go that route.
I also used the "tried and true" home remedy of having one beer every couple of days (boy did my milk explode after that)
I slowly tapered off the bottles and eventually got completely back to 100% breastfed and even began to leak.
So start with the lactation consultant and make sure it's your milk (with you saying that he is eating baby food, it seems a little off that it may be your milk so confirm your suspicions by having him weighed before and after. Pumping is not an accurate description of how much you are producing because a pump isn't nearly as efficient as those little lips are :)
Good luck mama!