Hello!

I'm new the the boards today and I have a request for some advice. I am going back to work on Tuesday (the day after Memorial Day) and I have 1 bag of frozen breastmilk to take to daycare. I'm worried that I won't have enough to send with my baby boy even after pumping each day once or twice throughout the day. My baby is a refluxer (we were just diagnosed a week ago) and I'm considering supplementing with formula while at daycare if I can't get enough of a supply from pumping. My little guy was jaundice for 4 weeks after he was born and the pediatrician recommended supplementing with formula 2x a day to give him a break from my breastmilk; we supplemented with Similac Advanced (powder) and I swear he was torn up for 2 days after that. What type of formula would you all recommend if I have to give this a whirl? Soy? Isomil? He's still a little small for his age (he was born 3/25/07) at 9.5 lbs but he's long... He could afford to beef up a tiny bit. He's on 0.7 mL of Zantac 2x daily and seems to be turning the corner with his reflux. He's been exclusively breastmilk for the last 9 weeks but again, I'm just nervous about this coming week...

Any advice/words of encouragement/opinions??

Thanks! I look forward to getting to know all of you on the boards.

Emily

Hi Emily, and welcome to the boards! I am so glad you found this site and it will be nice getting to know you!

I am no way a doctor by any means, but my ped GI doctor recommended the following order to try when swe were switching fomulas:

1. milk-based formula
2. lactose free formula
3. soy formula
4. hyperallogenic formula (alimentum, nutramigen, etc)

You might place a call to your doctors office and explain how your little ones stomach didnot fair to well on regular formula and what they suggest! There are so many formulas on the market these days. Your pediatrician might be able to give you some samples of formula before you buy any to make sure it is working o.k.

I hope things go well with daycare - I think it is a good idea to have some formula on hand for your little one. Keep us posted.

Excellent information from Theresa...I would have written just about the same thing! :)


Another thought...Zantac is very weight sensitive so as your little one grows, the dose will need to be adjusted. You might also find that Zantac is not cutting it and he needs a PPI like Prevacid or Prilosec.

As for increasing your supply for pumping, drink a beer each day....a good strong one, nothing light like Coors or Bud. Something with good hops. And, I know that there are techniques where you can pump as soon as he is done nursing. I never got that far with my son, but I know that the info is out there.

Welcome to the boards Emily! It's so nice to have you. Theresa had some great advice for you, but I'd love to share my own story of switching from breastmilk to formula in the hopes you can find something useful in it...

First let me commend you on sticking to breastfeeding even though you're going back to work. I know firsthand how challenging it can be, and I only work part-time!!! I started out with just a couple of bags of frozen milk (about 16 ounces) and I had the same concerns you did. It was actually much easier than I thought it'd be to keep up a supply of pumped milk. I pumped about 3 times throughout the workday, which yielded about 12 ounces - plenty of milk to get Roman through the following day. I would also pump at home after Roman's bedtime feeding, which yielded another couple of ounces, so after a few days, I was building up quite a stockpile in our freezer! Pumping got really tiresome though, so we recently started supplementing with formula.

We started with Carnation Good Start milk-based on the advice of our GI doctor (the milk proteins are broken down more than in regular milk-based so it's easier for baby to digest). Unfortunately, Roman developed excema and his reflux worsened, which our GI attributed to a milk-protein intolerance, so we had to switch to soy. Roman doesn't like the taste of it though, so we're currently mixing it with breastmilk (1/3 formula and 2/3 breastmilk) which makes my pumped milk last MUCH longer now, but I'd really like to get him to take the formula by itself. Although his reflux doesn't seem any worse on soy, his excema hasn't cleared up yet, so we may switch to a hypoallergenic formula and see how he does (maybe he'll like the taste better and I can quit mixing it!!!). Our doctor gave us a sample of Neocate, which is a very very hypo formula. I think it's usually the next step AFTER alimentum or nutramigen. We'll probably start that next week.

I wish you all the best with going back to work. It's great to hear that your lo is improving - I hope that the formula trial is a complete success! I highly recommend starting with CGS milk based formula simply because it is affordable and our ds LOVED the taste of it. If you're lucky, he won't develop a milk allergy and you won't have to move on to soy or hypo formulas! Good luck!