How many of you formula feed, breastfeed, both?

I keep reading posts where everyone knows exactly how many ounces their babies get each day, so I assume you all are formula feeding. I'm mostly breastfeeding/pumping and they occasionally get a formula bottle and because of that I have no idea how many ounces they get each day. I find myself pumping more just so I know how much they are getting at a feeding. Anyway, I was just wondering if more people tend to formula feed twins just because it is easier to keep track of how much they are getting. So, do you formula feed, breastfeed, or both? I know it can be a touchy subject, so I'm not asking which you think it better, just which you are doing. Thanks!

 

I pumped exclusively for their first 7 months, so I knew exactly how many ounces they were getting. Then we used our freezer stash for another month. Now we are formula feeding. Interestingly, I've found they eat far less formula than they did breast milk. I was fortifying the breast milk with formula, so I don't think it's that they are getting more calories from the formula than they did the breast milk. Personally, I think they dislike the taste of the formula. Who know though...

 

I pumped for my girls for the 10 weeks that they were in the NICU, but I had major supply issues and it just wasn't working out so I have FF since my girls have been home.

 

My girls get strictly breast milk from a bottle. I just like to measure how much they take. Every once in awhile I will nurse them, then I don't know how much they get.

 

I'm a BFer but awhile back I was so worn out from feeding them during the night that I gave up all the night-time feedings. Now DH gives them formula at night. When I'm away from them they get sippies with BM or formula.

 

All Mama's milk, all the time! No formula since they were 4 days old. I pump at work and nurse while at home. For their bottles, they're currently taking 6 oz each, but I think we'll up that soon.

 

Hi, Marisa! First of all, WTG for BFing your twins --- and do stop by the TS BFing forum sometime! We've got a great bunch of ladies who can help you with anything.

Most moms who BF even one baby worry about exactly how much they're getting. But exact quantities are just not a big deal. If you can just let go of that worry, feed them whenever they're hungry, and trust your body, it will work out! (And if you do run into any problems, there are solutions.) It is EXTREMELY rare for a mom who is nursing on demand (even twins!) to have supply problems.

Your boobs may not have ounce markings, but you CAN get a general idea of whether they're getting enough, even if they never take a bottle. Weight gain and diapers, it's that simple. Anytime you're worried about their intake, take them in to the pedi for a weight check. If they're growing well, they're getting plenty! And just keep an eye on how much they pee and poop (with twins, it's even worth keeping a simple checklist, since it is all a blur). What comes out must have gone in.

 

Mine have never had formula. I have no idea how much they nurse. I do know that they're happy, gaining weight and peeing all the time, which is all I need to know. But I think it's important to add that they were born full term and healthy, with no NICU time, and I nursed my older two for a long time, so I was comfortable with looking for the signs that they were getting enough without knowing exact amounts.

 

well, i don't mind saying that i think bf'g IS better for babies, at least my own. unfortunately, they were in the nicu for 7 and 10 weeks, which made our bf'g start a little difficult. so, i am still pumping for one, but the other is bf'g (latched on at 5 months). i am really thankful for this as i'd always hoped to bf.

that said, and since i was pumping exclusively for five months (and taking care of the boys basically by myself during the day!) after a few months they were drinking more than i could produce. now they each get up to 8 oz/day of forumula on most days. although now that we're eating more and more solids i'm hoping to eliminate the formula before we got to a year and get to add in cow's milk.

, jl

 

I pumped and formula-fed my girls. With all the work of pumping, I would have preferred to just give them breastmilk but I only pumped enough to give them 1/2 so they switched what was in their bottle every feeding.

I breastfed my son exclusively though and, as long as they babies are growing and wetting diapers, you don't need to know how many ounces they are getting. Pumping won't give you a good indication either because you pump less than the babies can get out. If you are worried, do a breastfeeding session at the pedi's office and have them weigh the babies before and after eating. The difference in weight is how much they ate. It's so easy to get caught up in counting ounces but it's really just talked about so much because it's something we can measure to make sure our kids are progressing like they should. Being able to measure something can feel wonderful but it's not required.

Congrats on breastfeeding your twins!

 

I formula fed my girls but they are on whole milk now.

 

I gave breastmilk exclusively (by nursing and pumping) for the first 5 months to BOTH babies. Since the 5 month mark my DS is still exclusively breastfed. My DD however is exclusively bottlefed EBM & Formula. thats just what worked best for our family and DD's preference. She doesnt even like you to hold her while she drinks her bottle. She likes to do it herself so forget trying to get her to nurse where she cant look all around

 

I BF only. My DD stopped taking a bottle after 6 weeks and since I wasn't working I decided to just give up on the bottle and BF exclusively. In the beginning I would sometimes feel concerned that I didn't know how much they were getting, but it's true that if they're growing steadily, there's no need to worry In fact, you may worry more if you're giving bottles b/c if they don't take it all you'll think they have to. I was pumping for their cereal when they turned 6 months and gave that up recently, so I do use formula for their cereal feeding daily. It was such a relief for me to give up the pumping, it was just too much for me on top of everything else with the babies.

 

I had planned on giving my guys only breastmilk, but I had one non-latcher in the first week, and then two bad latchers until 6 weeks old. So I've always pumped, fed at the breast, and given some formula.

In the beginning, they got about 1/2 BM and 1/2 formula, but I was able to improve their latches, and by 2.5 months we were down to 1 bottle of formula a day. I know how many ounces they like because of the pumping. They have to get bottles when I'm at work, so that's another reason I have a sense of how many ounces they eat.

However, measuring in ounces really is part of a bottle feeding mentality, which is even prevalent among doctors. Unfortunately, because of this and many other reasons breastfeeding is an uphill battle, especially with twins.

I have a feeling you'd get a better sense of the breakdown if you turned this post into a poll, that way people could vote without having to write, and they could be anonymous.

 

I formula fed only - I had no desire to breastfeed...

 

I started out breastfeeding with a formula bottle once a day. Then I pumped but couldn't maintain my supply that way. Finally I got pregnant again and what was left of my supply went even lower. So now I give them formula. I was able to breastfeed one of my other children while pregnant, but that as when I was younger, had fewer children and not so tired

 

My boys got formula and pumped breastmilk during their first ten days, then pumped breatmilk combined with nursing for the next few weeks. I haven't pumped since they were about 2 months old, though, so they have been exclusivly nursed since that point.

I will say that I worried quite a bit about supply... I NEVER once worried about supply with my singleton - I nursed her from day one, no pumping, no formula, and I always felt confident that she was eating/drinking enough. But, with the twins, I was always worried that their intake wasn't enough. They were very weak at the breast in the beginning (5 weeks premature), so they probably would have suffered/starved if I had attempted to exclusively breastfeed. I am very thankful for my breastpump and for formula in those early days!

There ARE very sensitive scales that you can buy (very expensive) or rent to weigh your baby before and after nursings, to monitor excatly how much they are intaking. But, overall, if they are growing and have signs of being hydrated and content, everything is probably just fine!

 

I haven't read any of the previous replies so sorry if I missed any juicy debating.
QUOTE(marisa55 @ Nov 23 2008, 05:55 PM) [snapback]1083657[/snapback]
I keep reading posts where everyone knows exactly how many ounces their babies get each day, so I assume you all are formula feeding. I'm mostly breastfeeding/pumping and they occasionally get a formula bottle and because of that I have no idea how many ounces they get each day. I find myself pumping more just so I know how much they are getting at a feeding. Anyway, I was just wondering if more people tend to formula feed twins just because it is easier to keep track of how much they are getting. So, do you formula feed, breastfeed, or both? I know it can be a touchy subject, so I'm not asking which you think it better, just which you are doing. Thanks!

I did it all. I ff my oldest with soy formula, I exclusively nursed my dd, and I nursed, pumped and ff my twins. Babies kind of get this fat relaxed slack-jawed look when they're full so I never got too nervous about how many ounces they drank. I had a rough idea of how many ounces or minutes they ate so I could tell the pedi but I never worried about it that much as long as they seemed content.

 

BF Max till 5 half months and Ellie till 7 half months - he just wouldn't let up! You never know how much they are taking - you just feed when hungry and stop when full! Try not to worry - babies are very good at managing their own intake!

 

never planned on BF but i pumped for 5 weeks while they were in the NICU so i tried but neither got a hang of it, and i wasnt patient cuz i didnt really wanna do it. they got BM til they were about 2 1/2 months.

 

BF, pumping, and supplementing with formula.

Would have LOVED to exclusively bf - I exclusively bf my older DS way past the 1-year-point - but these little guys were born 5 weeks early and had horrible latches that caused me to get mastitis 4x's in the 3.5 months that I exclusively bf them. At 3.5 months I switched to pumping and nursing - continued to get mastitis - and at 6.5 months I started pumping only. They have always received a little bit of formula - but once I started pumping only I had to increase their formula intake b/c the pump couldn't keep up with the babies' needs.

 

i b/f mine until they were 5 months. i fed together on an ez2 pillow until they were about 3 and a half months, then they got too fidgety for it so i fed one after the other after that. brook was always difficult, had a tough time latching on in the first couple of weeks, then got mastitis in his boob (they had their own breast) always used to clamp down at the end of a feed or if taking a break, so when teeth appeared - that was it for him - ouch!!! so now he is formula fed and oran is b/f. i tried to pump but find it soooo time consuming and stressful - i think all you mum's who pump are amazing!
lara mum to oran and brook, 6 months and daniel 5

 

Formula fed from the get go. I really never even considered breast feeding them (once I found out it was twins.) I would have given it a shot with a singleton though. Good luck!

 

I'm straight breastfeeding them, so I've no clue what their intake is. I'm planning on pumping/bottling b-milk soon because I'm rather weary of not being able to leave them for more than two hours at a time.

All I know is that they are both doing well and are growing fine.

 

QUOTE(Emily@Home @ Nov 24 2008, 08:24 AM) [snapback]1084210[/snapback]
I'm straight breastfeeding them, so I've no clue what their intake is. I'm planning on pumping/bottling b-milk soon because I'm rather weary of not being able to leave them for more than two hours at a time.


Ditto that...in the beginning I actually bought a scale so I could make sure they took in enough, but it was really unnecessary. I was just a little too nervous as a new mommy with no ounce markers on my breasts! Once I saw that they were gaining well, I just stopped worrying about it. I feed mostly on demand, except that when one wants to eat, usually I offer it to the other, too. Keeps us sane without making anybody wait for a scheduled time. I barely pump...just enough for a freezer stash or to go out once in a while...so I have NO CLUE how many ounces they get a day. GL!

 

I pumped exclusively for 5 months, so I knew how much they were getting.

 

I breastfed, pumped, and formula fed. I had supply issues, and eventually, I ended up leaving the pumping out of our schedule. I would have loved to breastfeed exclusively, but they kept on not gaining weight as fast as they should. So, supplementing with formula was a compromise, but it worked for us.

If your babies are healthy and gaining weight, like ppl said, don't even worry about measuring how much they're getting.

 

i have been pumping and feeding a mix of 1/2 EBM and 1/2 formula since they were born. i have had supply issues and haven't been able to feed exclusively BM. They never got the hang of latching and by the time they were big enough to do so successfully they had developed such a painful clamp that i just couldn't face the pain each time i wanted to try BF with them. i gave up trying and i will be pumping through their 3 month mark. after that we will transition to full-time formula feeding.

there is a lot more discussion about formula on this forum than respondents in this thread. personally i feel like there's a lot of judgmental regard for moms who choose to formula feed, and you can see that in this thread even in spite of your request not to get into the "which is better" debate. i feel like there is so much pressure to EBF these days that moms who formula feed either through choice or necessity become reluctant to speak up. I really think you'd have more formula moms responding in this thread if not for that.

 

My boys are exclusively formula fed.

We tried to bf but my milk never came in. After talking with family members almost every woman in my family has had the same problem. They have done well on the formula and we feed on demand so if I make a 5 oz. bottle and they want more, I make more, if they don't eat it all, that's ok.

 

I attempted nursing my babies from the start and had issues-weight loss, horrible reflux-my one good nurser couldnt keep the breast milk down unless I added rice to it so pumped and gave both babies ebm for almost 6 months-my other baby never got the hang of nursing and I honestly did not try that hard...I was just too tired, plus she was the one losing weight very quickly and so I for my own knowledge wanted to know exactly how much she was taking.
What ever people decide to do is a personal decision and there is no right or wrong-no debate neccessary.
All three of my children nursed, were fed ebm and formula and are very healthy smart and well rounded children.

 

I BFed my older DD exclusively for 13 months. I did both with the boys. I pumped while they were in the NICU and BFed a bit. They had terrible latches. So I exclusively pumped for 2 months and then went to formula once we found out they had reflux and a milk allergy.

 

I BFed my older DD exclusively for 13 months. I did both with the boys. I pumped while they were in the NICU and BFed a bit. They had terrible latches. So I exclusively pumped for 2 months and then went to formula once we found out they had reflux and a milk allergy.

 

I pumped for 5 months, planned on the long term but I got pregnant when they were 3.5 months old and they would no longer take my milk :mellow: So I had to put them on formula at 6 months. I'm not a fan of breastfeeding (totally a personal thing) but I will pump for as long as possible for the new baby, hopefully at least a year.
I liked pumping because I knew how much milk they got.

 

I pumped and nursed for the first 5 months. I did supplement some formula, too though. Now I only use formula. I quit because with all that is going on with my family, I honestly didn't have time to pump and DS had a tough time nursing because of torticollis. Bottles were just much easier for him. I wouldn't worry about how much they are getting... as PP have said, as long as they are gaining weight like they should, they will let you know when they are hungry!

 

Mine are breastfed straight from the boob and pumped milk from a bottle.