Breastfeeding and Formula Feeding

*As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Grace

When I first had Parker I wasn’t sure how breastfeeding was going to go. My world had just been rocked and my body was not ok after birth so to have the whirlwind of milk coming in felt like too much. My boobs were HUGE and hard as rocks and I was leaking milk so bad. We had a great lactation specialist through our pediatrician though, and I was telling her I didn’t know how I was going to be able to do this, she let me know that it takes about 6 weeks for everything to regulate. That gave me some hope and sure enough, when I woke up on the first day of week 6 I felt like a new woman. This being the first time going through this, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I feel very fortunate to have had a relatively good experience breastfeeding. Of course there were times I was uncomfortable or leaked or felt over it, but I never had mastitis or problems with my supply. Cluster feeding was rough in the beginning though. In my case, I was still healing from birth, and was so tired and Parker wanted to eat ALL. THE. TIME. Even though you’re just sitting there feeding your baby, it is exhausting. Parker had a tongue tie and it was hurting me on the left side to feed her. I would absolutely DREAD when it was time for the left boob. When she was a few weeks old we got her tie snipped and it was a game changer. The exercises really aren’t that bad when they’re that little and it seems like you have to do them a lot but you’re up in the night for feedings anyways so it’s not a big deal. She was able to get more milk out without getting tired and it stopped hurting me so it was a win-win. I pumped sometimes and I could have pumped more, but I was over cleaning it real quick. Once we got our breastfeeding groove down it was pretty smooth.

When Parker was about 7 months old I was having some anxiety and health issues happening (I’ll save those details for another post) and made the decision to start weaning. I was so emotional about it and didn’t feel ready for breastfeeding to come to an end but needed my body back. I really battled with feeling selfish and cried anytime I thought about stopping. Parker hated formula at first (I don’t blame her, the first one we tried was so disgusting) but eventually after some trial and error she came around to it. It can be so stressful when they won’t eat, but you just have to keep at it until you find something that works. We mixed it with breastmilk and just kept increasing the formula ratio so she could slowly get used to it. She had had a cow's milk protein allergy arise when I was breastfeeding so I stopped eating dairy for a while. I had started dabbling with dairy towards the end of breastfeeding just to see if she had outgrown it yet and she seemed to be doing fine with it. I really didn’t want to bombard her system with dairy though, so after the first “sensitive” formula was a bust, we landed on the Holle goat's milk formula. She drank that no problem and had no tummy issues which was a huge relief for us. I took my time weaning in hopes that my body wouldn’t struggle as bad. I consulted our amazing lactation specialist and she helped guide me with how to do it. Over time I dropped and shortened feeds and really only struggled when I had to drop my very last feed. I was in some real discomfort but still never developed mastitis luckily. I was trying everything for some relief. I even tried the ol’ cabbage leaves in your bra trick. I don’t know if it actually worked but I can say that putting cold leaves from the fridge in my bra did feel nice and helped relieve some discomfort.  

We could only find Holle in one store here in Bend, which wasn’t the most convenient thing. When Parker was about 10 months old, we went to get her more formula and they were out and the shipment was delayed about two weeks. We ended up going with the Bobbie brand (the only other kind this store had) and even though it’s not dairy free, she still did great with it and didn’t mind the taste of a new formula. She can eat dairy products just fine when we do solids so we had hope for a new type of formula. It was nice that it didn’t upset her stomach and it’s also less expensive than Holle. Now that she’s one, she drinks normal cow’s milk and we haven’t had any trouble with that. 

I always thought breastfeeding sounded so easy until I did it myself. There is so much that goes into that you don’t even think about until you attempt it. I personally overall enjoyed it, but now  I totally understand why some women aren’t interested in doing it. Some even have an actual aversion to it! I hope all mamas know that there is nothing wrong with going the formula route, but I totally get it if that wasn’t your first choice. The important things are that your baby is fed and that mama is ok, so do whatever you need to do!

Graces favorite products to help make breastfeeding easier:

Meesh

Long before I was seriously thinking about kids (2020) I got a breast reduction. I was advised by my surgeon that there could be a chance I wouldn't be able to breastfeed but he didn't want me to get my hopes up. When I got pregnant a year and half later it became a constant thought… will I be able to breastfeed? It didn’t help that we were in the middle of a pandemic and a formula shortage. I ideally wanted to breastfeed because of all the health benefits of breastmilk and the fact that it would save us a ton of money. After consulting my doctors they suggested I assume I'll be able to but I was realistic with myself. I had a gut feeling that I wouldn't be able to and I was right. I wasted a ton of money on breastfeeding essentials (eyeroll). After having Thea I tried breastfeeding exclusively for 3 days. In the hospital they told me not to stress about it because it takes a few days for my milk to come in but at her first doctor appointment she had lost almost a whole pound. I felt AWFUL. The guilt hit me so hard and I felt like I was starving my child. After meeting with my doctor and a lactation consultant we decided to try breastfeeding for 10 minutes and after that, supplement with formula. I was getting less than ½oz from both breasts and breastfeeding was extremely painful. I hated it. I decided to try pumping instead and that made me feel even worse. I could see how much I was making (which was basically nothing) and it was just such a bummer. After 4 weeks of pumping, trying to breastfeed, raw nips and tons of tears, I decided to call it quits. All of the effort just wasn’t worth it to me mentally and physically. 

Moving to formula was the BEST decision I made for me and my family. Although I knew it was the right decision, I felt very overwhelmed and completely lost. All of my mom friends breastfed, and none of them were formula feeding at the time so we had to navigate this part on our own.  Thea was a very picky infant when it came to eating. We tried three different bottles, finally landing on the Philips Avant. Thankfully by the time Thea was on a powder formula, the shortage was over. Picking the right formula for us was a whole other journey. There are so many different kinds and there were a couple weeks we thought Thea had a dairy sensitivity but no, like I said, she was just picky. We also learned that she had a tongue and lip tie but we chose not to snip since I no longer was breastfeeding and she could latch onto the bottle. Feeding your baby in general is stressful no matter what. I had to keep telling myself that. She didn't like formula until she was about 3 months old and even then would only drink a little at a time (looking back, pretty sure this is because of the tongue tie- we’re getting it snipped around her 2nd birthday). We ended up using the Kendamil formula. We bought it at Target and it was the best option for us that was the most cost effective. 

For formula moms looking for a helpful resource, I loved following “The Formula Mom” on Instagram and even bought her formula guide. During the shortage, she was SO useful explaining the different types of formulas and the rules around mixing brands and is an amazing formula advocate. If breastfeeding is hard for you or you just don't want to, formula is a great alternative. It gave me freedom that breastfeeding wouldn't have given me and yes, you can still bond with your baby even if you don't breastfeed. Fed is best and your baby loves you. 

Meesh's favorite products to make formula feeding easier:

Mon

Breastfeeding in general is not easy but breastfeeding twins is a feat. I strongly believe to have a successful breastfeeding experience you need a good lactation specialist. It wasn’t until I started working with one from our pediatrician's office I started to have success. The lactation specialist in the hospital helped to get my supply going but that’s about it. With twins, I would suggest renting the hospital-grade pump to get you started and then switching to the spectra once you’re established. 

I was only able to pump and bottle feed for the first couple of months with occasional attempts at nursing. I was waking up every 2 hours to pump and then my husband and I would bottle-feed the twins together. It was exhausting. I had almost given up when we decided to switch pediatricians to one that had a lactation specialist who was covered by insurance. It was here we discovered the boys had a tongue tie and that was why they were having such a hard time nursing. We quickly scheduled the procedure to have it snipped, which was an easy procedure done by the pediatrician. Although the “exercises” for them so it didn’t tie again were a total pain, it was completely worth it. Everything changed after this procedure. They were able to latch and didn’t tire out as much. I worked with the lactation consultant biweekly and within a month I was pretty much exclusively breastfeeding. I found it easier to nurse because it was one step, rather than pumping and then bottle feeding. After getting comfortable nursing one, I started to try and tandem nurse. The lactation consultant helped a lot with this and I watched a lot of YouTube videos. The hardest part is getting them in position and then burping them. Once they started holding up their heads better tandem nursing became a lot easier. But if you are going to nurse twins, I would suggest figuring it out because it’s a huge time saver.

After working so hard to figure out the nursing thing it was a really hard decision to stop. But once I went back to work I pretty much had to. Pumping at work and saving it was just too difficult. I was able to slowly wean, and for a while, I had enough supply to pump or nurse when I got home, but about a month into work, my supply was gone. We had a bunch of frozen breast milk from the beginning when I was only pumping and we used that and slowly transitioned them to whole milk at 13 months. The transition was super easy for them. I was so stressed about it and sad about ending what had been such a huge part of my life for the last year, but when we gave them their first bottle of only cow's milk they didn’t even seem to notice. 

Stopping breastfeeding left me feeling emotional. The hormonal change is a lot. I felt like I was PMSing. My doctor suggested I take progesterone again (I had taken it for ppd)  and that helped me get through the transition. 

Mon's favorite products to make breastfeeding twins easier: