Would you start solids early?

[leigh09]

My ds is newly 5 months old and he is my third baby that I have low milk supply with. We have been chugging along until about the last two weeks, when we seemed to have hit a downturn - I have up and down days with my milk supply. We usually get through these lower supply days by supplementing with my own frozen BM. It is all gone now and we have resorted to formula, he only seems to need about 2 - 3 oz.

We have tried two different types - one makes him so uncomfortably gassy and the other he refuses to drink. To be realistic, we can't afford to buy every brand of formula in the store to find one that is compatible simply to keep on hand for emergencies.

(I am pretty much maxed out on domperidone and herbs to boost my supply. This is how we have made it this far breastfeeding to start with.)

I know it would be early, but would you resort to starting solids early and forget the formula?? I have read varying opinions on this - one says absolutely no way since he is too young. Dr. Newman says go ahead, forget the formula and use solids as your supplement.

[redvlagrl]

We started at solids at 5 mths anyway, even with a good supply. DD was ready (we did BLS).

Using formula or solids as a supplement will reduce your supply, though, so I would perhaps try a nurse in first for a couple of days if you haven't already tried it. Though it does sounds as though you're pretty experienced with supply issues.

If you do supplement with solids make sure that they have a similar nutritional/caloric value as BM. Eg, if you give your child pears and they fill up on those, it's nowhere near as good as BM, however if you gave avocadoes it would be better calorically.

Good Luck!

[Megan73]

I would start solids early as per Dr. Newman rather than try to force your LO to drink formula given how little you need to supplement. (And I don't think formula is evil - I needed to supplement for low supply and I'm glad it exists!)
I'd always nurse first, obviously, and focus on nutrient-dense solids such as finely minced meat or dark meat chicken (which LLL recommends as a first food), flaked salmon, egg yolk, sweet potato and avocado.

[starling&diesel]

As always, what Megan73 said ...

We started DD on solids at 5 months, but she was also 'ready,' ie. sitting, good pincher grip, interested, etc. She's been a great eater ever since! And we didn't bother much with purees (with the exception of grinding organic beef for her as per our peds recommendation for the iron), but kept mostly to soft foods, like avocado, squash, yogurt, etc. Have fun with it, and good luck!

[Megan73]

Thanks, Starling!
Come back and tell us how it goes, Leigh.

[bedheadmaestro]

I also had extremely low supply and was soooooo thankful and excited to find out that DD was ready for solids at 5 months (she took a melon out of my hands and ate it and went back for more, we never did do purees). You can fortify the solid food you give him by mixing in/dipping in coconut oil or olive oil to give the extra boost of fats.

[mambera]

I would start solids when your LO is ready. If he is already sitting well and has a pincer grasp, then definitely. If not, and your LO doesn't tolerate formula, do you think you could locate a few oz on Milkshare? It doesn't sound like you would need very much to tide you over till he would be ready for solids.

[jecombs]

I guess it really depends on how much solids your LO will eat. My DD started solids around 6-7 mo, but only ate a few bites a day. That definitely would not have been enough to drop a nursing session. She did not get really into solids until she was close to a year old and then she started dropping a few nursing sessions.

Give the solids a try and see how much your LO will eat. But I wouldn't count on him eating enough every day to be able to stop giving formula entirely.

[leigh09]

After much household debate, we figured we might as well take the plunge. He absolutely loves it, smiles while eating and opens his mouth for more when the spoon comes.

He is still drinking about 2 oz of formula a day, we found one that is compatible with him. It is such an insanely small amount but so be it if it keeps him happy through the day.

[smeep]

Does anyone have a link to Newman's suggestion of solids over formula? I'd love to look into this more.

If you do supplement at all, try to do it at the breast with a lactation aid - supplementing any other way can further inhibit your supply.

[ein328]

From Dr. Newman's website:

"My 4 month old is hungry on breast only. Solids or Formula?

There is no advantage in this situation of giving formula, especially by bottle and there may be some important disadvantages. Even at this age a baby may start to prefer the bottle if he seems not to be getting enough from the breast (if, in fact, he will accept a bottle). On the other hand, if the baby does accept the bottle and if your milk supply has decreased, as it might have, giving the baby a bottle may almost guarantee that the baby will soon refuse the breast. See the information sheet Slow Weight Gain After Early Good Weight Gain for reasons your milk supply may have decreased. It would be preferable in this circumstance to give solids off a spoon rather than to give formula in a bottle. (Frequently, however, this situation can be remedied differently by improving the breastfeeding—get help!). If you wish to mix formula with solids, that does not cause the same sort of problem as giving formula or even expressed milk in a bottle. If the baby seems hungry after breastfeeding, feed him solids off a spoon."

http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=...tion&Itemid=17

[mambera]

Originally Posted by ein328

From Dr. Newman's website:

"My 4 month old is hungry on breast only. Solids or Formula?

There is no advantage in this situation of giving formula, especially by bottle and there may be some important disadvantages. Even at this age a baby may start to prefer the bottle if he seems not to be getting enough from the breast (if, in fact, he will accept a bottle). On the other hand, if the baby does accept the bottle and if your milk supply has decreased, as it might have, giving the baby a bottle may almost guarantee that the baby will soon refuse the breast. See the information sheet Slow Weight Gain After Early Good Weight Gain for reasons your milk supply may have decreased. It would be preferable in this circumstance to give solids off a spoon rather than to give formula in a bottle. (Frequently, however, this situation can be remedied differently by improving the breastfeeding—get help!). If you wish to mix formula with solids, that does not cause the same sort of problem as giving formula or even expressed milk in a bottle. If the baby seems hungry after breastfeeding, feed him solids off a spoon."

These are reasons not to give a bottle specifically (rather than a cup, spoon or SNS). They are not reasons to prefer a milk supplement rather than a solid supplement. Also I really think the risk of bottle preference is much reduced after the 3rd or 4th month. How many EBF 4-month-olds are suddenly going to want a bottle instead after the first few times they try it??

[leigh09]

I supplement my 5 month old with a bottle. He refuses the sns, my lactation consultant tells me this is common in babies who are introduced to it later than the very early months. He just isn't used to and doesn't like the extra tube in his mouth.

My DS LOVES LOVES LOVES nursing. I think he is an addict. I do follow all the good advice of nursing first, ensuring my breasts are empty, using compressions, etc. He pulls a face at the bottle still and will push it away when he's had enough. He really just doesn't enjoy it that very much.

However, my first DS and I had very great struggles nursing. My milk supply was right in the toilet and it seemed nothing was bringing it up. He had to work hard to get any milk at all out. We persevered with the SNS, the supplements, etc. I was tired of the SNS and gave him a bottle at 4 months old. He never looked back. We managed to part-time nurse for a few more months, and at 9 months he went full-time to bottle feeding. He refused to nurse anymore. It was honestly a lot of work for him and the bottle, even on slow flow nursing friendly nipples, was just that much better.

[ein328]

We waited until DD was 3 months to introduce a bottle, right before I went back to work FT. She reverse-cycled almost immediately, preferring to nurse over the bottle. Now, she is 6 months old, takes one bottle in the morning and one in the afternoon, and nurses at least once a night, usually twice. We may be an anomaly, but she has had no issues switching back and forth between the two. She still prefers nursing, though.