[fyrflymommy]

my friend S works 2-3x a week, for 8 sometimes 10hrs. her husband usually watches theier 3.5mo but today i babysat for him. S has a medela harmony pump, and was using it as far as i know. anyway, today she gave me a can of Enfamil Lipil (which i've read is not safe, but didn't get a chance to inform her on this) and said that he usually won't eat more than 2-4oz. well, he must've been extra hungry today (growth spurt?) bcuz he took 6.5oz slowly throughout the day. i don't know if my friend is having supply probs or is trying to wean him or what.

so my question is.....if she ISNT weaning him or having supply probs, just supplementing while working for whatever reason...... if he's primarily a breastfed baby, does she need to be giving him any DHA/ARA enriched formula??? could she possible give him just plain formula since he's mainly breastfed? and could she give him an iron-free one?

final question, how much of a difference is there between name-brand formula and generic? would it make any difference if she used generic since it's only a little bit every few days?

THANKS!!!

 

[Quirky]

If she's primarily breastfeeding, I don't see any reason not to use the generic formula assuming it doesn't upset baby's tummy. All formulas have to meet FDA's standards.

Although if it were me I would supplement with organic formula, because the rest of them are just crap. (Not that organic formula is better than the real thing, but at least it has higher-quality ingredients).

I would also be taking fish oil capsules and/or flax seed oil if I were her to make sure the good fats got into breastmilk - in fact I would advise this for all nursing mothers because the American diet is so deficient in omega-3 essential fatty acids.

You could go ahead and ask her why she's supplementing...is it possible she doesn't have time to pump at work? Maybe you could help her brainstorm ways to get more pumped milk into her ds.

 

[mamaofthree]

I would suggest a organic formula also. I was wondering though... 2-4oz in 8 - 10 hours. That doesn't seem like very much food for him at 3.5 months. I mean I know you don't know exactly what your baby get while breast feeding but if my pumping was any indication (I would pump while at work maybe 2-3 time in 12 hours) I got 4-6 oz at least every time. It just seems like so little food.

H

 

[fyrflymommy]

mamaofthree-- he only eats a few ounces because S said he nurses a lot when she is home. and it was just recently that he started to take a bottle, they've been trying to get him to take one for at least 1.5mo

i don't know how he eats when his dad has him. but for me, he only drank when he was tired and it was slowly throughout the day. oh and this is cute but kinda sad too.....to get him to take the bottle, i held him in the sling and w/ my free hand i held a picture of his momma next to his face and smiled and happil ate

it was really cute.

anyway thanks for the suggestions. i really don't think S will use organic bcuz i think she is getting the formula from WIC. i checked their website for our area, and they do give the Lipil.