I am frequently asked by inquisitive friends how much formula I am giving, or how much of my breast milk my baby is actually getting. I honestly have no idea! It was difficult for me in the beginning to not pay attention, to not chart his intake and to not calculate my milk production based in his formula consumption or by weighing him before and after a boob-only-feed. I could not have been more exact and calculating last time, following all the ‘rules’, timing and keeping track of everything. But I’ve learnt to switch that off now. I give formula through the SNS when he needs it, which is at every feed except three for the last five weeks. Sometimes he takes 120ml, sometimes 30ml.
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| When feeding my first boy, I tracked everything. Time on each breast, time pumping, amount pumped, amount of formula, poos and wees. |
But today I really want to know. It seems that some days he needs so much more than others, and yesterday he didnt seem to need that much. This makes me feel excited at the prospect of my increased milk production, but I am also aware that today will now probably be a huge formula day. So throughout today I’ll take note of feeding times and how much extra formula he takes from the SNS. Where one feed starts and another stops is sometimes difficult to determine, but I’ll try.
7.15- 0
8.05 – 70ml
10.30 – 0
11.30 – 110ml
1.50pm – 60ml
3.20 – 30ml
5.45 – 60
8.10 – 110ml
10.30 – 0
11.45 – 0
4.40am – 0
Total supplemental formula – 440ml. That’s actually better than what I thought! The back of our formula box indicates that a baby around his weight would be taking about 900-1000ml a day, so it’s pretty good if 50% is from me.
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| A contented little boy |
