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the next stepSubmitted by huck on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 2:11am.
hey mamas, i am hoping you can hold my hand and walk me through this. i need to get ready to bottle feed my babe. here's the story: i went back to work (waitressing) when my little girl was only 2 weeks old. i'll tell you, i didnt do it for my health. our financial situation is so very tight, it was just a necessity. i didnt want to go back to work but i was grateful that i had a place where i could work with my baby girl and a place that i was happy to be at. i waitress with tilly in the sling. customers are totally enchanted by her. she is comfy, happy and healthy close to me, and i let friends hold her when she is happy to be held. well last night my boss told me it is time for tilly to graduate out of the sling. some customer (laywer) freaked him out at the end of the night when he stressed that having a baby in the dining room is a liability.... this point is silly, but i understand that people are strange, that this is by nature, a temporary solution, that i am not 100% waitress when i am working with her in the sling. my boss is happy to have her in the resturant provided somebody can hold her while i work. so there are a handful of people who would be happy to hold her. it is difficult for me to coordinate yet, one more element to our lives, but i'm a mother, thats what i do. i could leave her at home, but i think my husband is not quite ready to have all 3 girls solo. once tilly is a bit older he will be able to manage, but right now i would rather avoid that pressure. back to the bottle debate... there will be one, maybe two times during a shift when tilly will want to eat. i was never very successful pumping before. it was incredibly stressful with very little return. this time around i definetly do not have the time or space to pump. so for those one or two bottles, 2 or 3 nights a week, i think i need to bottle feed tilly. i wish there was another way, but i am trying to not have this become a stressor. i am trying to roll with it gracefully. she will continue being a happy and healthy baby when she receives a couple bottles of formula. so, do any of you mamas have a favorite formula? i am hoping to find something organic. ny favorite bottles? I ordered these last week but they haven't come yet. They are 4oz glass bottles 3 for $9.99 (a good deal compared to what they cost at wh*le foods). I'll let you know if they're any good. http://www.nurturepure.com/ in most parts of the world, it's considered strange to NOT have your infant attatched to your body as you go about your day. it's a shame our culture is so adament about pushing women to give birth and 'get over it'; co-sleeping is 'bad,' breastfeeding is 'gross' and bringing baby to work?? pretty much impossible for almost all new moms! you're very lucky you got to wear tilly while you worked as long as you did, and good for you for breastfeeding her as long as possible! DON'T feel bad about supplementing with formula, though. she's still getting so many benefits from the times she does drink breas milk, and drinking formula won't hurt her. i went back to work when monkeygirl was 6 months old and she fed from breast milk i had pumped and stockpiled.... until the 'stockpile' ran out and i couldn't pump enough to meet her demand! she started having formula while i was working and breastmilk while i was with her. i used earth's best organic and she did really well with it; i never noticed any negative effects. we used avent bottles for a couple months and she started using a sippy when she was 8 months old, so she was never really even a 'bottle baby.' i hope the adjustment goes well for you! I start work in a week and I also really struggle with pumping, so I think we're planning to supplement with formula too. I make my own formula. I already make some for my almost 2yo (yes she still gets a bottle . . .) My sister also used these home made formulas when she adopted her daughter. My biggest concern with pre-made formulas are the additives such as soy (NOT good for babies) and some of the hydrolyzed proteins and refined sugars that I think are hard on the liver and endocrine system. A good way to tell if your baby is assimilating and processing whatever formula you give her is to check the smell of her poop - it shouldn't smell REALLY bad, rancid or be slimy/mucousy (you probably know what I mean . ..) If you prepare the formulas on the link below they will include all of the fats and brain-food they need (like dha). The key ingredients are the oils and the gelatin. I have a great source of raw milk, but even if you don't I think these formulas made with pasteurized milk are better than pre-made formula. As for cost. You do have to buy some expensive ingredients to get started, but my sister figured out that overall, homemade is about 20cents more per 4oz bottle. So if you're just supplementing with the formula, its not too bad. I use all the ingredients in other recipes anyway, and I've been making two batches a week and storing in the fridge. If you have specific questions about ingredients and why, or where to get them pm me. I didn't paste the recipes here because they are long, but here's the link: I think the natural formulas are adequate for younger children, I just think they are not allowed to label themselves that way because of some regulations, but it's up to you what you feel comfortable with. I would go to the website and ask you pediatrician. I would definitely look for a brand with DHA in it. Try pumping first thing when you wake up in the morning, or after you feed her a night, or out of one side when you feed her on the other. Maybe you will have better luck. Pumping is stressful - I did it with both kids. I have an endocrinology test today, and yes, stress supposedly does inhibit prolactin. If you can try as hard as you can to clear you mind, picture yourself breastfeeding. I used to have to do a mini mediation every time I pumped. Good luck, mama. Sunflower the unflower I used glass bottles from evenflo, you can find them online but let me know if you need help finding some. I kinda wish that I had gotten the smaller ones, so I would probably suggest that to you - you don't really need the 8oz ones. As for formula, I use Baby's only organic (we sell it at the co-op), however, it is labeled as a toddler formula and not an infant formula. When I gave up trying to pump when I had thrush, L was 6mo old and I researched the "toddler formula"... and this is what I found on their website: The other thing to think about is that there is bisphenol-A (BPA) in the lining of most cans of baby formula. Baby's only is one of the few that are safe with this. If you go to this site: http://www.naturesone.com/soy-faq.php and click on the link about BPA, it will talk more about it. Hope that helps a bit. I really didn't like giving L formula, but I felt much better with this formula... plus, he still got/gets way more breast milk than that stuff. I'm sure your baby will too so try not to get to worried about it. The way I see it, there are far worse things that could happen to my children than to be fed good organic formula. I am lucky to have the option. Similac is also selling an organic formula as well, fyi... Check out my daily photo journal: and when I was researching it for E I found on their website a chart you could download that compared all the nutrients of Baby's Only with all the other more well-known brands. They met or exceeded all the standards. and it was a little cheaper than the nature's one price.
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but I have to say--what a great name!
Here's my Tilly (the girl, not the cat):
And, in case you haven't heard of them, Tilly and the Wall:
http://www.myspace.com/officialtillyandthewall
www.myspace.com/placentamusic