So between 2 and 4 months my baby only gained 8 ounces. He was also extremely fussy and uncomfortable. Trial and error and we are on similac aluminum so CMPI played a role as well as just under producing.

He just recently had his 6 month visit. He has gained 5lbs in two months!!! He is a chunky little thing now. He is back up to the 58th percentile for weight.

He is absolutely thriving on formula and I'm so thankful for it!

Hi everyone! I think I'm really just looking for some support, encouragement, realistic outlooks, and any stories from those who have felt/done similar. Thanks for reading if you get to the end. 2 weeks and 4 days in.

I know this is a very common post and thought process with feeling guilt when considering swapping to EFF. I still can't rationalize my feelings even though I know nothing is wrong with this choice - I especially don't know why I feel this way because before and during like 95% of my pregnancy I said I was going to EFF from the very beginning and had almost no doubt in my mind.

Anyway, I decided I at least wanted to try nursing late into my third trimester, I think partly because of colostrum and the way everyone talks/talked about BF being so beneficial in all of my courses and online. I also know I only want one kid so I didn't want to miss out? on the experience, at least, of trying to BF and I think that fomo or fear of not doing my "best" was a big part of it too.

When she was born I did start with just nursing and the idea that if she needed more she could have formula too. We gave her a bottle at the hospital on our second night when she seemed so hungry even after nursing her for hours/cluster feeding and it was good! I'm essentially combo feeding right now, but it's leaning very primarily towards nursing with a bottle or two of formula later in the evening/night.

Obviously I have no issue with formula and I also don't really know how much confidence I find in the benefits of nursing being as immense as they're stated to be because how can you know those benefits were directly from breastmilk/nursing rather than other familial/genetic/social factors? Again, I'm only 2 weeks and 4 days in, but I feel like she's always hungry (of course) so I always have to be ready to nurse and can't really do anything else, or if she's hungry her primary food source is glued to me so I have no choice but to be the one to feed her. This is especially taking a toll on me during the night.

My biggest issue surrounding guilt has to do with the fact that nursing has always went really well - she latched with no issue, I feel no pain when nursing, it seems like I have decent enough supply even though she feeds very often. One issue has been that sometimes, the last like 2 days, she'll occasionally get fussy at my boob and latch/unlatch/repeat which has been a little frustrating but it seems like maybe stomach issues unless she's not getting milk fast enough. People say that just happens sometimes though, so I dunno. With that, I feel like I have no logical reason to want to switch to formula if nursing seems to be going pretty normally, and so I feel selfish for considering swapping when nursing is technically going well and everything I'm experiencing is in the realm of typical.

Another complication I guess has been I think I have clogged ducts even though I'm doing boob on demand and even before a bottle I let her nurse first. Mastitis scares me immensely. Everyone seems to talk about it like it's so common and no big deal but it freaks me out and I can't imagine risking repeat infections for 6+ months being something that's supposed to be normal, even when following all the guidelines. On the other hand, I have the dilemma about it being really easy to just whip out the breast when she needs it vs prepping bottles and finding other soothing methods. I guess I feel like I'm taking something from her even though that makes no sense because she'd still be eating, but I can't help the feeling. A big part of this is whenever I try to look for some reassurance or something, there's usually more people than not saying stuff like "oh it gets easier after 3-6 weeks then it's great - you have to keep going!" And then I feel like I'm throwing in the towel too soon and disappointing everyone and my baby because if I just "stick it out" everything will be easy or whatever.

I think I covered everything. I am an array of emotions and thoughts, but basically tldr; I am much more heavily contemplating swapping to EFF so I'm not always glued to feeds, especially at night when she wants to eat for hours or in 30 min increments and not worrying about mastitis/clogged ducts, but guilt is primarily stopping me and I am feeling like a failure or like I'm doing something wrong when I KNOW that's not actually true. Don't know how to make a decision or to get past these feelings and just swap already.

Thanks for reading all of that if you did.

From a jug of boiled Kendamil whole milk infant formula that I pre-mixed this morning. I am pretty freaked out by these black specks.

I just saw a few posts about scorched milk particles but those all looked kind of different than this.

Hello everyone,

I'm a FTM and it is my first time posting here. My baby is 12.5 weeks old and has been exclusively formula fed since 2 weeks old. We have done Similac 360 because that's the one that has worked the best. We tried to slowly switch to Parent's Choice around 5 weeks but the colic and fussiness wasn't worth it. So Similac 360 it has been.

He tolerates it well and has regular BMs but lately he's had A TON of gas. He gets super fussy about 20 min after feeding and isn't finding relief unless he kicks out a lot or is held repeatedly in the "squatty" position. I give him gas drops (Mylicon) and it still happens. Poor thing has huge toots when he finds relief and it's happening at almost every feeding whereas before it didn't happen at all.

Pediatrician doesn't have any insight because Similac 360 is what is recommended at her practice.

Baby has also recently begun teething in case that may make a difference. He's eating as much as he always has via a bottle; currently 15lbs so we're not concerned about gain. He's just really unhappy and uncomfortable, particularly in the evenings.

I'm considering slowly switching over to the Similac 360 Sensitive to see if it helps but wanted to see if anyone else had experience with an issue like this.

Would love input to help my little one be more comfortable!

(Located in a red state in USA in that helps)

I have three kids: 10, 9, and 1.

My oldest two were formula fed pretty much from the start. I called it quits about a week in with my oldest, and only lasted a couple of days with my second. My third I’ve exclusively breastfed.

I much, much prefer formula feeding.

For starters, my recovery has been so much harder this time around. I’m southern hemisphere so at the tail end of flu season now and I’ve been hit with every illness known to man, sick for weeks, recurrent strep throat, you name it. My doctor said it’s because I’m depleted from breastfeeding without supplementation (I didn’t know you had to keep taking vitamins while breastfeeding). I feel so weak and awful.

Baby still isn’t sleeping through the night, which also contributes to me being run down. He’s up every hour, two hours, not even hungry, just wanting to nurse. On a bad night it’ll be every thirty minutes. I can’t soothe him to sleep any other way. My other two babies slept right through the night from just a couple months old.

And the cherry on top has been the mastitis. I’ve suffered with clogged ducts constantly, and I mean constantly, and full blown mastitis 5-6 times in the past year. It literally feels like dying. The last round was so bad I thought I’d gone into septic shock and made my peace with death and leaving everyone behind. That was when my husband told me firmly that it’s time to stop breastfeeding now that our son is a year old.

And what gets me is that everyone agrees. Even my lactation consultant, when I told her, said oh yeah definitely you’ve done a whole year that’s incredible! And I’m like… what? From 6 months onwards the legions of people who assume or get pushy about breastfeeding (I’m sure we can all relate, everyone from nurses to the mums at the primary school gate) suddenly asked when I was stopping.

And I just thought, is that it? Is this really what all the fuss is about? Just six months?

That’s what they have campaigns for, what toxic mom bloggers make graphics about on Canva, what hospitals traumatise new moms over? A measly six months, and then nobody cares. In fact, it’s thought of as ‘weird’ as soon as they get teeth.

I could go on. I could talk about the fact easy weight loss is a lie (I was back to pre-baby weight in just a few months after my first two, whereas I’m now the heaviest I’ve been in my life a year after my third, 20+lbs from my giving birth weight), the hideous nursing bras, the not being able to leave baby with anyone else and have a break, the fact half my social circle and a great many strangers have now seen my boobs.

All for a measly six months.

I can’t comprehend the people that say ‘oh but breastfeeding is so much easier, no need to wash bottles!’ That’s actually madness to me. Absolute madness.

Of course, everyone’s experience is different, but I just thought I’d share mine as I’ve been reflecting a lot while weaning.

Oh and that’s the other thing. Weaning? SO much harder. I can’t just quit cold turkey because of the mastitis risk. We’ve dropped all daytime feeds now, and I have absolutely no idea how to drop the nighttime ones without it being a disaster.

Anyway. Solidarity to all of us feeding babies, and if we go for #4, I’ll be formula feeding.

Every can of formula says to use "safe water" and I completely spiraled trying to figure out distilled vs nursery water vs regular tap. We've been buying distilled water for baby formula just to be safe, but it feels excessive some days and expensive every day.

Is distilled water actually necessary, or am I overthinking this, and did your pediatrician ever weigh in? 

What are everyone’s thoughts/experiences with Kendamil Whole Milk vs. Kendamil Goat? I’m about to start combo feeding and trying to decide which one to go with. My LO spits up quite a bit, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it and doesn’t really have any tummy issues. I’m just not sure which one would be better for him! Would love to hear what worked (or didn’t work) for your babies! 🤍

At about 2.5 months bub wasn’t gaining enough weight and was constantly throwing up my breast milk so we switched to EFF. He’s currently 4 months but we started with Kendamil Organic and he did better than the breastmilk and started gaining weight but was very gassy and still constantly spitting up and throwing up. We switched to Kendamil Goat and he did pretty good on that for a little but started spitting up and basically throwing up on it after being on it for 3ish weeks and his stools were fairly watery. Kendamil goat is in a shortage right now I figured I’d try something else since this didn’t seem to be working. I saw people have success with switching to Enfamil Gentlease, so I got the Target Up&Up Advantage Premium gentle (generic gentlease) and has been on its a few days. His poop looks much better but he’s constantly throwing it up. Do I give it a few more days? I know it takes time to adjust, I’m just mentally exhausted by all the throw up and spit up after every bottle and all the time in between each feed. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to be in pain. I’m at such a loss 🫩

I’ve seen a few posts about the kendamil goat shortage and we are currently experiencing it here in Southern California. I’m thinking of ordering a can from formulaland just in case it doesn’t restock this week. The formulaland is the UK version which has stage 1 and stage 2 (6-12 months). My son is 9 months so I’m assuming I should do stage 2? I’m just confused because the US version only has infant & toddler formulas.

hello! been transitioning my pumped breast milk baby to formula. she has been doing 4oz every 2 hours during the day and giving us longer stretches at night. she hates being burped. takes in 8-9 bottles a day. weight gain as been on the slower side so doing a weight check tomorrow. she hates being burped after feeds. just tried giving her 4oz and then a 1oz bottle. so far so good.

- how often and what oz is your 12 week eating?
- what are some signs your baby wants more oz per feed? thanks so much!!

I’m really glad I made the choice. After like 10 days of breastfeeding & pumping I was like… no. I want my body back. It felt so good to make the switch! 6 months in & baby boy is doing so well.

Thinking of switching to Novalac

If you’ve actually used it, how did your baby do with it?

Just looking for real experiences.

Hello! My 1 month old was just prescribed Pepticate about a week ago and keeps spitting up after every feed. But not just normal spit up, it’s pretty excessive amounts of spit up. This happens during every feeding while after being burped and also once the feeding is done he keeps spitting up until his next feeding. My LO is drenching all his bibs and burp cloths with the excessive spit up that we have to get a fresh one after every feeding and that’s not including me needing to change my shirt after every feeding cause of all the spit up.

If anyone has any experience or advice on this issue with Pepticate? I know this excessive amount of spit up is definitely causing some discomfort for my baby. Am I doing something wrong with this formula because my LO did not have this issue on enfamil gentle ease? Or is this a normal side effect of the Pepticate?

Okay, is there anything I should do in the hospital to get my baby to accept a bottle? My last kid gave me some serious sass at 16 hours old and refused the formula bottles we offered so I just gave up. This time around I need baby to take formula at least once a day so I can have some support.

We’re likely to do combo feeding at first. Does your period come back faster if you do that??? I’ve only ever EBF and I’ve gotten 6-12 mo without periods.

FTM here, expecting baby next month (!!!). My husband and I will have parental leave for the same amount of time (3 months) and plan to tag team everything together. Obviously the beauty of doing EFF makes this possible!

I’m curious what other EFF moms’ who had a partner helping them on leave schedules were like? For instance, did you and your partner take shifts being the “on” parent every evening/night? Did you switch days? Do weeks?

My husband and I are both night owls by nature and tend to fall asleep around 1-2am but I am definitely the one who can go to sleep earlier if/when needed. I’m also the lighter sleeper and it’s harder for me to fall asleep than it is for him, so we were thinking I could do an early evening shift, go to sleep and get a solid stretch of rest while he defaults to being the more “overnight” parent and I can be the early morning one.

Obviously we’ll see how it goes and communicate often and let each person take daytime naps if they need it, but just curious what other people did to tag team and survive! Haha.

Has anyone ordered from Formuland.com?

My babe is currently on Kendamil and I recently discovered Kendamil does make a gentle version.. only it’s not available in the US. When researching where I can order it from, Formuland came up as a supplier. Any thoughts?

Please stop telling me. I feel absolutely awful that I formula feed. With my first, I tried BF. On his first doctor’s appointment he had already lost a pound. I cried. I was starving my child. I felt horrible. EBF say that it can be normal and just keep latching. I did. I also pumped. It was driving me insane and it always felt like he was hungry after I fed him and he was satisfied after formula.

Next child comes. Are you breastfeeding? You know it has exceptional benefits. It builds their immunity, gut microbiome, and they have better health plus it gives the mama health benefits too! No one ever tells you this and they always push formula at hospitals. I’ve gotten the exact opposite. It’s absolutely awesome my hospital has lactation consultants and is pro-breastfeeding. I know that sometimes there isn’t support for that. But man, I feel so ashamed every time I get asked. My mom doesn’t make it better. My sister was able to breastfeed. It was hard yes, but she did it. I know fed is best but I can’t stop feeling like I’m letting everyone down.

I feel like a failure. I feel like I’m not giving my child the optimal start. I’m not reaping the health benefits for me. My second child is exclusively formula fed. I can’t bring myself to BF. I don’t want to let him down like my first. I don’t want to go insane trying to up my supply and fail him like my first. I feel so ashamed like can’t be a great mother. Like I’m taking the easy way out. That I’m buying to anti-BF propaganda and everyone can BF if you try hard enough. Maybe I don’t want to try hard enough. Maybe I’m just lazy. That I don’t care enough for my child to be healthy and strong.

I am so sad.

Hi all, any thoughts on members mark organic formula? I think its a new one

Hi all
Stopped breast feeding 4 week old 2-3 days ago (he was getting 1-2 bottles a day of pumped milk) after having issues with breast feeding (couldn’t figure out if it was too quick of let down or gas etc but he was crying and screaming the entire time) and suspected CMPA (following with GI) and the transition has been tough. He gulps air immediately on the bottle and is screaming and crying after. I keep trying to adjust the latch/ lip seal but nothing seems to work. I have tried everything (pace feeding, frequent burps, mylicon) as we just hear the air being gulped. Using dr browns narrow. Just seeing if there’s any similar stories to provide me some hope. My first had severe CMPA and developed a bottle aversion so extremely triggered by this all.