Formula Feeding from Birth

[robotsvswrestlers]

I just hit 33 weeks pregnant and realized I have to figure out how to feed this baby. I exclusively pumped for the first 4-6 months with my two older kids. By the time my other two kids ran out of breastmilk, I bought basic Similac powder, a Dr. Brown's pitcher to mix, and was good to go with bottles until they hit 1 year old. 

How do you handle the first few weeks? Did you like ready to feed since it was premixed? Little bottles or giant quarts? I should start with basic formula unless baby doesn't tolerate it, right? 

I have a Baby Brezza formula mixer still in the box, but I assume I won't use that until I know what formula baby likes and needs bigger bottles/can buy powder in bulk.

I feel like a first time mom and I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be. Give me all your tips/tricks/lessons learned with a fresh from the womb baby. 

[imapenguin]

We started with the little ready to feed bottles the hospital gave us and then stuck with those until they needed more than one at once. After that we bought powdered...same brand as the hospital for maybe 2 tubs then switched to the generic version.

Mine received formula from birth, but were also breastfed, so we never used enough bottled to get to the big pitcher or baby brezza.

[sudokufan]

We started with the little premixed bottles; they were too much at first, but it was worth the waste to not have to deal with mixing it up during the new born sleepless phase. Once he was a month old and we were more confident in our choice, we switched to powder, and I got one of those mixing pitchers and made up a few bottles before bedtime every night.

Oh, and we fed it either room temp or chilled from the refrigerator so we didn't have to mess about with warming it.

[magalicious]

I didn't use the ready to feed because it was way more expensive. But, didn't have older kids to take care of as well.

We filled bottles with water for overnight feeds and mixed them as needed.

Target brand formula was cheaper and he did well on it

[trueblue]

We started with premade and when we ran out of the freebies I just filled up 2 of those travel powdered formula dispensers with the right amount of formula. At night I would prefill the anticipated number of bottles with the right amount of water so there was no thinking involved at 2 am.

[icedcoffee]

Yes, the little pre-made bottles from the hospital until they were drinking more than 1-2 ounces at each feeding. My first two were fine staying on the formula from the hospital, but my 3rd we had to switch to Nutramigen ($$ ugh). So definitely don't buy until you see what they can handle.

I never did the premixed once they drank more each feeding because it was more expensive. I would fill a couple bottles at night with the water I needed to mix and then keep in my room with the formula canister. So just woke up, dumped in the powder and was ready to go.

I also always did room temp when possible so I never had to deal with heating up bottles

[STP]

I EFF both of mine.

I just made up pitchers in the Dr. Brown pitcher and kept them in the fridge. Mine didn't mind it right out of there, but you can nuke it real quick (it's only BM you're not supposed to microwave for some...reason that I think isn't totally legit but whatever).

Little bottles and big, depended on when they needed to feed (DD was a cluster eater, so we did lots of small ones or else she overate and spit up. DS was better at regulating himself, so we did the bigger bottles half full in the beginning and he would stop when he was full).

I'll tell you this, sincerely. There are many things I wonder about in my choices, as I think a lot of parents feel on some level. Formula feeding isn't one of them - I loved it. I loved it so much. I loved rocking my babies, and singing to them while we locked eyes and they had their bottles, I loved watching their Daddy feed them. I loved equally splitting the night shift and getting rest. I loved getting my body back to myself after two very hard, close pregnancies (and a lot that went before).

Don't overthink it. The baby does most of the work. You'll be fine.

[STP]

DD was on Similac Sensitive.

DS couldn't do that one, we switched to Enfamil, whatever the gentle one is. He did very well on that.

[Dr. Cox]

Apr 12, 2021 16:55:17 GMT -6 magalicious said:

I didn't use the ready to feed because it was way more expensive. But, didn't have older kids to take care of as well.

We filled bottles with water for overnight feeds and mixed them as needed.

Target brand formula was cheaper and he did well on it

Same for both kids. Love the up and up formula.

[sunnysideup]

Apr 12, 2021 16:56:22 GMT -6 trueblue said:

We started with premade and when we ran out of the freebies I just filled up 2 of those travel powdered formula dispensers with the right amount of formula. At night I would prefill the anticipated number of bottles with the right amount of water so there was no thinking involved at 2 am.

I did this too. Made it so easy. I didn’t even have to get out of bed to make the bottle. I just had everything on my nightstand ready to go.

[cmb]

I formula fed all my kids from birth. I told them in the hospital upon admission so they knew. They brought me those 2 oz ready to feed bottles. At home, i used powder and the pitcher. They took their bottles right from the fridge. That’s where my similarities with all my kids ended. Make sure you sign up for samples, if that is still a thing.

I bought a baby brezza for DS1, but we never used it and I returned it. Formula is good in the fridge for 24 hours, so we would prep the bottles and store them in the fridge each day. My biggest advice is don’t get hung up on a specific formula and be ready to advocate when it causes problems or you think there is something wrong. None of my kids ultimately ended up on the basic regular formula. Plenty of babies do just fine on infant or store brand formulas

For DS1, he was given enfamil in the hospital, he tolerated regular enfamil well except for getting super gassy around the 1-2 month mark. We switched him to gentlease around 2 months, and he was fine. We mostly used the powder, but I kept ready to feed on hand for when I was out and about and for daycare in case a bottle spilled

- DS2 and DD were born at the same hospital, different from DS1. Their stories are not the norm

DS2 started on similiac in the hospital. We got home and moved in enfamil, which is what we had from our samples and the brand our pediatrician prefers. At 10 weeks, after trying combos of regular enfamil, gentlease and reflux enfamil, he was ended up on Nutramigen. It made him super gassy, so we changed to Alimentum and he was fine after that.

DD was also started on similiac at the hospital, but she was diagnosed with a potential milk allergy after regurgitating every bottle. She was on alimentum by the 24 hour mark. Our pediatrician moved her to Nutramigen at our appointment the day after discharge because of the studies showing babies on that one have a chance of outgrowing milk intolerance (narrator: it did not work). She has a diagnosed milk protein allergy, and she had severe reflux while on the nutramigen that we managed with prilosec.

[mintyblueair]

All 3 of my kids were formula fed from birth. I have absolutely loved everything about formula feeding.

We start with ready to feed formula simply because it's easiest. After a few weeks we switch to concentrated liquid and mix it in a pitcher. Then at around 4 months we switch to powder. I still mix a big pitcher of powdered formula every day and I microwave bottles to just slightly warmer than room temp.

I've used pretty much all brands, including generic, and my kids have done well on all of them.

[AnnPerkins]

Pro-Tip: Apparently the nurse will get mad at you if you let your baby down a full 2oz premade bottle only an hour or two after birth.

BUT SHE'S THE ONE WHO WANTED IT AND WAS TOTALLY COOL AFTER. MY KID JUST LIKES FOOD.

Other than that, I highly encourage getting them used to room temp or cold bottles. To reduce the amount of time I had to get out of bed at night, I would fill bottles with the amount of water I would need to mix with the powder. I had a little travel formula dispenser that I would measure the powder into and just dump that into each bottle as needed. I set them on the side table until morning.

[coolbeans]

This is all great advice. I will echo the using of the little Tupperware container with the different compartments for easy feeding on the go. I never warmed my kids’ bottles because a) time and b) I didn’t want them refusing cold or room temp bottles. We used the ready to feed bottles in the hospital but switched to Kirkland powder once home.

Finding the right bottles was the bigger pain, and I also recommend a good drying rack. I think we used the Boon.

[Tlex]

I started with ready to feed in the premade bottles, then moved to ready to feed in the jug containers. When I felt like my wallet couldn’t take anymore we transitioned to the brezza by mixing ready to feed with the smallest 2oz bottle size the brezza does. He took a while to adjust to the powdered mix but overall it worked well. The brezza is my best friend for life and I’m pretty sure my son and I both have a Pavlovian dopamine response from the whirring motor sound it makes still. We stopped using it around when he was 14 months old.

[Deleted]

I was just doing old fashioned mix for each bottle straight out of the hospital and then I got the brezza once we knew for certain we were EFF and that was after 2 weeks I think and loved it and worshipped it since.

[AnnPerkins]

My babies only drank the finest sensitive generic formula from Walmart after our free stash ran out.

[Deleted]

Apr 12, 2021 17:06:55 GMT -6 AnnPerkins said:

Pro-Tip: Apparently the nurse will get mad at you if you let your baby down a full 2oz premade bottle only an hour or two after birth.

BUT SHE'S THE ONE WHO WANTED IT AND WAS TOTALLY COOL AFTER. MY KID JUST LIKES FOOD.

Other than that, I highly encourage getting them used to room temp or cold bottles. To reduce the amount of time I had to get out of bed at night, I would fill bottles with the amount of water I would need to mix with the powder. I had a little travel formula dispenser that I would measure the powder into and just dump that into each bottle as needed. I set them on the side table until morning.

The nurse told me to stop feeding DD after a certain oz even though she was still eating and I thought it was weird that we were dictating FF babies eating but not BF.

[wineallthetime]

Apr 12, 2021 16:55:17 GMT -6 magalicious said:

I didn't use the ready to feed because it was way more expensive. But, didn't have older kids to take care of as well.

We filled bottles with water for overnight feeds and mixed them as needed.

Target brand formula was cheaper and he did well on it

Pretty much all of this. I saved the ready to feed little bottles the hospital gave us for nighttime until we ran out. Other than that just filled bottles with water so they were room temp and we just had to scoop formula in and shake. I used the Target brand "gentle" formula for all three of my kids. Bonus, I'd order in bulk and twice I got sent 6 extra tubs of it and Target said I could keep it!

[mb3]

Ready to feeds and then actually used small volu feed bottles (like you’d attach to a breast pump) until they were big enough for regular bottles. We didn’t use the Dr Browns pitcher but a regular Rubbermaid one. We’d mix up a pitcher every night.

[cribs]

Apr 12, 2021 17:06:55 GMT -6 AnnPerkins said:

Pro-Tip: Apparently the nurse will get mad at you if you let your baby down a full 2oz premade bottle only an hour or two after birth.

BUT SHE'S THE ONE WHO WANTED IT AND WAS TOTALLY COOL AFTER. MY KID JUST LIKES FOOD.

Other than that, I highly encourage getting them used to room temp or cold bottles. To reduce the amount of time I had to get out of bed at night, I would fill bottles with the amount of water I would need to mix with the powder. I had a little travel formula dispenser that I would measure the powder into and just dump that into each bottle as needed. I set them on the side table until morning.

Cold bottles are key. The twins were in the NICU so they were the only ones that knew bottles could be warm lol

[zoeylucy]

I didn’t start formula until I went back to work at 10 weeks and my supply couldn’t keep up with demand, but I used the kroger version of similac with no problem. I would pre-fill bottles with water and pre portion powder in those chambered containers with the spout. He never had a problem drinking room temp formula.

[cmb]

Apr 12, 2021 16:57:08 GMT -6 STP said:

I'll tell you this, sincerely. There are many things I wonder about in my choices, as I think a lot of parents feel on some level. Formula feeding isn't one of them - I loved it. I loved it so much. I loved rocking my babies, and singing to them while we locked eyes and they had their bottles, I loved watching their Daddy feed them. I loved equally splitting the night shift and getting rest. I loved getting my body back to myself after two very hard, close pregnancies (and a lot that went before).

Don't overthink it. The baby does most of the work. You'll be fine.

I feel this so hard and agree 100 percent. I questioned a lot of things. This was not one. This was the one thing that was right for us.

[Diordra]

Talk to your OB also, the offices still get lots and lots of samples from the formula companies and they usually have excess in their storage closets.

[coffeecake]

I started formula feeding a few days in with my first. The first days of her life were spent with me sobbing and consulting with a lactation consultant because the baby just would not nurse. Once I decided to try formula life got so much better. We did Target brand sensitive formula and used the Dr. Brown’s pitcher to mix enough for the day. I never warmed them, just room temperature or cold (my mom thought it was terrible, but baby was fine). When we went out I used one of those little divided containers they held enough for about 4 bottles and stuck a bottle of water in the diaper bag.

My second child took to nursing very easily, but we supplemented with formula because I hate pumping. I love formula. Both of my kids are just fine years later. Incidentally, the one was who was mostly breastfed was sicker as a baby and toddler than my kid who just has formula.

[sheilathetank]

We had issues with nipple sizes. DS had such a strong suck that he would overflow his mouth, faster than he could swallow, and formula would get everywhere. We ended up using the size 0 nipples from Avent. They are super low flow and worked great. No messy dribbling.

Also ask for extra samples at the hospital. The nurses gave us several packs of the pre-made to get us started so we didn't have to stop at a store with a newborn during covid.


Eta: if we didn't have formula checks from Similac, I'd buy the giant generic can from Walmart. It was only $20 and lasted the whole week when DS was eating 40oz a day.

[goldenbird]

Sign up for the samples through similac and enfamil!
Use all the little nursers from the hospital first.
We prefilled water in bottles and set them out in the half dozen for awhile. If you make a pitcher of forumla you won't need to do that.
DS never took a cold bottle, much to my dismay.
He was on similac pro sensitive from 6 or 8 weeks and I never got brave enough to try to switch to generic.
Prepare to run the dishwasher daily or possibly twice a day.

[STP]

Apr 12, 2021 17:06:55 GMT -6 AnnPerkins said:

Pro-Tip: Apparently the nurse will get mad at you if you let your baby down a full 2oz premade bottle only an hour or two after birth.

BUT SHE'S THE ONE WHO WANTED IT AND WAS TOTALLY COOL AFTER. MY KID JUST LIKES FOOD.

Other than that, I highly encourage getting them used to room temp or cold bottles. To reduce the amount of time I had to get out of bed at night, I would fill bottles with the amount of water I would need to mix with the powder. I had a little travel formula dispenser that I would measure the powder into and just dump that into each bottle as needed. I set them on the side table until morning.

Oh I had a bitch pedi tell me I was “over feeding” her even though she was happy and content. And gave me a schedule, after I stopped sobbing.

So I starved my baby the first night home until DH called my mom, who came over at 3 am, fed her, and said - and I quote - “fuck that bitch, if I ever see her she’ll be sorry.”

My mom thinks crap is a bad word btw.

From then on, I fed her when she needed it. Which was like, all the time lol. Kid never dropped birth weight and hasn’t been lower than 99th percentile.

It’s been almost 10 yrs I’m totally over it.

::: grrrrrrr ::::

[robotsvswrestlers]

Thanks everyone. I feel really good about our decision to formula feed. The thought of trying to breastfeed or pump again just sounds exhausting. It’s definitely going to be the right choice for this baby.

Need to update my bottles and get some more accessories. I’ll start looking into formulas and see what the pediatrician/hospital plans to give us.

Mostly I think I need to just release and accept that I’ll have to kind of figure it out once she gets here. And pray that’s she takes the easiest/cheapest formula possible.

[cribs]

Apr 12, 2021 17:45:31 GMT -6 robotsvswrestlers said:

Thanks everyone. I feel really good about our decision to formula feed. The thought of trying to breastfeed or pump again just sounds exhausting. It’s definitely going to be the right choice for this baby.

Need to update my bottles and get some more accessories. I’ll start looking into formulas and see what the pediatrician/hospital plans to give us.

Mostly I think I need to just release and accept that I’ll have to kind of figure it out once she gets here. And pray that’s she takes the easiest/cheapest formula possible.

If your older two took the easy formula your third will probably too. The sensitivity stuff runs in families so I wouldn't stress too much about the Nutramigen etc.