[name_f]Happy[/name_f] holidays mommas. I have a question: do you have recommendations for formula that tastes decent enough for an EBF baby to take? My 12 week old son is a good little eater but is outpacing my supply and has polished off the last of my frozen milk stash from when I was on maternity leave. We’re probably going to need to supplement with about 4 oz of foumula per day. We attempted to feed him the premixed Enfamil Gentlease last night and he gagged on it several times. What other formula brand do you recommend we attempt to introduce? Does the powdered stuff taste better than the pre mixed? Can we mix breastmilk and formula in the same bottle to disguise the formula or do they have to be given separately? Thank you!
PS Please don’t give recommendations on how to increase my supply. If I pumped every 2 hours around the clock I could keep up but with my full time job that is just not possible, plus I’m not interested in getting up that often at night. Working mama needs her sleep to function.
I don’t know if the powdered tastes better or not. We only used powdered with our older son. I can’t say if there is one that tastes better, babies are all picky in different ways.
I remember target had a bunch of different types in their generic brand. So you could try the target imitation of Enfamil, similac, etc. It was about half the price of the name brands. This is a cheaper way to experiment at least!
You could also try to get samples from the companies. I would just call up the various manufacturers, explain the situation, and ask for samples. They would probably be thrilled to send them.
I think that you can mix breastmilk and formula, yes. But of course check with your doctor. Ok- obviously don’t mix the formula powder with the breastmilk. Mix up the formula separately and then put like 1oz formula to 3oz breastmilk, then increase the formula ratio until he is tolerating an entire formula bottle.
I’d advise asking around for samples (via friends, your OB etc) and checking places like VarageSale for samples up for trade. I don’t know that there’s any one formula that tastes ‘better’ than others, babes who are used to one thing (like breast milk) typically will turn their noses up when offered the other so it may take some time for him to get used to formula. I do find that GoodStart has a less strong smell than Enfamil does, so maybe try that if you can get your hands on a sample? Nestle sends out samples but it may take a while to get to you unfortunately.
I second @tarynkay’s recommendation of mixing a small amount for formula into EBM and slowly increasing the amount of formula and decreasing the EBM in the bottle if that’s an option for you at this point with your supply.
Also, if at all possible, have someone else feed him the bottle while you are not in the room as he may fuss/refuse the formula more if he can smell you and your milk nearby at first!
Oh yeah I didn’t mean mix powdered milk with breastmilk instead of water! I meant mixing it with premixed formula or the powdered stuff AFTER the water has been added.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] to update, we tried Similac Advanced which he took with no problem. Yay! I didn’t try the Similac myself but DH says it just tastes like cardboard, whereas the Enfamil Gentlease was bitterly NASTY tasting.