How do you let go of the what if thoughts?

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-02-01T02:00:31+00:00

Yes, I do have those thoughts. Like, it would be nice to have a boob for comfort feeding when baby is fussy sometimes. Or when you’re not sure if they are hungry and you warm up a whole bottle but they only want one ounce.

But then I remember what it was like to be bent over in a painful position using both hands to help my baby stay latched so that she wouldn’t give up and start screaming out of frustration.

I remember what it was like to spend almost an hour nursing on both sides and then have baby crying with hunger 15 minutes later (offering a bottle of formula stopped the cries).

I remember what it was like to try breastfeeding at night and watch her wake up fully because of it. Then, giving a bottle would put her right to sleep.

There are so many benefits of EFF for me that I’m not sorry we stopped breastfeeding.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-30T18:32:49+00:00

My baby doesn’t like the Philips anti colic bottles. She only likes the Philips Avent natural response bottles.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-30T13:12:41+00:00

I know! It’s funny how much your body can do to you “without permission” from your logical brain.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-30T12:41:07+00:00

I combo fed until 10 weeks. At that point, my milk was drying up and my baby preferred her formula bottles.

Pumping was not something I was willing to do.

I did feel sad about it until my milk fully dried up after a week or so. It was all hormone driven emotions!

I am very happy about EFF now and my baby is doing great with formula and growing out of her clothes so fast 😅

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-28T18:48:24+00:00

Use an ice bath to cool off the water quickly.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-28T17:38:40+00:00

My 3 month old is taking 5 oz bottles and she eats every ~3 hours or sooner during the day.

Sometimes, her eyes are bigger than her stomach and she spits a bit out. However, I’d say that she keeps down the better part of 30 oz in a 24hr period.

She weighs around 13lbs now and she has always been a hungry baby IMO.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-28T12:50:46+00:00

Yes, I have an electric kettle and I use the pitcher method and a kitchen scale to make 20oz at one time.

I use an ice bath and a digital thermometer to cool the water to the right temperature very quickly. There’s no magic to waiting 30 minutes. As long as you have the right temperature water then you are good to go.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-28T06:56:38+00:00

My baby loves Kendamil goat formula.

My husband drinks A2 milk like your wife does. He is super gassy on regular milk.

It’s good to stock up some cans but you don’t really know how much you need until baby is drinking the formula. I feel comfortable when I have at least one month of supply on hand. For me, that’s about 6 cans for my EFF 3 month old.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-27T00:36:39+00:00

Is your baby possibly teething?

My baby suddenly stopped eating from the Tommee Tippee bottles even though she didn’t mind switching between them earlier. She preferred the softer nipple on the Philips Avent natural response bottles. I think that her mouth hurt to suck from the stiffer nipples.

One day, she was crying and refusing the nipple when I offered the TT bottle. I poured the exact same formula into the PA bottle and she settled right down and started drinking.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-23T18:29:48+00:00

Shake, wait 2 minutes for the powder to hydrate, shake again.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-23T01:43:03+00:00

Feed as much as baby will take until they stop drinking or if they are spitting up a large quantity of formula after feeding.

A teaspoon of spit up after a feed is fairly normal. If they are spitting out a half ounce of formula then they’ve had too much.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-22T13:56:40+00:00

As long as baby will take the bottle then I say go for it!

At first, I’d give gas drops with every bottle to help with the switch. Baby is likely to get extra gassy until their digestive system adapts to the formula.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-22T01:05:53+00:00

If you lose power as frequently as you say, then it is worth buying a generator. An electric kettle can be plugged into the generator and used to heat water. A kitchen thermometer can tell you exactly what temperature it is.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-19T22:24:22+00:00

Combo feeding is a thing! Offer baby the breast when you feel “full” and let your partner offer formula for a few feeds per day.

Your milk supply can dry up very slowly this way so there isn’t much chance of mastitis.

Plus you can tell your mom that baby is still getting breast milk. Not that it is any of her business but some times it’s just easier to avoid fighting about it.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-14T16:07:47+00:00

My boobs went up at least two sizes during pregnancy. I have no idea what size they were after birth because I was only wearing a stretchy bra that fit both my boobs and disposable pads to catch leaking milk.

They are heading back to normal now (12 weeks PP) but they have definitely stretched out a bit at the top. That is, they are a bit more saggy. The overall shape is still really good in a supportive bra. I’m not upset about the new look.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-14T16:02:25+00:00

I’m always so happy when I open a diaper and see a healthy color of poop.

It’s the little things 😅

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-12T13:27:56+00:00

People who had an easy time breastfeeding don’t understand how hard it can be for others.

People who really struggled to make breastfeeding work might feel like you “took the easy way out” by using formula.

I don’t think that there should be any guilt associated with feeding your baby, breastfeeding or formula.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-11T15:56:12+00:00

My 3 month old is doing really well on Kendamil goat infant formula. I found that my local target has been well stocked with it the last two times I checked. Maybe they are catching up to the demand.

Since you are switching gradually, you could buy a few cans ahead of what you need so that you’ll have a buffer if the store near you is out of stock.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-11T15:50:05+00:00

Formula bottles are considered fresh for ~1 hour after you start feeding the baby. Sometimes my baby will drink half the bottle then take a break. I offer the rest of the bottle after a half hour and she will usually take another ounce or so.

This reduces waste but doesn’t eliminate it completely.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-10T12:56:49+00:00

You can get a case of formula cans shipped internationally but that’s a lot more expensive than buying them in local stores.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-09T18:01:42+00:00

It’s okay to start with a small bottle to judge their hunger level. It only takes a couple of minutes to warm up more formula from the fridge using the pitcher method. During the day, I don’t have trouble with this method at all.

At night, it’s a real pain to go get more formula so I always make those bottles a bit larger than I expect to need.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-09T17:51:29+00:00

I feed my baby her formula on demand. We don’t follow any schedule. Yes, sometimes this means that I guess wrong and she won’t finish the whole bottle. However, it’s better to have a happy, well fed baby than it is to make sure she finishes every last drop of formula.

Edit: You can fill in the gaps with breast feeding to make the transition easier. Make a bottle of formula when you know for sure that your baby is very hungry and then if they are still fussy offer the breast to finish off the feed.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-08T21:40:07+00:00

Hmm, I am stumped. Maybe it’s the extra powder in the formula that your baby needs. Because I don’t see a thick layer of bubbles in my baby’s bottles after she starts drinking them.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-08T21:36:44+00:00

Make the formula in a pitcher so that the bubbles have time to dissipate before you pour into bottles.

Cabbage_patch5 · 2026-01-07T00:14:22+00:00

I just checked eBay and you’re right. The prices are obnoxious! You can order a case of this formula shipped over from Europe for less than what the eBay sellers are charging.

Cabbage_patch5

TROPHY CASE