Moms who formula feed question?

I have been breastfeeding for 8 months now and until last week all was well. Nursing strike, teething, nipple biting have made me use formula for the last week. I'm not good at this formula thing at all. We went through a can of Similac in three days! Now that's expensive. I make him formula, he drinks maybe an ounce then it sits and I try to give it to him before the hour is up but he refuses so I end up throwing it away. Only to make another bottle. You can only leave formula out for one hour, right? If I only make 2-4 ounces he ends up sucking it down and crying for more. How do you prepare your baby's bottles? How many ounces? How long do you go before you dump the unused formula? At this rate it will cost me $50.00 a week in formula! I'm happy to say he's nursing again, but he still drinks formula at daycare, a bottle at night after nursing, and I bring it with us when we travel. Formula feeding moms I commend you! it is sooo much harder than breastfeeding!!

i understand. my daughter used to be on neocate -- 35 bucks a can! and she eats the same way: sometimes one ounce, sometimes 5, so i always was throwing it away. worse, if i stop feeding, she won't start up again, so i hated to make too little. she drinks soy fromula now, so while i still hate wasting it, it's not quite as bad. we go through a can every 2 days. i will tell you what my doctor told me about the one hour rule: she said that one hour is very conservative, and that you can keep the bottle for 2 hours once the baby's lips first touch it. if after two hours he hasn't eaten it, then throw it away. good luck!
EDIT: my doctor also told me that putting it in the refrigerator will NOT give you more time unless the baby hasn't touched it yet. the reason is that the baby's saliva interacts with the formula ingredients to produce a specific bacteria. so youc an refrigerate it if he hasn's started it yet, but if he has, refrigeration will NOT stop the bacteria growth. just so you know. :)

First off Similac is nasty to a lot of babies and my doctor recommends enfamil. Buy ready to use for a while. Try to get WIC

have you tried pumping and freezing your breast milk? you can do this in bottles and it's would be better.

You can leave formula out for 2-3 hours, not just 1. Also, only make 2 oz at a time until he's on a set schedule so you're not wasting formula. It's so easy to make--fill the bottle to the 2 oz line with some water--bottled or tap at room temperature. Dump in a scoop, screw on the cap, and shake it up. It's not too time consuming and works fine. It lasts longer sitting out than breast milk will.

If you make it in advance you will have it ready however your baby is used to milk being warm so you would have the hassle of warming it up. I am so jealous of you I wanted to breast feed but my medicines kept me from it. Nurse as long as possible and enjoy it while you can it will end way too soon! Good luck!

Does he use the same formula at daycare? Do you heat the formula up? You can only keep the formla out for one hour, especially if he has already had a drink in that bottle, something to do with bacteria growth.
My son is 3 months old and has always been fomula fed. He now drinks 6 ounces at a time.
I prepare my bottles at night when the dishes are being done. I wash and sterilize the bottles (my baby is still little) and boil my water. I let the water cool and put the six ounces in the bottles. I then leave the bottles with the water out at room temperature. I have containers that allow me to put premeasured portions of powdered formula in. I fill those up. So when it's time for his feeding, I put the bottle of water in the microwave and shake the powder in. For a while, he was playing with the bottle nipple, I changed the nipple flow to a faster one. This helped a lot, he's not frustrated anymore. Maybe that's what your baby needs. Maybe you could try a different type of formula, I use Good STart by Nestl茅, he seems to like it. My SIL uses Enfamil and her baby doesn't seem to like the taste, so she also takes breaks, but then is starving later...
For me, breastfeeding was so much harder than bottlefeeding!
Hope this helps!

You can make bottles in advance and keep in the fridge. I would make several 2-4 oz bottles at a time, so if you little one just sucks it down, you can grab another quickly. (that's if your baby doesn't mind it cold---mine doesn't). I use ready to feed, so I can pour up as little or as much as I think he will drink.
Unfortunately, daycares are required by regulations not to mix up a bottle (or even pour a ready to eat bottle) for your baby. The bottles need to come premixed and ready to feed.

My baby is 8 months old and formula fed. He drinks 5-6 oz 4 times a day and usually about 8 oz at bedtime along with his baby food throughout the day.

I try to stick with the one hour rule too, but if I have not warmed the bottle and the baby just won't take it or won't finish it, I take off the nipple, pop on a new one, and put it in the fridge and we finish it off next time. He's on similac sensitive R.S. and it only comes ready to feed. That's about $6 a bottle and he drinks one everyday!!! I just can't afford to dump that stuff down the drain.

I've been combining breastmilk and formula since my baby was new, for a number of reasons that would take too long to explain; but I hve a lot of experience with this problem!

Formula is good at room temperature for 2 hours; once the baby starts feeding, though, they say you only have an hour. This is because the bacteria in the baby's mouth contaminate the formula--as with, for instance, a jar of baby food (which is why you are supposed to toss what's left of baby's food after he eats it, and not feed directly out of a jar unless you plan to toss it when he's done with the meal).

Try mixing in 4-5 oz small bottles (like Medela's bottles for breastmilk saving, available at Target etc) and keeping them ready. When baby is done with his 4 oz, put the mixed formula in the bottle. What he doesn't eat --as long as it isn't in the bottle he's been feeding from--can go in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Minimum waste that way.

Eventually you'll get a good sense of what he needs and this won't be a problem. (My baby eats 6 oz 5 times/day, with 1 oz of each feeding being breastmilk--just another baby's intake for your reference.) Good luck!

my son went through a nursing strike at 9 months and I just pumped and gave him breast milk through the bottle and sippy cups. He hated formula and refused to drink it. Have you thought about just pumping?

First of all look into store brands. We had a local grocery store thats store brand was almost identical to Simlac, worked just as well and was FAR cheaper. Also make sure to buy the bigger "double" size can rather than the "normal" size can. That can save you a little bit of money.

I don't remember how long I kept out formula and still used it. You could try throwing it in the fridge and then rewarming it when he wants it.

You could also just make four ounce bottles, and then as much as a pain as it is, make another IF he is still hungry. It is more inconvient, but at least you won't have as much "waste"

I think at that age, I went though one or one and a half BIG cans of formula a week, the store brands price was $20 for a can, so about 20-40 dollars a weeks.

I just prepared the formula as per the instructions on the can. By that age I'm pretty sure kiddo was drinking a full eight ounce bottle.

Have you also started some "solid" foods? Rice cereal, baby foods etc? If you haven't yet ask your pediatrician, as you should be able to soon. That will help supplement his diet, and thus he will be drinking a bit less formula.

But yes formula is going to be more expensive as you've found out, though remember the cost will go down or should as he takes less nutrition through the bottle and more through food. Experiement with brands, store and otherwise to find something less costly than Simlac, unless you are will to suck up similacs cost. If you REALLY want to continue to use it, go to their website and sign up for their club thing, and you should be able to get some coupons to use. I at least for this pregnancy got four 5 dollar off coupons to use. Not a BIG savings but some.

Hope this helps some, and makes a modicum of sense :P

Good Luck to you

I make my son 6oz bottles. If he only drinks half, I put it in the fridge. It's usually good for a day or so after leaving it in the fridge, then you can offer him the same bottle rather than throwing the formula out and making a new bottle. I will add to mine as well. If he only has 2oz left in a bottle i'll add 4oz of water and 2 scoops of formula and give that to him. He drinks enfamil. Good Luck!

I went through the same when I had my baby, I couldn't breast feed, so I had to give her formula and people told me I couldnt save the milk, not even for an hour, so I went through about 18 cans of formula the first month...BIG MISTAKE (Id throw out maybe 3 oz out of 4, cause she'd just drink a bit) Now when she doesnt take the rest of her milk I just put it in the fridge up to 4 hours, I read what you should do is after the baby drinks the milk is give them a bit of water to clean their tongue, and you can put the rest of the formula in the fridge!
Hope this helps a bit...now I go through about a can in 5 days! and she drinks about 24 oz a day I prepare her formula in bottles of 4 oz at the time

When I made formula for my son I would only do what I knew he would drink. So if that meant making a 3 oz bottle only to make another 2 ozs that's what I would do. You can prepare the bottles in advance and keep them in the fridge for 24 hours. I tried to be real strict about dumping a bottle that had already been drunk out of at the hour mark... but that got to be too much and I eventually went by an hour and a half to two hour rule.

Have you tried adding rice cereal to the baby's formula? This should help him get fuller quicker, along with feeding solids 1 to 2 times a day. If not, try the oatmeal with the formula (some babies have their preference).
I recommend going to a store that carried bulk - like Sam's Club - and they do carry generic brands, but they have the exact same thing as the name brand (compare them if you don't believe me). They sell the larger sized cans for the price for what you'd pay at a regular grocery store.
Hang in there, only 4 more months you can start adding whole milk to his diet!
If nothing else, talk to your doctor about what he/she recommends as a good brand for your baby's diet!