Triple feeding; how does anyone produce enough milk for this?

@huey507 Same same! My LO is nearing 4 months and once we were cleared to no longer wake him to feed he has been an amazing night sleeper (also 7 - 10 hours each night). I still (usually) wake up mid night to pump but even that is much easier then having to feed LO. We typically bottle feed (pumped milk and sometime a little formula) during the day since he will be heading off to daycare soon but he also eats about every 2.5 hours and between 4 - 5oz. At almost 4 months. He is a little over double his birth weight and has some chonk on his thighs which just makes my heart smile!
 
@ronjonb Are you feeding at the breast and giving pumped milk after? That seems like baby isn't transferring milk well from the breast if you pumping that much. But I'm no expert! Seems like you are doing well and it's normal for them to up their intake over time.
 
@katehunt977 Yes I am- but it’s not perfect and the sole reason we’re on this feeding schedule. She’s a very sleepy baby at the breast and eater in general. And I’ll admit will do better at the bottle which if you look at my post history you’ll see I was super sad about a few weeks ago.
 
@ronjonb Ugh we were in triple feeding hell for a month so I know what you mean. Luckily now baby has been on the boob since then with no supplementing. Hopefully one day you'll offer the baby a bottle after a long feed and they don't take it! That's what happened with me anyway.
 
@ronjonb My babe is nearly 2 months and I’ve been doing some variation of triple feeding since birth.

Now, we nurse first and if she is still cueing for food after, she gets some formula. Some days she gets more formula than others. We usually try to sneak a full formula feed in somewhere. We’re in the 50th percentile for weight, but only the 2nd percentile for weight + height.. so we’re trying it’ll to chunk up a bit.

Idc how I have to feed her, as long as she keeps growing…
 
@ronjonb She might be going through a growth spurt if she eats more just for a few days; I think there is a big growth spurt around 4-5weeks.

Total amount sounds enough but you should check with your pediatrician. My baby at that age ate 25-30oz and then during growth spurt suddenly 35oz. Usually I pumped more than needed and stored in freezer and during growth spurt sometimes I didn’t have enough and had to use a serving from freezer.
 
@ronjonb I’m in this exact same boat, age and everything. Except I’m not pumping that many ounces yet, though my supply does continue to increase (even if just a little). I’m also not as stressed as I feel I would be because I am so happy that he’s eating. We were having latching issues as well and he just started latching again, so yay for small victories 🤗
 
@ronjonb I was doing that with my oldest for a while as she had serious issues transferring milk, and I've never had a ton of luck pumping. I think it was around 6 weeks my lactation consultant came to visit and just looked at me and was like, "You don't have to kill yourself for this. It's okay to drop something." A couple of weeks later I dropped pumping and just bf what we could and gave formula the rest. My supply then dried up because she just wasn't getting enough out and we ended up formula feeding but it was great--I loved formula feeding my baby! When I had my second, she actually breastfed really well, and although we did have some hard times and problems, I bf her until she was 17 months.
 
@ronjonb My kids were all 95th percentile so my only advice is to stay lock step with a good IBCLC and I was always told that 1-1.5oz per hour is all they need of breastmilk at that age. Hang in there!
 
@nicolemarie406 I really hate that we have this stigma that feeding your baby formula is inferior to breastfeeding. I think it's just a different option. Your baby is going to be just fine if they never get a drop of breastmilk. I don’t understand why we (Americans) are so obsessed with what newborns eat but have no problem with a toddler eating a cheeseburger from McPlace or ordering a Frappuccino from Starbucks...you are doing great mama! Sounds like you did a great job identifying that you needed to call an audible and make a change to you original game plan!
 
@ronjonb My baby kept falling asleep at the breast and was jaundiced the first month. I wish my first lactation consultant supported triple feeding/combo feeding, she insisted that the baby at the breast was a good thing no matter how long and often. 5 days in we had to go to the ER because of low blood sugar. She used up so much energy trying to breast feed she'd fall asleep and she lost more than 10% of her birth weight. Everything is ok now. We're 2 months in and she's double her initial weight, combo feeding at first then exclusively pumping. Not an easy road the first month of pumping every 2 hours, but it does get easier! You got this Mama! Keep hydrated and hopefully get enough meals and snacks in, this is hard work plus your body is recovering too. I always snacked and drank a glass of water while pumping, otherwise I would forget to eat and drink and would only remember when I finally would get to the washroom and see how concentrated my urine was 😅.
 
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