I’ve been breastfeeding for 6 months now and I am thinking of supplementing w/ formula.?
What type do you recommend is best?
There aren’t any with any proven benefits over straight-up cow’s milk.
Why supplement with formula? At six months, you can supplement with food.
“Myths:
3. Babies need to drink milk when the mother is not at home.
Not true . Three or four good nursings during a 24 hour period plus a variety of solid foods gives the baby all he needs nutritionally, and thus he does not need any other type of milk when you are at your outside job. Of course, solid foods can be mixed with expressed milk or other milk, but this is not necessary.
4. If the baby is to get milk other than breastmilk, it needs to be artificial baby milk (infant formula) until the baby is at least 9 months of age.
Not true . If the baby is breastfeeding a few times a day and getting fair quantities of a variety of solid foods, infant formula is neither necessary nor desirable. Indeed, babies who have not had infant formula before 5 or 6 months of age often refuse to drink it because it tastes pretty bad. (If you want to convince yourself of how little we know about breastmilk, ask yourself why it is that, although breastmilk and infant formulas have the same amount of sugar, breastmilk is so much sweeter). If you want to give the baby some other sort of milk, homogenized milk is acceptable at 6 months of age, as long as it is not the baby’s only food. In fact, if the baby is taking good quantities of a wide variety of foods, breastfeeding 3 or 4 times a day, and growing well, homogenized milk or 2% milk is good enough, but also not necessary.”
http://www.bflrc.com/newman/breastfeeding/work.htm
Pregnancy Update Week 16