Yes, I know breastfeeding is best. I tried. I really did. Somewhere around 12 weeks postpartum I started having problems with my milk supply – but didn’t know it. All I knew at the time was that Baby E was unhappy and wouldn’t nap. I had faith in the whole supply and demand theory.
Then we went in for Baby E’s 4 month checkup. His growth stats dropped from the 95th percentile in weight to the 65th percentile. When I talked with the pediatrician about his crankiness and not wanting to nap, he simply stated “I think he’s hungry, just feed him.” Well, gee, I fed him all the time (like every 2-3 hours for 20-30 minutes a time).
That’s when I started putting it all together. We had been given the all clear for adding rice cereal. I fed him cereal, he would cry when it was gone and I couldn’t shovel it in fast enough. I started having clogged ducts often. When I finally figured out that I was starving my baby, I cried for a long time.
I searched everywhere on how to increase my supply. I tried lactation cookies, oatmeal, special tea, drinking lots of water, pumping, vitamin supplements and of course tried to feed Baby E often. I felt like a science experiment that was failing. I gave in to adding a formula supplement to make sure Baby E was getting something and pumped during that time. Baby E guzzled down the formula and would finally sleep for a few uninterrupted hours.
By 5 months, I gave up. The most important thing was Baby E’s health and growth. My other kids were given formula and were just fine. He took the switch with no problems. My heart ached but Baby E was finally happy. He smiled, giggled and slept great. He was no longer a cranky baby.
Now Baby E is 10 1/2 months old. He’s doing great and height and weight are at the 95th percentile. Today I hear about a formula recall. Wonderful, my faith in our food supply is already in the dumpster. It took me almost all day to get the company’s website to load because of the high traffic volume. I have 4 containers of formula – all of them recalled, with one container mostly eaten. It just so happened to be a grocery shopping week so I’m fully stocked. This represents over $90 of tainted formula. I wondered why Baby E all the sudden started having issues with spitting up and was burping so much. Ugh! Nothing like a little bit of beetle larvae for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It makes me so angry!
I can’t wait to say “goodbye” to formula! Please, if you use Similac formula in the powder variety, check out the recall. It’s a 38 page PDF file of lot numbers. I hope yours is not on it.
Because I’m a girl who needs reputable sources on the internet, here’s the link to the FDA Alert.
