Dont' cry over spilled milk...

In an attempt to be proactive about my inevitable drying milk supply, I have been trying to slowly introduce Maysie to formula. Last week, I tried two nights in a row not to nurse her before bed, but to give her a bottle of formula instead. I figured that way, she would eat more and perhaps sleep longer, and I could pump after she went to bed so I would have something to send to "school" with her. Well, both times she wouldn't have it. I tried two different kinds, thinking maybe they tasted different, but no dice. The formula has a bit of a powdery after taste that I guess she doesn't like, that breast milk doesn't have. (Yes, that means I've tasted both breast milk and formula. I want to know what my daughter is eating.) I saught my book for advice. It suggested mixing the two. Brilliant!! The next day I mixed a 3:1 bottle that she sucked right down. She drank it so enthusiatically, in fact that she kept collapsing the nipple! Guess I fooled her!

At school this morning I was feeling so confident in my discovery that I mixed a 50/ 50 bottle. Try again! She wouldn't eat it, so I fed her the old fashioned way. The next bottle was a bit better, but she still didn't finish it. I fed her after work before we left as I always do. We stopped at the store on the way home. She began to cry, hard, in the car after the store -why is it always when I can't do anything to soothe her that she needs soothing the most??

It had been only an hour since she last ate, so I figured she wasn't hungry, just tired of being strapped into her car seat. I was planning on holding off on the night time bottle until 7:30 (2 1/2 hours after her last feeding), but at 7 she let me know it was time to eat! I made a 3:2 bottle as quick as I could. That little girl sucked those 5 ounces down and still wanted more!! She even wrapped her little hands around the bottle! I'm wondering now if I need to get bigger bottles as the ones I have in multitude have a capacity of only 5 oz.

Anyway, my plan is working. Even after the decent nursing she still wanted before putting her to bed (on time I might add *pat, pat* ), I was able to pump 3 1\2 ounces from each side just 2 hours later! We'll see if she sleeps better tonight!

PS- Maysie got some shades over the weekend!! So precious!!