My mother and I were just discussing this today. As a parent, you do what you have to do sometimes even if it sounds crazy. I breastfed all three of my kids. The first two were in daycare and I didn't always get enough milk pumped so we sometimes ended up supplementing with formula. One child took the formula just fine. The other decided he would wait for mama to show up. I pumped until it was time to start solids. We ended up sending what milk we could and then letting ds#2 have his cereals and other solids at daycare. The daycare was close to work so I was showed up at lunchtime anyway to feed him. At nine months, I'm not sure I would start the bottle if you can get your baby to drink from a sippy. (It's a habit you get to break later.) I'd send the milk in the sippy and let her eat her solids for the day at daycare and you can still nurse her at home. Send some formula to mix up as necessary. We used tricks like mixing formula into cereal or other foods to get the baby used to the taste. It took a few days before we had full acceptance with DS#1. I quit my job to become a SAHM when ds#2 was six months old so he didn't have to drink the formula. Babies learn that they can depend on mama for what they want. With you are not around all the time, your dd will learn that she isn't going to get the milk. She'll either drink the formula or find a substitute. Another caregiver may have an easier time introducing formula since your dd isn't used to getting her milk from there. Good luck! Your dd will be fine and so will you when see how it all fits into place.

You did not say how old your baby is, but ideally you want to introduce a bottle around 3 weeks of age, no longer than 4 weeks of age - or you may encounter lots of resistance. Sounds like maybe you have been trying to give baby a bottle? Have someone else, such as Daddy, try and offer the bottle. Some bf babies will refuse a bottle from Mommy, because they know she has the real thing! Also, don't wait to offer the bottle until baby is very hungry or baby will get frustrated much easier. Try it about an hour after a feeding, so baby is a bit hungry but not starving. Also, you are probably doing this, but if the bmilk has been refrigerated, make sure you warm it so it is not cold. Once you get baby to take a bottle, offer baby a bottle once a day so baby does not "forget" how to take a bottle. We used Avent bottles with the newborn nipples. Whatever brand bottle you use, make sure you use the nipple with the slowest flow, to more closely match the flow from your breast. Otherwise, baby may develop a preference for the bottle if the flow is faster from the bottle. Hope this helps!! I hope I did not leave anything out.

DS was a premie (8 wks) and they did start him on Pregestmil in the NICU. He took that for the first month of his life, while in the hospital. Then when he came home, we found we couldn't get Pregestimil. The hospital coudl get it or a pharmacy but we lead into a dead end with the locak pharmacies. The dr. then prescribed Nutramigen. It's the same as Pregestimil, just for older babies. He took Nutramigen until he was about 9 months old. The Nutramigen costs about $20 a can and yes, it gets to be VERY expensive. We qualified for WIC and did get help from them to buy it or we would have been starving or going without other things we needed. I don't know about in your area but it was impossible to find Nutramigen at the grocery store (where WIC has you go) and only Wal-Mart carried it. So WIC had it arranged so my case of formula was shipped UPS from a warehouse to us to make that easier. He had no problems and is perfectally fine and healthy now~he's 2 1/2. Sounds like you've been having a lot of fun with this. I hope that one of these work for you and your little guy. Before you decide which to try or the dr. tells you, be sure to see if you can find the stuff at a department store or grocery store in your area. You don't want to start him on something you can't find very easily because there will come a day when you're out and there isn't any to be found! ~Leslie~

I would do several things... First, I would offer solids (cereal/veggie/fruit) at least twice a day, three times if she'll take it. Then when the meal is done, sit down with the baby and 'top her off' with breastmilk. If you do the nutritional math, there is more protein/fat in breastmilk than there are in fruits/veggies. Then wait about an hour and then offer the breast again. Secondly, I'm glad that she's moving since she really does need to have a pediatrician that is working with her and not trying to be HER parent. Dealing with inlaws are tricky things at best..and considering that your daughter needs to create an adult relationship with her child's doctor, dealing with "Grandpa" doesn't seem to be working. He must not have heard that the American Academy of Pediatrics advises that one breastfeeds for "AT LEAST the first year" and that the World Health Organization advises that it's done for at least two years... I also agree about getting a younger pediatrician. Not that the older ones can't be brilliant clinicians, they can...But they received bupkis with regards to how breastfeeding works. Would support her to get a BF-friendly ped AND have an LC consult. She doesn't have to wait to see the LC. I would see one now. She can contact her local LLL for a referral... And I would also say that if the child is crawling/active, that alone can burn more calories. I would keep offerring the breast frequently throughout the day. Sometimes babies can be so involved with what they're doing, that they don't stop to eat until they realize that they're starving. This might not be as big of an issue to a normally gaining baby...But with a baby with weight gain issues, I would say that she could nurse the kid AT LEAST every two hours during the day and see if this improves her baby's gain. AND during this time, go in for weekly weight checks to see if there is an improvement. Don't have to have a full exam with these extra visits, can just have a nurse weigh the baby. But if that would increase her pressure from her FIL, perhaps she could look at renting a baby scale for home use and she can watch the gain herself? She should also discuss HOW she's BF'g with the LC. Is she allowing the baby to drop off the nipple herself or is she taking her off? The issue would be whether or not the baby is getting enough of the fattier hindmilk...And she also needs to make sure that SHE is eating right and drinking enough fluids. It's just as important to take care of herself now in this way as it was when the baby was a newborn... As to babyfoods themselves, has she graduated the baby to the next stage of foods? She could perhaps consider some of the pureed meat foods that are out. Look at one of those tiny jars of baby turkey and one of those puppies has 11 grams of protein in a single jar. Sometimes kids turn up their noses to them plain, but you can mix it with either fruits or veggies and most will take it that way (can also hide a blob on the back end of a spoon, with the sweet stuff in front). And is she mixing the cereal with breastmilk or formula and not water? And is the baby teething? With both of my kids, they decreased or stopped some of the solids when they had a lot of teething going on..Would only want to nurse. I would get them to eat by putting a tiny dot of Oragel on the trouble spot (not a lot or their whole mouths go numb and the food has a tendency to urp out of their mouths), wait a few minutes and then offer solids. If you do this and it still doesn't work, try nursing nursing nursing..And then offer it again later. Even Tylenol if it's really rough...(Think about how much you want to eat with dental pain...) Regardless, she needs to work with some people who are willing to work with her on this issue and doesn't need the ill-informed patronizing from her FIL. Seems like serendipity that she's moving. And again, tell her to start to look for solutions now and not wait until after she's found another ped. She can even talk to an LC over the phone (if she doesn't have time for a visit) and get advice tomorrow if she moves on this. They don't just do home visits, they do phone consults too.