I’m exclusively breastfeeding my 5 month old son and I feel like my body can’t keep up with my son wanting to nurse all the time (every hour or so). I feel like he’s not eating enough and that my milk supply is dropping, he’ll have at least 3-4 wet diapers in one whole day. I tell his doctor this over and over again but he doesn’t seem to get it! Mamas who had to supplement their babies with formula how did you go about it like getting them to take a bottle? My son won’t take a bottle at all. I hand express what I can (an ounce or 2 the most) into a bottle and give it to him but he won’t take it. I’m a FTM and breastfeeding was never a struggle up until my son turned 5 months.
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Dont supplement. Hes getting plenty if hes making 3 to 4 wet diapers. Just keep nursing whenever he wants and your supply will increase with the demand. I had the same problem. Sometimes they nurse for other reasons other than being hungry. If hes gaining weight and having wet diapers then everything is ok.
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I can’t advise but do what you think is best, there is nothing wrong with adding formula. It’s better you feel ok and baby is fed enough xxx
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Add fluids to your diet. Making sure you are hydrated will help you make enough milk for your baby.
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Call your pediatrician/lactation consultant
He is getting plenty to eat. Babies cluster feed when they are having a growth spurt and that sounds like what your going through. Just keep feeding him when he wants to eat and don’t worry about bottle feeding him. Your doing great!
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There is a drink you can get at most stores called body armor, I buy mine at winco. It has helped a lot of my mom friends build their supply up! It’s worth a try and they taste good.
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Try a different nipple. My daughter preference was platx with the square nipple
If he’s picking up weight then don’t supplement with formula I made that mistake because his nurse told me he’s not getting enough, worse mistake I made
Do what works for you. But just know that some babies will start to prefer the ease of the bottle and it may mean that he stops breastfeeding, but if you cant keep up then do what’s best for you and baby.
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I used Breastflow bottles. They’re a lot like nursing as far as flow and the baby has to work for the milk to get it to flow just like a breast. Call a lactation consultant when you can. They can help you.
Sounds like what you doing is right no need to supplement just feed baby on demand
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Breast feed then offer bottle.
Sounds like he is going through a growth spurt. They always cluster feed when going through a growth period. If he isn’t unnecessarily crabby or losing weight just keep doing what your doing
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Check out “The Milk Meg” here on Facebook. She’s a lactation consultant and her page is full of great information and support for breastfeeding Moms.
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I started feeding my 4-month-old baby food and breastfed until 2-years-old. Breastfeeding is a relationship between you and baby. Listen to your mom instinct.
Make sure your drinking plenty of water. If you become dehydrated your milk supply will decrease. Rest assure your baby is getting everything he needs from you. You are doing a great job!
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I used Malts to help increase my supply. He is getting about old enough to start to try some foods like baby ceral. Maybe try just a small about with your breastmilk. It helped my son when he was 5 almost 6 months. Every baby is different though.
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As for him not taking a bottle from you this is normal. Why settle for a bottle when the source is right there? If you need him to take a bottle you might need someone else to give it to him with you out of the house. For most breastfed babies getting them to take a bottle can be a challenge.
I can relate! My 5 month old nurses every 2.5 hrs to 3 hrs all day and night. I was having a hard time keeping up and my supply seemed to be drying up. To top it off my baby sometimes completely refuses to nurse on my right breast. So I have been working with one breast😫 His diapers have been mostly green. I started to think about when he used to get nice yellow diapers and nurse well. I remembered staying plenty hydrated and he would nurse longer. The last 2 days I started to drink 8+ bottles of water and gently encouraged baby to nurse longer. I’m happy to say I have yellow diapers again! And have been changing pee diapers more often. I’m also eating oatmeal in the a.m. and drink mothers milk tea at night since that’s when my supply dries up the most. But, honestly it seems like your baby is doing good and normal. Maybe just think back to the basics that were working for you before and stay hydrated or try introducing solids. Good luck!
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Probably a growth spurt ride it out ! 
Growth spurt. You are producing enough. My son fed every 2 hours up until he was 1 year old. Just how some babies are. As long as he’s gaining weight that’s all that matters- thats probably why the doctor isn’t too concerned. A pump will not give you the same amount that a baby will get straight on the breast. NEVER think that what you’re pumping is the amount your son is getting. At 5 months most babies should have 4-5 wet diapers in a day. Seems like that’s not an issue either. The more the eats, the more your supply will increase. Supplementing with formula will actually just drop your supply. Also increase your fluid intake (every time i would nurse I made sure I drank 1 bottle of water throughout). You can also try supply supplements like fenugreek. Walmart even sells now the herbal drinks that contain fenugreek and blessed thistle along with lactation cookies. As long as he’s gaining weight you ARE making enough - just because he’s eating often doesn’t mean you aren’t providing enough.
Try using your milk and cup feeding, my sister in laws 6 month old is EBF and she has tried to get her to take a bottle so that when she needs to do certain things someone else can watch/feed her but she won’t. So she tried cup feeding her and she does great with it!
As long as he is gaining then he is eating enough. Try a sippy cup if you feel he needs to be supplemented.
Drink lots of water for your milk supply, the older they get the more they want to eat. Everything is good If he’s gaining weight. And since he’s 5 months old you can start him on baby food. I bf my son every 2 hours and when he started solids he would feed every 4 hours… well just at night he would feed every half hour🤷🏻♀️ and he never accepted the bottle… just remember the more you feed him the more youll make milk. Goodluck
My baby was less than two months old. There really wasn’t a choice and frankly he got hungry enough that he ate from his bottle regardless of whether it was his favorite. Same with my daughter
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3-4 wet diapers is enough. How many do you think he should be having? If he’s gaining weight and content then you most likely do not need to supplement. However, if you choose to, there’s no shame in that. My 9 mo old barely takes 3-4 oz of formula when we do give her formula.
I started very puréed baby food at 5 months- applesauce, baby oatmeal… it helped. We did once a day.
My baby likes the Nuk naturals bottles & nipples.
Ps: my 90% breast fed baby has maybe 3-4 wet diapers a day. She will be 10 mo in a few days and is 19 lbs 10 oz and 28 inches long. She’s far from dehydrated and is obviously growing efficiently.
The more a baby nurses increase milk production takes couple days to increase
It’s just a growth spurt. If you need a break then there’s no problem with a bottle here and there
Minbie bottles. Like 30 for a pack online. My niece would not take anything but boob and she takes the minbie bottles. They are shaped and feel like a breast. They have amazing stories from other moms
I started weaning both my babies at 3 months, I have a 20 month old daughter and a 5 month old son now, my daughter self weaned though (woke up one day and refused milk, breast, formula, cows milk and all the other types I tried, so she’s been fully weaned since 7 months after 2 months of me trying everything to get her to drink milk, even restoring to milkshake powder but she still refused) so my daughter hasn’t drunk milk to this day but will still eat cheese and yogurts so all good on that front. My son was the opposite, from birth he would feed every 40 minutes day and night, turned out he was lactose intolerant so had to switch to lactose free formula but he would wants a 8oz bottle every hour day and night so after talking to 5 different doctors and getting all the same advice, I started weaning him at 11 weeks old (tiny bite at a time obviously and all home made) he’s alot happier now and has only 4 bottles in the day of between 4 and 6 oz depending on what he’s eaten, he had 3 meals a day and is on a mix of finger food and mashed food that’s lumpy.
What you have is called a hyper feeder, it’s very common so don’t worry about it, if your not comfortable weaning yet or haven’t been told to by the doctor then I’d suggest topping up with formula but if you really want to stick to breast milk only, try pumping it for your little one and adding a half spoon of baby Rice, baby rice has no nutrition but instead is used as a filling agent, so all your baby’s vitamins and nutrition will still come from your milk but the baby rice expands so will just help to keep them a little bit fuller between feeds. (my health visitor recommended this as my hyper feeding son fed so much from me I had to have stitches to re attach half my nipple on one side I had 4 stitches)
Again, if your not comfortable with that ether then talk to your health visitor or doctor and see what they say x
Hope this helps. Good luck mama bear, your doing great so don’t worry too much x