I am completely depleted. My baby is 10 weeks today. She drank similac 360 the first two weeks of her life and then went full breastmilk once my supply came in. Around 4 weeks, I got plagued with clogged ducts. At first, it was once a week, then every 2/3 days, and now it’s daily with multiple on both breasts that stick around for longer than 48 hours. I have seen a lactation consultant and followed the strict schedule and worked on the latch/switches to just pumping and nothing has worked. As a result, my supply has plummeted and we are quickly going through my freezer stash.

Around two weeks ago, I decided I need to wean off breast feeding so we started giving her similac 360 again, starting with one bottle a day and then two the next day and then by the time we got to the third day, she had this rash all over her body. And then developed a fungal diaper rash too. We took her to the pediatrician who said she had “three different rashes” happening but none was related to the formula. We were prescribed nystatin and lots of moisturizing for the other eczema areas and I switched back to my breastmilk at that time out of caution. Well, 1 week later, she was completely clear again. No rashes anywhere, no diaper rash, no redness. So since I was still struggling with clogged ducts, we decided to try the similac again and she immediately threw up all 4 oz (she did not throw up last time) and then by that night, every rash had come back. This was only after one bottle of similac and then I switched back to my breastmilk bc obviously it’s the similac. We went to pediatrician yesterday who once again said it was multiple rashes, fungal infection on her neck and diaper area and then eczema everywhere else. She said she wanted us to switch to another full milk formula just in case it was something else in the similac and gave us nystatin ointment. Last night, we applied the ointment on her neck and groin, layered with Vaseline, and then put tubby Todd on her arms, torso and legs for the eczema and we went back to breastmilk. Well, this morning, her face and eye are now covered in a rash, her whole body more red, and she is more fussy. We tried a bottle of kendamil this morning but I am just in tears and drained from all this. It seems like the formulas are causing these fungal rashes literally the next day of getting them when she was completely clear before. The pediatrician said unless my baby’s rashes are oozing or
Bleeding, she isn’t worried and wants to continue trying the full milk formulas. She said she can test for CMPA but doesn’t want to try alimentum yet bc they can develop a true milk allergy in the future if we don’t expose them to milk at a younger age.
I’ve been holding it together after the birth but this broke me today. Seeing her look this bad after just one bottle and then the pediatrician saying it’s fine goes against everything I know and feel, how can it get worst and things be ok? Shouldn’t it at least get better after applying the nystatin and stopping the formula? Has anyone else gone through this? I just don’t know what to do, if one bottle cause all this, I feel like I can’t just keep hopping from different brands and formulations while she grows worst.
Please help me.

EDIT: thank you so much for all your advice and shared experiences! I will be switching her to a hypoallergenic formula, maybe we can re try a milk one in the future but I agree I need to switch to get this raging rash to calm down. The pediatricians made me feel like I was overreacting and I appreciate everyone for validating my feelings, as a first time mom, that has made me feel like I’m not crazy and maybe not a failure of a mom.

EDIT #2: she tested positive for CMPA, we have already started her on Alimentum. The pediatrician who called me this morning to tell me about the CMPA told me eczema and a rash is not associated with a milk allergy so I should go see a dermatologist. I am switching practices immediately bc wtf.

Thank you for all your replies and hopefully this thread can help another desperate mom searching for answers in the future.

Hello! I saw many posts from parents who were (rightfully) concerned about their babies who had been consuming ByHeart. I know a lot of the symptoms of botulism can kind of coincide with normal baby development, such as drooling or fussiness that can come from teething, so I thought I’d make a post to tell you guys what made me realize my son was sick. He is currently 4 months and was taking ByHeart from September 30 until the recall. After we stopped it, we didn’t notice many immediate changes in my son. I remember there were some days he seemed a little off but my family and I thought it might have to do with his vaccines. Honestly, we missed a lot of the initial signs because we just thought it was normal baby stuff and if we had gone to the hospital, they probably would’ve sent us back. He eventually became a lot more fussy, he was unable to get to sleep and stay asleep which was super unusual for him - he’s always been a good sleeper, and his bowel movements seemed to be getting irregular with diapers also being a lot less heavy. At some point he became less interested in eating and was also having a hard time drinking, sort of not being able to get a good suck/latch on the bottle - we thought this had to do with teething because he was also drooling quite a bit (didn’t think to much of it cause it’s normal at this age but looking back it was excessive). My son was also very fussy, which was unlike him. He’s had his days but this was very constant. He was napping a lot but still unusually tired. My son’s cries that are normally super loud ended up getting quieter and weaker as well. Ultimately, the thing that made us take him to the hospital was his head lag - we tried doing tummy time with him and he would immediately drop his head. He couldn’t lift it at all and that’s when we knew something was seriously wrong with him. Botulism tends to affect your upper extremities and works its way to the bottom - it’s important that any floppiness/weakness in babies is addressed immediately because the sooner you do, the better. I am sure many parents are scared and rightfully so - never be scared to advocate for your children, even if it seems like you might be “doing too much”. The sooner this stuff is caught in a baby, the less complications there will be. I wanted to share not to scare anyone but to let parents know the things you can look out for in your babies that have used ByHeart.

I also want to add for any parent that may have to deal with their child being sick/is currently dealing with this (which I truly hope it does not happen to anyone), while you are going through it, everything is so awful and you will have endless questions and just overall keep wondering what’s going to happen next. But there is truly light at the end of the tunnel. Recovery might be fast, might be slow, but with botulism it is pretty much guaranteed. Now that is not to excuse the disgusting actions of ByHeart or to say that any of this is okay, but just to comfort any parent going through this 🧡 your baby will pull through! Sending so much love to every parent out there and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns!

Curious to hear your answer!!

hi prefacing this by saying i do have a pediatrician appointment on monday.

i just noticed my baby’s teeth are graying? she has no had any trauma that we know of to cause that.

they don’t seem extra sensitive or any concern but i’m a little paranoid 😭

she’s on kirkland formula and takes a multi vitamin with iron so maybe that’s why?

i also learned her formula water has no fluoride so maybe that’s why? i just switched her toothpaste to fluoride in hopes that helps.

any advice is helpful thank you! i feel like a god awful mother seeing this.

UPDATE: Ped was not really sure what it could be but they were unaware of a supplement w/ iron staining teeth. They think it is low dentin and to wait until another tooth comes through to be more sure. Doesn’t seem to be trauma related, just how her teeth are coming in. They advised us to stop the vitamin to see if it helps.

First, I know that I cannot come here for medical advice. I'm just older, 40, first time mom and all of my friends are past the baby stage of Mom-ing and I don't have anyone to ask besides my parents who are in their 80s.

I feel like a huge failure. After many sleepless nights, in my sleep fog of getting up to change my 3 week olds diaper, then formula feed, burp, then return her to bassinet. I managed to slip when attempting to put the baby in the bassinet while also wearing the "My breast Friend pillow clipped around my waist and dropped her a few inches from the bassinet matress. She kinda dropped and immediately cried, and I did too, the Carpal Tunnel I've had since pregnancy hasn't gone away or helped in this situation.

I looked up everything online, Googling- spiraling and mostly she only really cried louder than I've ever heard her cry and I of course soothed her. Her pupils looked normal in both eyes, no bumps, bruises, or even painful spots when I touched her head. no lethargy or vomiting or lack of eating or sleeping for the remaining day and night. I was thinking that she was all good.

Until I fed her around 8 pm yesterday. Before I fed her, I was attempting to cook Mac and cheese and some chicken nuggets in the oven, and of course she woke up when I needed to strain the mac and cheese and get the nuggets out of the oven. I'm hopping back and forth to her bassinet and the kitchen to not burn anything in the house, and she's crying and upset before I do the routine diaper change and formula bottle feed, 95 mL on where she lays flat across the "My breast friend" pillow while I pace bottle feeding her, (which is what I was shown at the hospital. I mention this because I'm a first time mom and maybe I'm doing the feeding wrong...and maybe needed to change what I'm doing.) And had been furiously crying for about 15 minutes.I also feed her around 80 mL each formula feeds. I figured I should up the amount since she had been seeming like she was hungry after feeding her, and that's what I had been doing in previous weeks, until last week, shes been at around 60-80 mL each time...I was thinking she was fussing because she was hungry. We'll she spit up the ENTIRE thing. she's never spit up that much ever. Just a tiny amount like 5-10 mL maybe twice.

Again I Google what to do- feed her halfway of what you normally do about 15-30 minutes after spitting up. I did, and she spit that up too... and the remaining night/early morning feeds were normal.

then today, Sunday- at 11 am she spit up the entire bottle of 80 mL again. I then fed her 40 mL after 30 minutes and she kept it down and has been eating sometimes 70-80 mL then 40 mL but not spitting up the remaining times.

I'm just spiraling because I have no idea what is normal, no frame of reference and of course it's the weekend and no doctors offices are open, and no pediatric ER where I live.

I have anxiety and real diagnosed OCD, so I know that I may just be not logically thinking and need some real mom friend advice that can help me.

She's been mostly normal... fussing, but I think it may be from me being anxious/her spitting up so much/maybe I should be worried she's actually like really hurt? But has no symptoms to go to the doctor over the bassinet incident.

Image of where the bassinet fall and matress. Thanks for reading this far and sny advice. I feel like a big fat failure. 😕 😪

Hi! First-time mom here (29) and I wanted to ask how true it is that breastmilk is what builds a baby’s immunity. My daughter has been formula-fed since week 3 and she’s now 3 months old. Lately I’ve been feeling anxious and guilty, worrying that I may be failing her when it comes to helping her build strong immunity because she’s formula-fed.

I’ve been seeing a lot of breastfeeding content online claiming that breastmilk is essential for immunity, and that formula-fed babies may have weaker immune systems or be more prone to getting sick. It’s been making me spiral a bit, and I’m not sure how much of that is actually true.

For context, I was formula-fed from birth and I’ve generally been very healthy — I’ve never been hospitalized aside from giving birth, and I can count on one hand the times I’ve been seriously sick. My husband, on the other hand, gets sick fairly often, and I rarely catch what he has despite sharing a bed, kissing each other, etc.

I guess I’m looking for reassurance and facts: can formula-fed babies still build strong immunity and be just as healthy?

Today I dropped off my 5 month old at daycare and mentioned he's been snacky because he's getting over a cold, so he may not take full bottles. One of his teachers says "that's ok! Bottles are good for 2 hours, so he can snack for 2 hours". Am I crazy? I thought once they start drinking it, they're only good for 1 hour after that. Should I talk to management?

I’ve heard lots of people say they completely lost themselves post partum and I’ve wondered if this is more specific to breastfeeding mams? I’ve heard those who EBF say they didn’t feel back to normal until they stopped that,

This is one of my genuine fears as I’m desperate to get to the PP stage so I can get back to some of my normal activities like the gym, hot yoga etc. but now I’m worried I won’t like any of that anymore? Maybe I’m over thinking it but I’d be interested to hear people’s experiences and what this actually means as I’ll be EFF.

FTM here, baby is almost two weeks old, I got woken up by my fiance to feed the baby as he had been caring for her all night so I can sleep (I do it on days he works on days he has off he tries) in my half asleep tiredness I grabbed the bottle of formula that’s been out in about a 65 degree room I miscalculated her last feed time and misread the time bc my eyes were still adjusting and I was half asleep, as I was feeding her I looked at the app I have for her and only to find out the bottle was 3 hours old not the 1 1/2 I thought it was, I stopped her right away and made a new bottle but she was halfway done (it’s a 2oz bottle) I read it can grow bacteria that can really harm her after two hours. Will she be okay what should I look for. I’m freaking out and I feel so guilty and that this shows how I am as a mother but I try my absolute best to take care of her she’s been mainly BF since my milk came in formula every few feeds or if we’re out and I can’t find a private place to BF, help advice please

My daughter (10 months) recently transitioned to combo feeding and kendamil is the only brand she won’t throw up (she has very expensive taste apparently). The only thing I hate is that kendamil takes forever to prepare. So I’m asking: is anyone actually boiling water, letting it sit for 30 min, and then feeding their baby? Or is distilled water fine after 2 months when things don’t have to be as sterile?

Thank you in advance.

I’m currently combo feeding my 4 week old and thinking about switching to exclusively formula soon before I go back to work. I’m curious to know how much you guys spend per week/month on formula, what brand you use, stores you like to buy from for a good price, how long a can lasts, how many cans you buy at once. I just finished a sample can I got from similac in about a week and I only feed her 2-4oz of formula a day, the rest is breast. It’s freaking me out how fast I used that and I only use it for one or 2 feedings for the whole day. Now I’m trying to figure out some type of budget to see how much I would potentially spend on formula feeding only. Obvi she’ll be growing and eating more so that number will fluctuate but I’m just trying to get a ballpark.

I am contemplating having a second after some time, but I struggled immensely with PPD after my baby was born last year. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to breastfeed, and I even had a Baby Brezza on hand because I felt comfortable using formula from the get go. I really really value my sleep and I am easily affected by lack of it, and I thought formula could help with that. But unexpectedly I ended up pumping for a NICU baby and ended up with an insane oversupply. It felt silly at that point to switch to formula when I had way too much breastmilk. But looking back, the oversupply and EPing and trying to switch to EBF, all of it was extremely hard on my mental health. Almost every day I thought I wished I had done formula.

If you FF from the start, by choice (because I know when it’s not by choice it can be upsetting), did it help your postpartum mental health? For a second child, I find myself thinking a lot about how I will manage my mental health so I can still be a good mama to my first. I know the newborn won’t remember but my first might.

Thank you!! Grateful that formula exists and we can even have these conversations to choose what is best for our families

Has anyone tried this new Kirkland procare gentle formula? We use enfamil gentlease for our 7mo and would love to switch to the much more cost effective Kirkland. My wife is concerned about it upsetting our son’s tummy but I am a big fan of store brand everything and convinced it’s all made the same. Waiting for a response from the pediatrician to see if they okay the switch over

Black marks are appearing on my baby’s clothes. It’s where formula lands and it’s freaking me out. It’s on her bibs, burp clothes and collar of her clothes where she dribbles the most milk out. I’m hoping it’s just the iron from the formula maybe. Has anyone else had this happen?

I’m now doing combo feeding but plan to switch to EFF real soon because I just don’t have the time. For people who BF and pump exclusively or do it a lot, like every two hours, honestly how do they find the time to do it? Being able to pump 5 times was the most I could do in one day and I just couldn’t do more without feeling kidnapped by the machine. I’ve asked friends who do it and it seems they just are able to prioritize pumping over everything else. Thank god for this subreddit I feel less guilty for relying on formula a lot but I’m still curious how people are able to find more time to pump all the time.

Tonight I was reflecting back to almost 21 months ago when I would scour this reddit page looking for advice/help/support/solidarity. I was freshly PP struggling with breastfeeding. I was seeing 4 lactation consultants and triple feeding for a month. I would attempt to latch my son but he struggled and I struggled. I would pump but it would take me a full 24 hours to produce ONE bottle. He was mainly formula fed with some breastmilk supplementation. I would cry to all my lactation consultants begging them to find the reason why I couldn’t just be a woman and breastfeed my baby. All of them asked me the same question “do you have PCOS?” I was confused by the question until finally a month into my breastfeeding journey one of them sat me down and explained that it seems like I have something called “tubular breasts” which is a deformity in the way my breasts developed and she was telling me (in the nicest way possible) that no matter how hard I’ll try, I’ll never be able to exclusively breastfeed my son. I was devastated but also slightly relieved because I finally had someone tell me it was ok to stop trying, ok to stop triple feeding, ok to stop killing myself.

So my journey of EFF began. It was hard to accept in the beginning but i just kept reminding myself that my son was fed and thriving. But a small part of me still worried about if he was going to be affected by not being breastfed. Will he fall behind in school? Will he get sick more often? Will we have a bond? All the other questions and concerns us formula moms are fed. Fast forward almost 21 months. Our journey with formula with our son is long over however, i still often think back to those worries. My son is the definition of THRIVING. He is truly so smart it is insane. He can count to 7, knows some of his ABCs, can say full sentences. Can answer most yes or no questions, hit all his developmental milestones, can sing so many songs including parts of Bohemian Rhapsody (lol). We have a bond like no other. He wants mommy to rock him to sleep every night and I’m the one he comes running to for hugs and kisses when he gets hurt. Yes we didn’t have that bond you create while breastfeeding but we bonded while I was bottle feeding him because he was getting nutrients! He still saw me as a source of nutrition and comfort! His immune system is also better than mine. It’s crazy to think back to all those questions and concerns I had back then. Those thoughts haunted me and would keep me up at night sobbing.

I don’t know what compelled me to write this but if just one mom reads this and thinks “it’s going to be ok” then it was worth it. Whether you are in my shoes and struggling to breastfeed, can’t breastfeed due to medical or mental health reasons, or simply just don’t want to. I want you to know it will be ok. It’s true what they say, when you walk into a classroom you will never know who was breastfed and who wasn’t. Just take a breath and remember, a baby who never has to go hungry will be a baby who thrives. Fed truly is best.

I’m 18 weeks pregnant with our first baby and have had ZERO desire to breast feed for as long as I can remember (before we were even trying). There are a multitude of reasons for not wanting to (I have painfully sensitive nipples, husband is a police officer with horrible hours, I’ve heard nothing but horror stories from every single person I know who EBF’s, and when I have help with the baby I would love to be able to hand him off and not have to pump prior, etc).

My concern is about delivery and the hospital pushing me to EBF. How do I advocate for myself without being nasty about it? I know that their initiative at the hospital I will deliver at is to support EBF. Do I just tell them right off the bat that I don’t want to? Or do I “try” to BF and then make my final decision?

I'm 12 weeks pregnant and I've been thinking about how I want to feed my baby. I'm a first time mom. My husband likes the idea of breastfeeding but is supportive of whatever I want since it's my body. I'm really physically put off my breastfeeding. I have an in person job I'll need to return too when the baby is 3 months and pumping also seems impossible under those circumstances. Yes, legally I should get a pump room but I don't physically see anywhere in my workplace for that physically to be. Another thing is I have bad anxiety. Good quality sleep is very important to me and I'm getting really sick of everyone saying I'll never sleep again once the baby arrives. The thought of being the only on demand feeding machine is not attractive. I've read lots of stories of women who can't leave the house for more than 2 hours without their baby because the baby refuses a bottle. It's kind of ruining my pregnancy. My husband and I will be 50/50 on baby duties so breastfeeding doesn't seem realistic for us. I'm hopeful we can establish a regular rotation between us so we're still regularly sleeping. I guess I want to know if the sleep issues were better for people who just formula fed vs breast feeding or pumping? Was the return to work easier? Etc

Anyone have success giving formula right out of the fridge?

I’ve always given room temperature formula and just mixed bottles on demand. Now I have 9 week old twins who I feel just eat all day. The pitcher method is very intriguing - however I’ve always heard babies won’t drink cold formula or it can increase gas. I will go crazy if I have to warm bottles from the fridge.

My baby was born weighting 4.130kg (yeah I have two tears). He’s five days old now. We formula fed from the start, I also gave him some colostrum but it was too much for me, emotionally and physically, to keep pumping, I also have low supply so now he’s just on formula. He seems to be tolerating it very well, he’s not gassy, poop looks good, he doesn’t vomit just spits up milk often.

But we’ve been getting conflicting advice on how we should be feeding him. Two nurses said we’re overfeeding him, one doctor said it’s impossible to overfeed a newborn. But he is not a fussy baby, he never cries for no reason- he either wants his diaper changed, eat, be burped or have his nose cleaned, and then he’s happy and goes to sleep. Should I deny him food and sleep worse? Idk it feels wrong, but I’ve also read that you can overfeed formula fed babies. And also how do I know we’re overfeeding?

i often see people say that whatever you can afford and baby handles well is the best formula. i’ve also seen comments that all formulas are held to strict manufacturing standards, meaning they’re all objectively safe. while i understand these ideas, it’s hard for me to reconcile that “clean” formulas are merely a marketing gimmick and not really better in some ways than other formulas. could anyone help me understand this? thank you!

My 18 month old still loves his bottle of formula before bedtime, but otherwise he's eating like a normal toddler (and insists on his water bottle, especially if we're out and about and it's warm).

I watch him snuggled up to my husband, slamming books in my mum's face (his current "way" of telling you he wants to look at that book with you 😆) and grinning at me when he shows me a cookie that he doesn't want to share with me. All three of us (my mum came over to help me with lunch when I was on maternity leave and loved to pitch in with feeding) fed him since he was a baby and he loves all three of us equally. I think back to the early weeks and how we'd take night feeds in shifts, ensuring we'd both get at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

I enjoyed postpartum (as soon as my c-section stitches healed), and am still as relaxed as you can be with a toddler.

All of that wouldn't have happened if I'd breastfed.

How do you scoop your formula? I know it shouldn’t be packed so I scoop, level it but can see some space at the bottom of the scoop. I sometimes find myself scooping a couple of times and overthinking the scoop — can’t believe I’ve come to this 😅

I’m so conscious about the water:formula ratio and how the unbalanced ratio may throw baby off and make him sick 🥺 I’ve read and listened to MDs talk about it. This was also why we stopped the baby brezza.

So yes, how do you scoop your formula? Do you overthink it too sometimes?🥺🙏🏻

FTM, 35 weeks so preparing for all things baby.

I’m wondering how people decided to EFF? Or combo feed? I am not terribly inclined to BF, pregnancy has been really hard on me mentally and I want to have my bodily autonomy back as much as possible. Also the thought of BF gives me the creeps in a way I can’t describe. However, I’m not 100% sure and am open minded so I’m wondering if I should just try in the first days and see how it goes.

I guess I’m looking for perspective on how folks decided to formula feed if you were on the fence going into labor. My hospital really pushes breastfeeding so I feel like I need some idea of what I want to do before going in.

Is it possible to just breastfeed for like a month to establish immunity benefits, then fully switch? Or is it advisable to just go formula straight from the start?

Thanks for any input- this has been giving me a lot of anxiety.

Hey everyone! I am due with my first in June. I have decided I want to formula feed. I know I will get a TON of hate but I have never had a desire to pump or breastfeed. It’s just something I’ve never wanted to do and I think it will be tough on my mental health. I hope I am not making a mistake doing formula right away.

I have a family member who works at a formula company that manufactures Enfamil formula, so I can get this brand of formula HEAVILY discounted…. I wanted to know your thoughts on this brand??? This is my first so all of this is new to me.