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Have you wondered about the best way to supplement breast milk with formula? I know I did. I was sure there was some kind of special method I had to use–otherwise my mixing would be ineffective or worse, dangerous.

I figured out an amazing way that I’ll share with you, but first, a quick story. Here’s how things went down for me:

Why I supplemented breast milk with formula

My twins were in the NICU for many weeks, and I was never able to produce enough to feed both. Thus, after 12 weeks I was serving them a mix of breast milk and formula.

On top of that, one of my babes needed extra fortifier and this to help with spitups.

Two caveats to make all this work that have to be in place first:

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A good feeding setup

After you save time mixing formula and breast milk, you’ll want to find other ways of saving time. Am I right? Here’s how I manage tandem feeding the twins [while pumping.]

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A hands free breast pump

I tried several and found one that worked as well as the real hospital grade pumps.

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Mixing breast milk and formula

These are the three most common pieces of advice I heard:

1. Serve breast milk first, then follow up with formula

You’ll see a lot of advice to feed the baby whatever you can produce, then follow up with formula. This probably works well for some, however something terrible can happen if you have babes with sensitive tums. Tummy trouble! Like the kind that produces mountains of vomit and keeps them screaming for hours. I had a colicky baby and he was not liking major variation in his mixes.

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Pro tip: If you do have a baby with bad reflux, you will go through a ridiculous number of burp cloths. I registered for and ordered all types of cute ones, but the old fashioned kind–cloth diapers–are still the best.

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2. Some feeds are formula feeds and others are breast milk feeds

 This works well for many mamas, especially ones who are trying to breastfeed as exclusively as possible. For instance, I have a friend whose babes get formula only during her work hours, and another who gives formula only at night. Because of the aforementioned tummy trouble factor, this method didn’t work as well for me.

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Pro tip: For formula in a pinch, we love using these nursers they used in our NICU. Super convenient and don’t have to be warmed.

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3. Mix everything together ahead of time

This is the process we ended up using. It was the most convenient and easy, once I got the hang of it. If your babes are sensitive like mine, and you can’t just mix break milk and formula all willy-nilly, here’s how it works.

Pump when they eat

In the twins’ first few months of life, I pumped every time they were eating. 8 – 10 times a day which doesn’t leave time to stretch things out. After four months, I was able to cut down to 5 – 6 times a day. Whatever I pump I save in the fridge till end of day. I used a Dr. Brown’s bottle for this, but you could use anything.

Set up your station and make batches twice a day.

Throughout the day I line up bottles and nipples on a drying mat, ready to be mixed.

In the morning, then at night, I’m ready to make a batch. The mix has varied over time, but now I shoot for about 2 oz breast milk per bottle, then fill up the rest of their portion with similac neosure. We use the big ready to drink bottles.

I try to make a night’s or day’s worth of bottles at a time, then store them in a fridge in a soft drink plastic tray. I have a little label on each side indicating who the column of bottles belongs to, since my babes eat different amounts and mixes.

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Pro tip: If you have twins who eat different mixes, then try different colored bottles. I have Avent clear and Avent teal bottles to indicate who mine belong to.

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Advice for the next day:

A solid morning begins the night before. Before I go to bed, I’ll run the dishwasher and lay out clean bottles. I’ll be sure my favorite Spectra S1 pump is charged for middle-of-the-night pumping. This sets me up for a good morning routine with the boys.

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