Thrifty Mommy

23 opinions for Ways to save money when buying formula

• Karen
  Mar 31, 2008 at 8:32 am

  I could only produce about 2 ounces a day and that was with pumping, taking Reglin and Fenugreek. It was awful!!!! You might want to try the Fenugreek. The lactation office where you lives sells it. It is an herb that helps stimulate milk production. The only problem is, you might smell a little like maple syrup. lol

  To save money on formula, I also recommend:
  1) Register with the formula company. They will send you checks that are good towards their brand of formula.
  2) Check on ebay. Sometimes people will sell new, unopened cans on there.

• Karen
  Mar 31, 2008 at 8:32 am

  p.s. Good luck!

• Maria
  Mar 31, 2008 at 8:34 am

  Ooo… I’m sorry you are struggling with nursing right now. I hope that it works out for you and you can get your supply back up! Pumping is hard work, and maybe you can find some “tricks” to help you pump more milk. Hugs.

• Mountain Mama
  Mar 31, 2008 at 9:14 am

  I’m really sorry you’re going through this, but I have heard that oatmeal can boost milk production. Good luck!!!

• Nicole
  Mar 31, 2008 at 10:58 am

  My youngest had severe reflux and required Nutramigen- nice and expensive. I found that our health insurance would pay 80% of the cost as long as I had a prescription. We had to order it through a health supply company, but it saved us many hundreds of dollars over his first year.

• Amy
  Mar 31, 2008 at 11:10 am

  I am so sorry- I know how disheartening that is, not only from the bonding standpoint, but also from a financial standpoint. We had constant problems between my daughter & I (reoccurent thrush) and I had to end it because it was too painful.

• kellys
  Mar 31, 2008 at 12:03 pm

  These are the things I am doing.:
  1. I am taking fenugreek 3 times a day.
  2. I am power pumping 1-2 times a day (pumping 10 in on, 10 min off for an hour).

  These are the things I found out to add to my new regement:
  1. I will be eating a lot of oatmeal for the next few weeks (oatmeal makes me gag!).
  2. My Dr called in an RX for reglan for me.

  Here is what the lacation consultant said this morning. I had been taking the generic form of Robitussin for the crud off and on for a month now. My pharmacist said it was safe to take while nursing. Turns out, the Dm form is but the CF that I was taking will dry you up! Nice of the pharmacist not to tell me this when I specifically called and asked. HELLO!!!! If I am calling to see if I can take a medication while breastfeeding, then they should tell me if, not only, it will cross over into my milk but if it will dry me up!!!!!! That shouldn’t take too much common sense to add up together.

  I will be stopping by my pharmacy and having a conversation today after work. Now, my little boy is having a hard time sine he feels like he was just abruptly weaned. Last night was rough.

  Thank you for all your support and great ideas, as usual, Karen.

• Karen
  Mar 31, 2008 at 1:38 pm

  All that because of Robitussin!?! That really stinks!!!! At least you know what’s causing it so hopefully the Reglan and Fenugreek will start to work now and you can get your supply back.

• Maria
  Mar 31, 2008 at 1:38 pm

  Oh momma. Your story makes me so sad! I wanted to stop by again and wish you luck and give you an internet hug! It has to be heartbreaking! I have a link somewhere to a website that tells you these things, btw. I’ll search and post it. Maybe someone else can find it more quickly though. I have it bookmarked at home, but not at work. :(

  With the fenugreek– I added Blessed Thistle to that and it really helped me when I went back to work (the two together). Remember- smell the maple syrup!

• Karen
  Mar 31, 2008 at 1:38 pm

  I’m sure it was rough, especially considering you’re at the hospital today and probably pretty tired.

• Karen
  Mar 31, 2008 at 1:39 pm

  Oh, I just remembered . . . when I did have milk with baby #2, I took Alfalfa. lol It was recommended in the herb book.

• Maria
  Mar 31, 2008 at 1:41 pm

  From Ms. White on Breastfeeding1-2-3…

  http://www.toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT

  (for future reference)

• Allison
  Mar 31, 2008 at 2:25 pm

  So sorry to hear that you are struggling. I totally empathize! I started giving my boy a bottle about twice a week, and then my schedule made it so that he had to have one three times a day once a week…and after a few weeks my supply has just plummeted, and it just gets worse and worse!

  We’re sticking in Enfamil Lipil even though it’s expensive because we trust it…we got a few “samples” at the Dr’s office and received many coupons early on, but now we are stuck just paying for it and it is SO expensive!

• Rachel
  Apr 1, 2008 at 6:35 am

  I’m sorry you are going through this. I can relate. My daughter is on Nutramigen ($25/can) and we got involved with the WIC program. We get 8 cans/month for free with a doctor’s Rx. I don’t know how we would have afforded it. I had really wanted to breastfeed.

• Angie
  Apr 1, 2008 at 8:45 am

  I had supply issue big time while nursing my son. It was so stressful. I was actually a lot happier when we decided to switch to formula, even though part of me felt like I was letting him down. At least I was able to enjoy his “infanthood” more because I wasn’t putting so much pressure on myself.

  Another good place to find free formula, btw, is at Freepeats.org, if you’re in an area that has one. There’s a special board just for giving away formula samples and unused formula. There’s even another board for coupons and formula checks.

• kellys
  Apr 2, 2008 at 3:29 pm

  Thanks for all the tips. My supply is coming back. I am up to 3 oz per pump. Not the usual 8-10 oz per pump but I will take what I can get and it is getting us through. My girlfriend got me some samples from the salesrep from her office so that is helping a huge amount.

• What a great way to celebrate breast feeding
  Apr 2, 2008 at 3:45 pm

  […] am in awe of the support to you have shown me with my nursing dilemma.  When I talked to my boss about my issues, she just said to stop.  After all, Little Man is 8 […]

• Lindsey
  Apr 2, 2008 at 7:29 pm

  When my milk dried up because of baby #2, I registered with different formula companies. Not only did I get TONS of coupons (some useful, some not-so-much - but always appreciated) but I also received samples once every few months. The samples were smaller than normal cans, but a few of those last a week or so. :)

  Sorry to hear about your dilemma…hopefully when you stop taking robitussin, it will start to come back. Just remember to pump pump pump!

• Sign Up for Free Baby Products
  Apr 2, 2008 at 10:07 pm

  […] recent breastfeeding dilemma caused me to do a little search for free […]

• Susan
  Apr 3, 2008 at 9:13 am

  I have found that pharmacists aren’t really that knowledgeable about what is ok to take while breastfeeding, so whenever I have a question I try to ask a lactation consultant instead.

• kellys
  Apr 5, 2008 at 7:30 pm

  Susan, I will definitely agree this time.

• Libby
  Apr 6, 2008 at 6:23 pm

  I nursed my son well past his first year because of his food allergies, but had supply problems the whole time. Do you have a hospital grade pump? Renting one of those can make all the difference.

• kellys
  Apr 8, 2008 at 10:58 am

  I do have a great pump. It’s loud though since this is baby #3. I had it checked and it is fine.

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