Combi feeding - expressed vs formula

[kumber]

Hey mummies

Just looking for your opinions on combi feeding. I'm determined to bf as much as possible but would also like for LO to have a bottle a day. I'm unsure of whether to go for expressed milk or formula.

Expressed is obviously much better for baby because of my antibodies, etc., however I worry about the practicality of expressing with a newborn and 14 month old. I'm concerned that I will struggle for time to actually do it and then trying to build up could also be difficult.

I am keen for my mom to take baby for a few hours a week quite early on - she did so with ds and he prefers her to us when she's around! Expressing feeds for when she takes him may be a challenge - he could need up to 3-4 feeds so roughly 15oz+ a week. This seems like quite a lot if expressing, is it just me?

If we had him on a bottle of formula from the get go, it would mean the pressure would be off me and my boobs but he wouldn’t be having my milk and the cost will still be fairly high.

What do you all think, I'm so torn.

 

[bigbee]

We are doing Combi feeding. We try to give the boy a bottle every night, just before bed.

I also express. This is so I can go out and not worry about bf in public. So we do it all

To be honest I struggle to express when I'm at home alone with the baby, as he hates being in his bed and much prefers my chest so it's a bit tricky to navigate the pump with one hand.

You could try a bit of both (Bf bottle and formula bottle) and see what works for you?

 

[kumber]

I was thinking that but would need to get a new pump in that case and I don't wanna buy something to hardly use it. I used the Tommee Tippee manual previously and absolutely despised it so if I'm going to pump I'll probably go for an electric.

 

[bigbee]

Did you not like the manual pump or that particular make of pump? I decided to go for manual medela, and it seems alright...although that's the only pump I've ever tried so none the wiser

As you know, I struggled a little (emotionally!) with introducing the bottle, but glad we have. It's also given me confidence to venture out and not worry about getting my boob out in public

I think the baby will still get the benefits of bf if you only give him formula when he is from you? Shouldn't be so pricey of its only a few times per week?

 

[kumber]

It could be that particular pump, it really hurt my arm and the constant cleaning and sterilising was such a pain. I know all pumps need cleaning and I don't know if I can be bothered with the faff. Formula would be easier cus we have some left over from ds that's still sealed and, as we would only be doing 1 bottle a day, it wouldn't work out as a huge cost in comparison to a pump.

 

[Taboo917]

We give Caleb one bottle of formula a day, for his feed before he goes to bed at night. I had to combi feed early o (expressed milk and formula) n as I had extremely damaged nipples and once I went back to BFing I didn't want him to lose being able to drink from a bottle.

I expressed for about 2 months and what id say is it got a lot harder to fit it in as Caleb became more active and alert. We use powder for that feed and a tub of formula (£10) lasts us about 3-4 weeks. I'd say introducing a bottle early on is a good idea one way or another, lots of my friends are having difficulties with it now and they're coming to the point they want to wean them off the breast.

Your little one may be fussy at first but probably more because of the bottle rather than it being formula vs expressed..ultimately it's food to them - Caleb's never had any bother with accepting formula he guzzles both happily!