Combi feeding

[Melanie3103]

I need your advice...

I am pregnant with my 2nd child, not due til November, but starting to think about it all.

I never had any intention of BF my first child (adamant i wouldn't in fact) then i just tried it - not even sure why. He took to it straight away. I have to admit tho - it was really really hard at times! Espec at nights - he would feed so often and for so long. I was exhausted all the time - and sometimes it would really hurt too.

So hubby and I chatted - and I stopped at 4wks - expressed for 2 more weeks. Then had formula from 6wks he started to sleep through. Again he took to the switch easily.

I genuinely believe that it got in the way of my healing (I had a bad tear with him) - and I think the upset and pressure of trying to continue BF didn't help. So the move to bottle was the best decision, and I'm so pleased I did.

Anyway fast forward to now... as soon as I was pregnant, I said I would not BF this time. Again was adamant i wouldnt - this time I have to have a csection too so even more so I thought NO to breastfeeding this time.

Now it's funny - I am wondering if I might combi feed. Anyone know how this might work ? If I combi feed from the start - to make sure he has the very best start, but there's far less pressure on me to exlusively BF. AND means the nights can be shared - by perhaps feeding bottles at night - this is when my son started sleeping through once we switched to bottle. Is it as simple as alternating between boob n bottle ? Can I express as well ?

Anyone with experience of combi feeding ? x

 

[MoominGirl]

I have no experience but I'm really interested in this. Due to my hormone problems (high prolactin), doctors think it's quite possible it may actually help me breast feed so I plan to give it a good go. As we don't have family close, we would really like OH to be able to feed as well. I know we will just have to see how it plays out but in an ideal world, I hope we would be able to do some sort of combi feeding.

 

[Charlotte9]

Melanie... Congratulations on your pregnancy.

I understand how frustrating and stressful BF can be. But once you crack it then it's amazing! I've been BF since my baby was 4 days old. He is now 3 months. I must admit I was thinking of giving up so many times. Especially during first month but glad I continued.

Midwives at the hospital said to me just carry on and you will love it. I was crying and said I could not do it. But I just carried on. And I love it now. No bottles to sterilise and it's such a beautiful way to bond with your baby.

Have you thought about trying BF again? Once you reach 2 months it gets very easy. Get a booby out and feed. Feeds are shorter as baby gets older. x

 

[SF2018]

I started off exclusively BF, then combi fed, then exclusively FF. The problem with combi feeding is your supply will decrease and continue to decrease as baby isn't feeding from you for all their feeds. You would likely have to express as often as you would if exclusively breastfeeding, just to keep your supply up so you could actually combi feed....

 

[Icecreamdream]

I combination fed both my girls from early on. They both went between bottle and boob perfectly fine and it worked well for us. I used tommee tippee bottles and aptimal formular but I never really got to grips with expressing. I plan on doing the same this time round also. Xx

 

[HGMonster]

I breast fed my first baby for a month and it was like living in hell. I had so many midwifes, breast feeding volunteers, health visitors observe me doing it as he wasn't gaining enough weight and they ALL said i was doing it right but my breasts were just empty all the time and he obviously wasn't getting enough (despite him being attached to me nearly constantly).

Midwife suggested i continue to breast feed and use a top up bottle in the evenings which is was i did and it was a huge relief. I bought a cheap express machine but didn't get on with it and unfortunately my milk started drying up as I wasn't having to feed him as much due to the bottle and so he ended up being bottle fed from about 2 months.

I am 12 weeks with my second and I am going to give it another go and hopefully it will work out better this time. I think that even if you do it for a while its better than nothing I definitely won't be beating myself up like I did the first time about it though, i felt like such a failure which was aweful. We should be more kind to ourselves.

I would recommend a decent express machine not a cheap one to make your life easier as nobody tells you how difficult BF actually is! The combo feeding didn't work for me but it might for you. Cant hurt to give it a go.

Good luck

 

[Melanie3103]

Yeah this is what I thought... something is better than nothing...

The best stuff is in that first couple of days anyway, so I will have a go... but I didn't mind expressing. It was the every hour on the hour for 45mins sometimes, and the BF-ing in public, I was never comfortable.

So this would feel like the best of both worlds... not to mention sharing the experience with hubby. So I am happy to express so he/she still gets some of the good stuff. We'll see..

 

[Jade4149]

I expressed for the first 3 months with both of mine... (neither could breastfeed ... turned out to be due to tongue tie) it worked well for me. You know how much they are taking so I found it so much easier to get into a routine. It is difficult to keep up with expressing and I couldn't have done more than 3 months as towards the end I was taking medication to keep my milk supply.
I intend to try to breastfeed this one but combi would be ideal, I know not to put to much pressure on myself to actually breastfeed !!

 

[Melanie3103]

Thanks ladies x

 

[TORino]

I’ve not combo fed but I’m still bf my little boy who is 18 weeks almost and I fed my daughter until she was 1. I think you should be able t do that if you want. Bear in mind your body will be guided by your baby and how regularly you put it to the breast to establish your milk supply. It might be best if you feed formula at set times of the day instead of randomly to help your milk supply build up.

 

[Diamond18]

I BF my eldest until 16months and second until 3.

Colostrum is probably the most "important" milk, which baby should have right after birth. Personally, I'd advise to feed baby from breast for the first few days (weeks if possible) so that your milk can have time to come in well and establish supply, before introducing a bottle.

As others have said, combi feeding restricts the amount of milk you'll make, due to your body not being able to take the cues from baby feeding to increase supply.

I'd recommend investing in a good pump, you can buy or rent from local breastfeeding support networks. NCT used to rent them out, not sure if they still do. Xx

 

[Melanie3103]

Thanks everyone xx

 

[candymycandy]

Just to add my experience though I see you have many!

With lb no1, he was in special care for the first week and Nil by mouth for some of that, and as a result I struggled to increase supply even with a pump (I have pcos which also affects supply). So as a result we combi fed from early on and it worked well for us.

With lb no2 I was intent on BFing exclusively (aside from anything else it saves money!!). However again due to supply issues which meant he was nursing almost constantly, we introduced formula from 4 weeks. Best decision. Ultimately it meant I got to sleep more than 20 mins at a time and most importantly meant he has carried on getting BM (6m old now).

A pp is right in that your supply is affected - BUT it will adjust accordingly, it won’t dry up or anything, so if you’re happy with that then go for combi. As an example I say give my lb 3 breast feeds and 3 bottle feeds.

I agree with pp to not introduce a bottle immediately, but equally I wouldn’t leave it too long as this risks them not taking a bottle at all. Fine balance!

Whatever you decide to do, remember a fed baby and a happy mum are best xx

 

[Melanie3103]

Thanks thats great advice, appreciate that x