Is it possible to mix BF and Bottle?

[ejjie]

deleted

 

[Sandi4Paul]

i exprssed and gave this late at night so i could sleep while my OH did it,started at a week old which is much earlier than current advice of 6 weeks to introduce a bottle for a breast fed baby.

We did try GF as well, but it didn't work well for us (or the three other mothers i know who tried it to). I would suggest not making final decisions like this until your baby arrives they don't tend to read books and like to do things their own way.

Sandi

 

[CoreysMummy]

Friends of mine gave a bottle of formula every night since their boy was born and it didnt affect BF at all!

They also follow GF to the letter, adn have done since day dot. They seem to be doing great on it!

I however, have read all the books, looked on all the sites, and do what I think/feel is best... taking on board all the suggestions and info! Ull do great hun xx

 

[charlotte_]

it can reduce your supply, i express a bottle for my OH to give to zach at night.

 

[trixipaws]

i mixed BF and bottle for 2 months- when millie was six to eight months old. it worked really well idk how easy it is to mix the two before 6 months tho

 

[purplebluered]

We did that, gave Isaac a bottle of EBM at about 10/10:30pm ish. We did it from the day I came home from hospital and worked really well for us. Even if I hadn't read the GF book we'd still have done it, it just seemed to make sense to me I think the important thing is (imho) is to be consistent and do it at the same time every day and don't get tempted into topping with formula any other time of day, if you want to really establish breastfeeding. DH liked doing the bottle and it certainly gave me a break, definitely helped me as I went to bed earlier and was more refreshed for the middle of the night feeds

 

[ejjie]

We did that, gave Isaac a bottle of EBM at about 10/10:30pm ish. We did it from the day I came home from hospital and worked really well for us. Even if I hadn't read the GF book we'd still have done it, it just seemed to make sense to me I think the important thing is (imho) is to be consistent and do it at the same time every day and don't get tempted into topping with formula any other time of day, if you want to really establish breastfeeding. DH liked doing the bottle and it certainly gave me a break, definitely helped me as I went to bed earlier and was more refreshed for the middle of the night feeds

This is what I was thinking, it would make me way more refreshed for the middle of the night feed and give hubby chance to bond. Wanted to do it from day one if possible but wasn't sure if it would work. You've given me some confidence anyways thanks x

 

[Lynsey]

We have done this from day one and it hasnt affected my milk supply at all. I have also just introduced a bottle of formula at lunch time too and going well so far!! Go for it, it's great for OH to bond.

 

[jo jo]

I mixed it and Jess got very bad colic

 

[ejjie]

I mixed it and Jess got very bad colic

Hi Jojo,

Did I miss you getting your BFP?!?!? Congrats that's brilliant news.

Do you think that it was the mixing of BF and FF that made Jess get colic? x

 

[Julie84]

According to the books FF babies are meant to get more/worse colic and wind but Jessica really suffers with wind and has only ever been breast fed so I personally think it's one of those things.

My brothers and sisters were all breast fed and only two of them (there are 6 of us) had really bad colic.

I can't stand the thought of sterilsing and making up a bottle etc because I'm so very lazy. My health visitor is not impressed at all but I find it much easier to just have Jessica in bed with us and let her latch on whenever she is hungry during the night.

 

[purplebluered]

According to the books FF babies are meant to get more/worse colic and wind but Jessica really suffers with wind and has only ever been breast fed so I personally think it's one of those things.

My brothers and sisters were all breast fed and only two of them (there are 6 of us) had really bad colic.

I can't stand the thought of sterilsing and making up a bottle etc because I'm so very lazy. My health visitor is not impressed at all but I find it much easier to just have Jessica in bed with us and let her latch on whenever she is hungry during the night.

I can relate to the laziness bit! I've only just weaned LO to the bottle (fully bottlefed from weds hopefully ) due to a whole host of reasons...I should have done it weeks ago but the reason I didn't - I'm such a lazy so and so!! But I do honestly feel so much better but that's an entirely different story.

With regards to colic, I also think it's one of those things. Out of all my friends whose babies had colic, they all were fed in such a variety of different ways. Interestingly the people who followed the GF routine had less of a problem with it. (out of my small group study sample ) We never had a problem with it, Isaac had a bottle of EBM for a while but then I stopped that cos I just got fed up of expressing, I could only ever express 2 ozs in an hour!!!! so he had a bottle of formula instead. Never did him any harm. I followed the feeding times as per GF and it worked well for us.

 

[Jenny123]

I am following GF routine and bottle feeding (formula) for the 10.30 feed and Hannah is thriving now. She rarely cries, is always smiling and giggling, goes to sleep with no rocking or dummy at her nap times and sleeps through to 7.30am. I just wish I'd started doing it earlier. Only thing is that my boobs get very full by the morning feed (hannah is happy to empty them for me at 7.30 though)

 

[Chrissy1]

I had the Gina Ford book and I've sort of followed it but not been too strict with it. My husband gave Poppy a bottle of expressed milk at her put down feed every night from the day my milk came in and we never had a problem with it. It worked brilliantly for us because it meant I could get to bed a bit early and have some sleep before I started the night feeds and it meant he wasn't having to get up in the nights.

The only time we've had a problem is once she started sleeping through I started to put her down and she didn't have a bottle for about a week and half.......when I tried to get her to take one again she screamed blue murder until I gave in and gave her breast. With a lot of persistance I've managed to get her to take a bottle again but she knows she prefers breast now and doesn't take from a bottle as good as she used to. The only advice I would give is make sure you keep at it if you start