Supplementing breastfeeding with formula .... ?

[Naterjack]

Hi girls

I am taking 10 weeks Mat leave before going back to work part time and would like to try BF for that time.

I work from home so it may not be a problem as i can BF where needed and express, BUT i would like to know that little one can have formula if needed when i am out at meetings, etc
Also maybe from a purely selfish point of view but if i am absolutey shattered, then hubby can feed at night for me.

Is it a bad idea to start newborns on one bottle per day, say in the evening, as well as BF throughout the day ?
Has anyone done this with theirs or have any tips / advice please ?

Thanks
Nat

 

[purplebluered]

I'm no expert and muddling through at the moment...I needed to top up with formula at the beginning just once a day at night time as my milk wasn't coming through properly...that stopped after a few days and now BF is established (they say wait approx 4-6 weeks) I'm starting to give one bottle at night of expressed and formula which gives me a break.

I guess what Im saying is the advice is to wait tll BF is established then introduce one bottle a day. If you leave it later than 6 weeks there's every chance baby will reject it. I have one friend who's LO rejected it at 4 weeks and she's now stuck.

Bet others can give better answers than me but HTH!

Helen

 

[Squiglet]

Don't do it. Not if you can help it. It will mess up your supply. Breast feeding is a supply and demand thing... If you feed your LO formula you are telling your boobs that they are not needed so much so they will produce less milk. Also a breast and a bottle provide milk in different ways and you risk confusing the baby. Its much easier to get milk from a bottle than a breast so you risk your LO becoming lazy and refusing to take the boob in preference of the fast flowing easy available convenience milk from a bottle.

Of course its your decision, but you do take the risk of the breast feeding being ruined. Imo I think you should make a decision to either exclusively breastfeed or to formula feed. Have a good look into both methods, the risks and advantages, in the same way you look up the reviews for choosing the best and safest car seat and make a decision based on that .

From my experience, I had this choice taken away from me by the SCBU who introduced bottles when they closed the ward and I wasn't allowed in and to fill up the babies to stop them crying... Thus ruining my supply of milk and it then took me ages to dump the bottles, and caused lots of tears and frustration.

Breast feeding isn't established until at least 6 weeks and by then you may be able to express and give that rather than having to resort to formula.

 

[Naterjack]

hhmm i can see your point BUT i would be doing it for a good reason and surely some breast milk is better than none !
Surely its not a case of if you cant BF all the time don't do it at all

 

[valentine]

hhmm i can see your point BUT i would be doing it for a good reason and surely some breast milk is better than none !
Surely its not a case of if you cant BF all the time don't do it at all

Absolutely - I think some breast milk is better than none and it is certainly possible to do both (I don't have any personal experience of this but many of my Mummy friends did this successfully for months) - but you do have to be careful.

As Squiglet says, breastfeeding works on a supply and demand basis - the less the baby feeds, the less milk your body will make - and in the early days it is crucial to stimulate your millk supply as much as possible, even if you do intend to mix feed. Also, it is possible for young babies to get nipple confusion when they are very small - its easier to get the milk via a bottle teat than from the nipple, less hard work, so many babies prefer the bottle and refuse to latch on to the nipple. So for these two reasons, its not really recommended to mix feed before your baby is about 6 weeks old as you may end up only formula feeding due to low supply or baby's nipple confusion, which clearly isn't what you want to do.

Lots of luck to you, hopefully someone who has more experience of mixed feeding can let you know how it works for them.

Valentine Xxx

 

[Redshoes]

I breast and formula fed Isaac and found it just fine, there was always milk there for him from the breast because we had our breastfeeding routine, it just wasn't exclusive, and Isaac never had nipple confusion, not all babies do. Do whatever works for you and your lifestyle, as long as LO is healthy and happy then thats what matters. Don't put too much pressure on yourself to achieve a certain routine as yet either, because sometimes routines change and so just be willing to do whats best for you and LO, whether that be exclusive breast to exclusive formula, or anything in between, very best wishes

 

[Naterjack]

thanks all - i am going to play it by ear but my work means that it may be impossible to solely BF after 10 weeks, we will see

Its got to be right for both me and LO and i'll do the best i can

 

[andreag]

As some of the others have said, I would stick with BF in the early days and introduce a bottle when you need to. We gave our LO a bottle of EBM at around 3 weeks just to ensure she would take a bottle, and she had about 1 a week from then - we never had a problem with her taking from a bottle. When you are back at work your supply will be up and running so missing the odd feed won't make a difference.
Good luck with it all - I loved bfing

 

[purple13]

Don't do it. Not if you can help it. It will mess up your supply. Breast feeding is a supply and demand thing... If you feed your LO formula you are telling your boobs that they are not needed so much so they will produce less milk. Also a breast and a bottle provide milk in different ways and you risk confusing the baby. Its much easier to get milk from a bottle than a breast so you risk your LO becoming lazy and refusing to take the boob in preference of the fast flowing easy available convenience milk from a bottle.

Of course its your decision, but you do take the risk of the breast feeding being ruined. Imo I think you should make a decision to either exclusively breastfeed or to formula feed. Have a good look into both methods, the risks and advantages, in the same way you look up the reviews for choosing the best and safest car seat and make a decision based on that .

From my experience, I had this choice taken away from me by the SCBU who introduced bottles when they closed the ward and I wasn't allowed in and to fill up the babies to stop them crying... Thus ruining my supply of milk and it then took me ages to dump the bottles, and caused lots of tears and frustration.

Breast feeding isn't established until at least 6 weeks and by then you may be able to express and give that rather than having to resort to formula.

what she said!

 

[Happybunny]

I have to supplement my little one with formula and have done since 9 weeks (with a three week break from 12 - 15 weeks when there were some issues). I had to do it because of very poor supply and very poor weight gain for my baby.

I absolutely agree with every one that you should exclusively BF until 6 weeks if you can to establish a good supply or else your boddy will be confused and you may have problems breast feeding full stop. Personally, if you have good supply I would do as Squig suggest and just give baby expressed milk in a bottle.

Whether you decide to use forumla or EBM, it may be worth using bottles like the Breast Flow ones... http://www.breastflow.co.uk/. They have an inner teat so baby has to work harder to get the milk from it. It prevents them from getting too lazy and refusing the breast. Laracomps suggested them to me when April was fussing on the breast because she was getting lazy from the bottle. Things got a lot better when we started using them, now we switch between boob and bottle fine.

 

[leckershell]

I mixed fed from about 4 months, on a purely selfish basis that I neeeeeeeeded my sleep at night so I started giving a bottle as the evening feed (and expressing what I would have fed).

I found it fine so long as I expressed what I would have fed if I gave a bottle.. and expressing takes near enough the same time as the feeding does anyway.

Don't be disheartened by people saying not to mix... it worked fine for me and plenty of others and at the end of the day you've got to do what's right for both of you. x

 

[MummyJess]

I would try not to introduce a bottle until you have to, as some others have said. But, like you plan to, I gave my youngest a bottle of formula when i had to be away from her for meetings, nights out etc. It was prob only ever 1 or 2 a week and it never affected my supply of breastmilk or confused her.

It is very possible to do if you don't have time for or get on with expressing. I expressed with my oldest so she was solely breastfed but had less time when my second was born so she had some expressed bottles and some formula. I knew it was going to put too much pressure on me with my 3rd so just decided to offer formula when I wasn't there.

Good luck with whatever you decide but do try to breastfeed exclusively until you absolutely HAVE to introduce a bottle.

 

[trixipaws]

i supplemented breastfeeding with formula very well, but i didnt introduce formula until she was 6 months old. i'd hav thought 10 weeks is a little early, i wasnt quite an established breastfeeder by then, i'd hit it around 3 months. i might be wrong tho. good luck!! xx

 

[Xena]

It CAN potentially work supplementing ...but it can also be a slippery slope to stopping breastfeeding altogether.
I don't really recommend it.