What are your thoughts on...

[poochielove]

Mixing breast feeding and formula? I would like to take up an offer of a night to get some kip and MIL to have him for a night as i currently am on the verge of what seems to be either a really bad cold or flu. I am really struggling as i am so weak.
When he was 2 weeks i went out for 2.5 hours on a work meal and left Teddy at home with MIL. Midwife told me to express off 100ml and this would be plenty, however it took me having to sit in the bath putting my boobs in hot water and expressing into a jug. This took me ages and i had to do it twice in 2 days to get enough. When i got home he was screaming to be fed and MIL said he demolished the bottle in about 2 seconds flat and screamed for more even though i had fed him before i went out
By no means do i want to give up breast feeding as its working for us but i found it so hard to express for him and to have enough for a whole night when he can sometimes feed every hour seems a huge task! I also in a selfish way feel that if hes on formula at night he may sleep better and for longer...
This breast feeding business is pretty hard at times

 

[LisaJ1986]

If i could do it i would. I tried giving a bottle every once in a while but Angel never took to it.
If it's once every now and again then i can't see it being a problem, just be prepared to feel a bit heavy in the morning. I'm one who never mastered the art of expressing! I tried so hard for her to turn her nose up at the bottle anyway, then it got tipped down the sink!
And don't always expect him to sleep through either. I managed to get Angel to take a bottle once but she still woke for her usual 3am, 5am and 7am feeds!
Take the break! I would!

 

[poochielove]

If i could do it i would. I tried giving a bottle every once in a while but Angel never took to it.
If it's once every now and again then i can't see it being a problem, just be prepared to feel a bit heavy in the morning. I'm one who never mastered the art of expressing! I tried so hard for her to turn her nose up at the bottle anyway, then it got tipped down the sink!
And don't always expect him to sleep through either. I managed to get Angel to take a bottle once but she still woke for her usual 3am, 5am and 7am feeds!
Take the break! I would!

Well he definatly does not have a problem with a bottle haha! Too bloody greedy!
I dont think i have mastered the art either, maybe i should try a breast pump? I feel like i may be doing more harm than good by mixing them and feel guilty. Oh i dont no

 

[lindseylou]

I don't have any advice on formula feeds I'm afraid hun but would recommend trying a pump. I bought a manual breast pump while pregnant. Went for a manual one as thought I would rather be in control of it incase it hurt and is a hell of alot cheaper. I don't use it very much but has been great for when I want to nip out or even in the early days when I would be so full that bubba couldn't latch on very well.

Hope all goes well! XX

 

[kalia]

What would make you feel best? If it would be having a break then give him the formula. If that would make you feel guilty then don't give him the formula.

DD exclusively had expressed breast milk for 22 weeks and then we mix fed until Christmas (33 weeks) and now she just gets 1 bottle of breast milk a day from the months supply in the freezer.

It would have taken me forever to hand express the milk! Hand expressing works really well with the first really full bit but then for me it would quickly decrease. An elecrtic double pump (the Ameda dual for £85 ) was the best thing we bought! But would be complete over kill for your situation, if you are only expressing once in a while then a manual pump would be absolutely fine.

The Avent is better than the Tommee Tippee BUT given that you are not talking about expressing every day, the Tommee Tippee is usually for sale somewhere for £10 -£15. i got mine in Tescos ahlf price. They are often in TK Maxx - I saw them there for £5 once!

Remember if you miss a feed however your breasts will feel like they are going to explode!

From what you said in your post you are tired. I don't know if this is something you'd like to do but my friend used to express every morning after feeding LO (you're likely to have more milk then because you have slept). Her OH would feed that to their baby at 11pm so she could go to bed at about 9pm and get a good chunk of sleep.

I can't remember the details exactly but formula does strip a protective coating from the lining of their stomach so formula can make a difference. It's up to you to weigh it up and decide what is best for the pair of you though as if you are tired that will make looking after him hard.

 

[MagicMarkers]

Im not sure if this is an ok thing to do but it worked for me so il let you know because i started expressing via the dunk in the bath and go for it method !
I tried feeding Flo off one boob for 2 or 3 feeds in a row, then the other boob got quite engorged so it was really really easy to express out, and i got much more this way and easier tahn trying to do it any other way ! Another thing was getting Flo to start me off then using the pump worked well

 

[millylillyrose]

if you think you would like to do it on a regular baisis, i would advise on getting a breast pump. I found that i prefer the manual pump to my electric, i think its just that i can sync up better than the electric scution and get more out quicker.

I've never given LO formula, but im sure it cant hurt, think about babies who are 100% formular fed. he wont be missing out by the odd feed here and there.

 

[Sandi4Paul]

i think you def need a night off if you are getting sick, trying to bf when ill is very draining and decreases your supply.

my friend used to express every morning after feeding LO (you're likely to have more milk then because you have slept). Her OH would feed that to their baby at 11pm so she could go to bed at about 9pm and get a good chunk of sleep.

we did this too, it saved my sanity early on. if you go this route def buy an expresser, i have a manual avent and loved it, one of my best purchases in the end

Sandi

 

[poochielove]

I think a breast pump is the way to go then, i would also feel alot better about keeping him on breast milk while he is this young as he is thriving on it. I was thinking about buying some booby bags (dont no what they are called ) for the freezer and expressing every few days and freezing it then i can have a fairly good supply for other people to feed him.

 

[kalia]

It sounds like you are thinking of expressing some days and not others. You may find that difficult. It would be better to express at the same time each day to build that supply. Don't expect to get lots to begin with unless you are skipping a feed as your baby would still be taking the normal amount of milk and what you express is extra until your body gets in the habit. It will take at least a week of expressing at the same time each day to build the supply. Remember that you can freeze all the small amounts to begin with and defrosts several to provide a feed.

 

[poochielove]

It sounds like you are thinking of expressing some days and not others. You may find that difficult. It would be better to express at the same time each day to build that supply. Don't expect to get lots to begin with unless you are skipping a feed as your baby would still be taking the normal amount of milk and what you express is extra until your body gets in the habit. It will take at least a week of expressing at the same time each day to build the supply. Remember that you can freeze all the small amounts to begin with and defrosts several to provide a feed.

oh i see what ur saying now. Was getting confused. In that case thats how i will do it

 

[charlotte_]

if you think you would like to do it on a regular baisis, i would advise on getting a breast pump.

me too.
i bought a tommee tippee manual one, it was only a few pounds from tesco and it worked really well; you do get a proper tired arm though!
MIL got me an electric one for christmas though, and now i've got the hand of it i love it. can easily get 5oz a go.

i've started expressing at about 2pm (should be doing it now, haha) every day, and i'm freezing half, and putting half in a bottle for my OH to give zach.