Can I bf every other night without my supply drying uup?

[Ragtaggle]

My ds (Three months) is breastfed and goes to bed every night at sevven. My husband wakes him up at eleven and gives him one bottle of formula. He then wakes again anywhere between three and five before the morning. Last night my dh did the middle of the night feed with formula (It was actually fivve thirty - lucky him!) I would like us to keep taking it in tuurns but will I affect my breastmilk if I ony breastfeed every other night? Apologies for the gaps that are in the words in this post - something wrong with my keyboard!)

[Dinosaur]

No expert, but I would have thought that if he's fully breastfed otherwise (that is, you are breastfeeding him regularly throughout the day) your supply should be fine.

[morningpaper]

Messing around with formula is EXTREMELY likely to end your breastfeeding relationship prematurely.

Have you tried pumping?

[melrose]

Sorry morningpaper but I completely disagree. I mix fed from ds being 6weeks (occasional daytime bottles and alternating night feeds)had no effect on my milk and bf till 6.5 months

[SenoraPostrophe]

do a search on mixed feeding. In general, it does mess up your supply at 3 months (can be ok a bit later), although there are exceptions.

[NotQuiteCockney]

I think you might be ok if your supply is otherwise fine.

But pumping is safer, and exclusive bf is better for your little one.

[Ragtaggle]

Pumping proving tricky with a toddler(Who is struggling with extreme jealousy when I'm bfeeding as it is) to think about too. The problem with mumsnet is that you end up with lots of different opinions and aren't sure which one to believe! I would be interested to know what mears or any other bf counsellors think. Are you there?

[NotQuiteCockney]

From what I know, mixed feeding before 6 weeks is very very likely to cause supply problems, and make you stop bf earlier than you want to. After that, it is less likely to be a problem.

The benefits of bf are reduced by mixed feeding. But not removed.

[Laura032004]

Aren't the night time feeds also the most important ones to keep up in terms of keeping supply up? Or is that only in the early days? I didn't bf ds at night, as he slept through naturally from about 11 until 7 from three days after birth, and never had any problems, but he was otherwise 100% bf from source. However, at 6m he started feeding at night, and again, no problems, supply was there for that.

I think my periods came back so quickly (12w - but could have been earlier as still bleeding after birth until about 10w!) because of lack of night feeding, as some hormone level changes. I think the Kellymom.com website had quite a lot of info on the whole night feeding thing. HTH