Thoughts on mixed feeding

[GARNERS]

Does anyone have any thoughts on mixed feeding. My DD is 7 weeks old and although i have persevered with the BF i find she sleeps before she has taken very much. I can't say that i have found Bf very easy either. I really want to do the right thing by her so am now alternating BF and FF. However my health visitor seems to think this can cause colic as well as confusing DD. Any advice?

[aitch71ababe]

my only thought is that once you start it is very difficult to go back. i mix-fed for 17 weeks, because i was advised to give formula when she was losing worrying amounts of weight. maybe i would have stuck it out longer if i'd known what i know now.

i didn't so much give up bf-ing as my daughter did, because over time she just grew to prefer the bottle as it was so much easier. less stimulation = even less milk = even more work = even less preferable to lovely easy-peasy bottle.

so you must do whatever you think is right for you and your baby, whatever that is. but if you would rather breastfeed completely then i would think about investing in a really good breast pump. mine was the ameda lactaline and it was excellent (and quiet), but i think perhaps i got it a bit too late in the day to really help.

i don't know about the colic thing, as we were lucky that my dd never got it.
OH, and the one piece of advice i would give you is that sometimes HV's talk shite. not all, and if you get a good one then that's excellent. but sometimes... utter drivel.

and congratulations on the 7 week old, i found it all got much easier after 8 weeks for some reason. we just clicked in.

[tiktok]

Garners, I think the downside of mixed feeding is not colic or really confusion of the baby - most babies can manage to feed breast or bottle without being confused. But the risk is to longer-term breastfeeding (and the effect on health of non-excl bf).

Some mothers find mixed feeding suits them and they are fine with it, but the main drawback is that any formula esp in the early weeks can undermine breastmilk production, and alternating bf and ff as you are doing is likely to have an impact on supply, to the extent that the amount of breastmilk becomes less and less likely to satisfy your baby. Any breastmilk you give for however long is worth it, and your baby is protected by the antibodies and of course well-nourished by it, but the volume of breastmilk is likely to dwindle.

It's frequent removal of milk that drives the supply of breastmilk, and less frequent removal reduces supply....that's just the way it works!

Have you had any help in fixing the breastfeeding so it goes better? Not sure what you mean about sleeping, but if you give more details, there may be something we can come up with that could help. Was your baby growing well on breastmilk alone?

[LaDiDaDi]

I'm not convinced that it would be more likely to cause colic (althought others may know better) but I do think that your breastmilk supply may suffer as mine has, I'm mixed feeding dd aged 13weeks. I am going to end up with dd entirely formula fed, esp as she is now sleeping through the night so less stimulation for my breasts etc etc.

It's up to you really and I would hate to pressure you in to continuing with breastfeeding if it's not what you want to do but from my experience it is difficult to continue to mix feed. Having said that dd does still enjoy her time at the breast and finds it a great comfort if she is upset.

[tiktok]

aitch is right - when the breastfeeding starts to be less rewarding to the baby, they can end up preferring the bottle, rejecting the breast. But they're not confused, just expressing a preference

[Beanmummy]

Have you tried expressing? - My health visitor suggested expressing in the morning - and give later in the day, when supply was low. Once DS got used to the bottle - also added small amounts of formula. I found that buying the small cartons was great to see which formula DS liked! DS now 24 weeks, and is mostly BF but with FF and it works well, he is not confused.

good luck

[trotskymow]

Hi Garners, we used to keep DS awake by taking clothes off him to keep him cool, holding him in front of a fan for a few seconds (it was v. hot when he was tiny...), tickling his feet/ears/face etc.

Have you expressed at all? could you express and top up after bf with an expressed bottle rather than giving formula? Just concerned that if you mix feed, then your supply will drop as well, which will make the bf even harder for you and her. Expressing will help increase your supply instead.

I don't know why mixed feeding would cause colic though. I presume by confusing DD she's talking about breast/bottle and nipple confusion? DS was never confused about this when I gave him bottles of expressed milk! If it works, then don't worry. You'll see from lots of threads on here that HVs don't necessarily get much good press for their sometimes random and odd remarks...!

[trotskymow]

ooh, all those posts appeared while I composed mine!

[GARNERS]

I am finding that it is taking hours to BF DD as she falls asleep on the breast before she is full up. HAve tried everything to try to keep her awake. Another thing that is swaying me towards the mixed feeding. Sounds a bit selfish going on about the time it takes but its starting to become a massive issue in my head and i really want to be a happy mum with a full up baby.

[Mojomummy]

Hi garners, my DD2 is 3 weeks & she is exclusively BF. I find she has a little doze, but I liken it to a little rest as her tummy is full ( a bit like when I eat too much . Sometimes I put her over my shoulder to bring up any wind, then she gets back on. She doesn't feed for long though, between 5-15mins, maybe 20. but the whole process can take about 30 mins.

I've sort of resigned myself to the fact of not getting much done (she is sleeping at the mo & I'm still in my PJ's).

My previous MW told me mixed feeding can upset their tummies. Not sure if it's true.

As she is 7 weeks old, you will hopefully find that she starts to take more & go longer between the feeds.

[GARNERS]

This is a great site. Its the first time i've used it and loads of advice already. Thanks everyone

[LaDiDaDi]

Garners it is not selfish! I agree that the most important thing is for a happy mum and baby. Don't beat youself up about being selfish. You need to be happy for your dd to be happy too.

[aitch71ababe]

seconded, Ladidahdi. the most important thing is to be happy and relaxed, so whatever works...
BUT formula feeding is a real faff, sterilising and all that, so there is a case to be made that if you can crack the BF-ing it will be easier in the long run as baby gets more experienced at bf-ing with a better supply of milk.

[aitch71ababe]

...by the way garners i am completely selfish... i'm fine with it.

[cece]

I mixed fed DS from about 5 weeks. All feeds were bf except his mid afternoon one. This was formula. I did it mainly so I could go out at some point in the day! BF out of the house is not for me - and I bf dd for 8 months and ds for 15 months. Can only think of about 5 ocassiona where I was out of house for bf.

Anyway I started off with that and when he got a bit older and I had to go back to work his feeds at the cm were formula and the rest bf.

Do what feels right for you. I exclusively bf dd and foudn mixed feedign better for me with ds - hence he bf for 15 months and I had given up with dd by 8 months!