Mix feeding advice needed PLEASE

[3ChangingForNow]

Baby 2 days old, we're about to be discharged. Want to mix feed so DP can take on a lot of care as he will be SAHD. Please can I have some advice on how to make this successful?

I mix fed for months and it worked great.

I have 2 pieces of advice that worked for me.

First, it is (supposedly) easier for a baby to get milk out of a bottle than out of a breast. It takes more effort on the baby's part to get milk from the breast. So if you introduce the "easier" option before your baby has mastered the harder option your baby might reject the harder one. But once you are confident baby has figured it out then it's fine. Your baby is not suddenly going to forget how to feed from the breast.

Second, breastfeeding is about supply and demand. So start off by giving a set amount in a bottle each day and all the rest being breastfeeding. Then you will still keep up with growth spurts.

After a few months you will find you can be a whole lot more flexible. My ds used to stay overnight with my parents and bottle feed with them no problem then breastfeed with me. But if you want to breastfeed at all longer term then go slowly for the first while.

We mix fed for a while, and I was frustrated at the lack of advice out there. I think my breastfeeding journey would have lasted longer had I had info on combination feeding successfully.

My advice would be to choose specific feeds and stick to those to formula feed. So my dh always did a formula feed for the dream feed at 10.30pm. Apparently breastfeeding overnight is important for your supply, but I didn't, choosing to breastfeed in the day time only. This seemed to work for us.

Introduce a bottle between week 2 & 3. Any earlier and baby might struggle to continue breastfeeding and later they might reject the bottle. Only bottle feed at a time for a while or your supply will dwindle.