Mixed feeding from birth

[NotSoThinLizzy]

Can it be done from birth? I tried waiting the 6 weeks with DS but he was a firm bottle refuser. Would rather just start from when this one is born if its possible anyone done it?

I'm not determined to beastfeed I'm still breastfeeding DS at 17 months just now hopefully he'll wean soon and I'll get a break think I'll be more OK with breastfeeding if I get a break

I believe mixed feeding could be better promoted, it doesn’t have to be breast OR formula

I think the danger of promoting mixed feeding as an option though is many women will then not realise that it may compromise their supply and ultimately end breastfeeding.

For many the key to bf success is bf. If mixed feeding is promoted as an option it may mean women think it’s fine and not realise the implications for bf long term.

I think it’s a good option for women who find the idea of bf too much and too tying, and probably would end up ff anyway, but not for those who do want to bf longer term.

In my experience mixed feeding from birth seldom works and most who try it are exclusively bottle-feeding by around 6 weeks. If you want to mixed feed, my advice is to exclusively breastfeed for around 4 weeks then introduce one bottle of expressed breast milk per day. Pump every morning after the first feed of the day from the first few days onwards. Use this milk for the bottle-feeds. If you then want to introduce formula, do it after 6-8 weeks so your milk supply is fully established first. This is likely to result in long term mixed feeding.

It's interesting, I'd actually say mixed feeding allowed/enabled me to breastfeed for longer. It gave me the time & ability to return to work, & to not be tied to a pump.
My DD carried on breastfeeding (usually twice a day) until she self-weaned at around 21mths.

Did you mix feed from birth, @apurplesquirrel?

I think also the temptation with mix feeding is to ff the night feeds, so the burden can be shared. If you don’t realise those night feeds are key to stimulating supply you will be ff before long.

Mix feeding did not work for me, and i spend months ebf establishing supply etc. Baby would happily take the occasional bottle of ebf.
But when I introduce ff at about 6 months, it took 3 days to persuade her to drink it, then it was complete breast refusal once she’d had about 4 ff.

It’s a risk. It may work beautifully, but if it doesn’t, it is very very hard to get back to ebf.

I do think it should be offered as an option for those who want to ff though.

@reallyanotherone I think we gave my DD formula for the first time on day 3? I'd been discharged but no one had weighed her, so it wasn't till my midwife home visit the next day that they discovered she'd lost over 10% of her birth weight. My milk hadn't come in(& didn't till day 5) as I'd lost so much blood, & DD also had an undiagnosed tongue tie (wasn't found till about a week later) so although I kept latching her on to the best of both our abilities, we had to give her formula via syringe until my milk finally came in.
After that we topped up with formula as she didn't gain weight quickly (she went from 50th percentile at birth to 25th within a few weeks). Once her weight settled we only gave her one bottle of formula at bedtime (to break the breastfeeding to sleep cycle) & the rest of the time (including night feeds) was breastfed.
As she got older we then could substitute a breastfeed with formula if needed (ie when at nursery or with grandparents etc).

Mix fed successfully from birth as milk was late and DD ended up in hospital with dehydration. Mix of bottle and bf during the day, ebf at night. Worked out well as I bfed until 9 months. Didn't have a problem with supply at all. Could have probably switched to EBF but bottles gave us flexibility so DH could feed.