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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Mixed bf ff feeding at 8 weeks possible????????????

18 replies

bigbadwritersblock · 01/09/2010 21:26

i've had a rough experience of breast feeding - slow weight gain,inverted nipples, mastitis, tongue tie (now cut) bad latch, low supply (and supply perscription tablets making me ill) and for about 6 weeks I've expressed at 12.30 3 am and 5.30 am as my ds will only feed from a bottle when sleepy... I cant express at all these feeds anymore (I also do the bottle feeds at these times) as Im not getting enough sleep to function in the day.... I'm considering giving up completely (all day direct feeds take around an hour) but wondered if anyone had tried mixed feeding at this early stage? positive responses only please

thanks

OP posts:

GColdtimer · 01/09/2010 21:29

Defintely possible. Friend of mine mix fed from about 6 weeks and carried on until 6 months. Sounds like youa re doing an amazing job

Original poster

bigbadwritersblock · 01/09/2010 21:32

feeling terrible right now as have ff fed for last 3 feeds and thinking of giving it all up... boobs sore and no idea what to do

OP posts:

GColdtimer · 01/09/2010 21:46

You poor thing, its a miserable feeling isn't it? Have you got access to breastfeeding support? Have you tried calling any of the helplines? I am rubbish with practical advice as had a pretty tough time myself. My friend who mix fed alternated between a ff and a bf and she started to enjoy breastfeeding when she was only doing it every other one.

Why have you ff for the last 3 - because of soreness?

cath476 · 01/09/2010 21:51

I mixed fed both pf mine from 6 weeks. Ds1 continued bf/ff for 6 months, ds2 not so long but that was my choice (did't enjoy bf 2nd time around - poss. post-natal). I did find with one of them (can't remember which now!) that SMA seemed to make them uncomfortable but switched to Aptimil and never looked back. Good luck!

Original poster

bigbadwritersblock · 01/09/2010 21:57

I also have to use nipple shields because of inverted nipples and decided to give it a go missing the 3 am expressing to see how it affected my supply. DS woke and had ebm at 7 and we both fell asleep at 8.30am until 10 when I tried to feed him then he seemed to feed ok but then started to scream and cry at what I though were full boobs so had to make ff and he took 100mls so I though whats the point... have private lactation consultant and phone helplines weekly .... ff last 3 as I decided to go cold turkey and give up but now feeling too guilty and expressing. Also see cranial oesteopath to improve feed times and latch but that hasnt worked.... bfeeding has cost a fortune so far xx

OP posts:

Original poster

bigbadwritersblock · 01/09/2010 22:00

cath 476 - can you let me know how you mixed? did you feed ds at certain set times each day to maintain supply? good to hear it doesnt have to be all or nothing... though with my supply who knows.............

OP posts:

harley85 · 01/09/2010 22:23

could u express to keep up supply? thats what i did then gave DD expressed milk? my helth vistor got me a hospital grade pump to ret for 2 weeks and the medela website rent them out too :)

harley85 · 01/09/2010 22:27

oh sorry just re read your post, my post isnt much help now

Original poster

bigbadwritersblock · 01/09/2010 22:32

am finding expressing at night really hard as i'm feeding ebm then winding and settling for a round 40 mins to an hour then expressing for about 30 mins plus the doing it all again an hour and a half later too hard going and its getting me down. am playing/winding ds thinking should be expressing over and over in my head.

OP posts:

harley85 · 01/09/2010 22:43

i really feel for you i mixed fed for about a month, after feeling like i tried everything i have now put DD (12 weeks now) on all formula and we are both happier and we are even in a routine now, i do wish i could have gone longer but you have do to what works best for you, i really hope you find what works best for you too

cath476 · 02/09/2010 18:13

Oh my word! - i wish i could remember - ds2 is nearly 5 and it seems sooooooo long ago. If i remember rightly, I introduced the ff very gradually and tried to alternate feeds so a ff then bf then a ff and so on. I also expressed at night (ff for 10 o'clockish feed, put baby down to sleep and express enough for one feed the next day). I sorry the details are so sketchy but my memory is shocking at the moment!! Ds1 stopped naturally at about 6 months by which time we were down to one breast feed a day (first feed in the morning). he simply refused it one day so we switched to fully ff. He never got 'nipple confusion' and my breasts never got engorged because we stopped so gradually. He gained weight regularly and followed the 50th centile all the way through. I really should try to remember exactly how we did it as ds3 is due to make an appearance in 3 months!!

katiecubs · 02/09/2010 18:42

Bigbad i am having the exact same issues but with my 3 week old - had badly cracked sore nipples and infectious mastitis so i started expressing and bottle feeding but my suppy suffered as i couldn't keep up with the schedule so i had to top up with formula.

Dr prescribed anit-b's so it's all cleared up now and i have got DS back on the boob but he will be there for over an hour and still come off starving. So still stuck in the constant stream of bf, ff, expressing and sterilising and it's taking over my life!!

Have also wondered if i could work out a plan for combined feeding as i would like for him to keep getting at least some breast milk but like you not sure if it's practical and am tempted at times to throw in the towel :(

galonthefarm · 03/09/2010 21:32

i mixed fed from birth til 5 months. Now just FF but so glad carried on bf for that time. I breastfed and then topped up at every feed but she wouldn't always want a top up. It did seem for a while that I was permanently feeding, but got through that stage. By the end she only wanted bf at night that was great, no faffing with bottles in the middle of the night!

Don't feel you have to choose one way or the other, it is possible - you just have to be organised. If you do mixed-feed, you have the security of knowing baby can take a bottle if you fancy some me-time.

I used to express last thing at night that helped supply.

good luck!

blossom2010 · 04/09/2010 08:26

My dd is nearly 9 weeks & I've neen mixed feeding her for a few weeks now. She has a minimum of 6 feeds in a 24 hour period:

BF approx 2am, BF approx 6am, BF approx 10am, BF approx 2pm, expressed BM 6-6.30pm ish when dady comes home, FF 10pm with daddy while I go to bed at about half 8-9pm. I express at 6pm only if my boobs feel full, and always just before bedtime. This then gives us the BM available for the next day's expressed feed. I admit to having a freezer full of expressed BM from dd's time on SCBU but as yet have dipped into it only twice when she was going through a growth spurt & I couldn't keep up. Had I not had this milk I would have given FF as my feeling (and dh) is that she needs the nutrition & if I haven't got enough she needs it another way.

Times given are very approximate (!!) for BF as often dd wakes earlier or later than 4 hours between feeds, especially if out in car or pram as she sleeps a bit too well in them! Yesterday is a case in point as she woke every 1 1/2 to 2 hours & by the time daddy came home my nipples felt like they'd been seriously assaulted :o

Also, when we go out & about I do my best to BF if I can find an appropriate place without too many stares (am amazed how many people blatantly watch while I struggle to keep my boobs discretely covered as I was asked to do by a well meaning M&S employee last week. As if I'm really gonna flash them about all veiny & dripping while everyone's quietly enjoying their lunch :o) If not then I use the Aptamil cartons as someone else suggested which are a godsend.

Sorry for lengthy post.

HTH, good luck :)

blossom2010 · 04/09/2010 08:29

PS. The main reason dd has expressed BM at 6pm is that by then my supply is seriously low & she wasn't getting enough from me to keep her satisfied. Evenings then became one long breastfeed with an upset & permanently hungry baby & an increasingly tired & upset mummy who took a while to come to terms with the supply & demand issues. Guilt is a terrible thing insn't it?

themammy73 · 04/09/2010 21:06

I have been mix feeding my 9 week old DD2 for the past three weeks as have to go back to college in 2 weeks time and all is going well. She is currently taking four bottles to cover say 7am to 7pm with me breastfeeding in evenings and overnight. I introduced it gradually - roughly one new bottle a week. So a 6pm one for a week; then following week, one at 12pm and one at 6pm; following week one at 12, 3 and 6. A couple of days after this we also had one about 9am as I had to be away for the day.

This has helped to stop me becoming engorged and supply is still fine. I have not been expressing.

Please don't feel guilty. I had to give up bf my DD1 after one week as I found it too hard but successfully and exclusively breastfed my DS for six months. All children and situations are different and you have given your DC a great start whatever you decide about the breastfeeding. Just enjoy them while they're small - it doesn't last long!

missldi · 04/09/2010 21:21

Just to let you know that I have been combination feeding since DD was 5 days old-as I was advised to do so by the consultant paeditracian...she wasn't getting enough from me. Still at it 14 weeks later,and she's thriving.As far as I can see,combination feeding works for those of us for whom full BF is not viable.

Raejj · 04/09/2010 21:27

I mixed fed from around 8 weeks. I was on a routine of sorts so I just dropped one feed every few days and added abottle eg 4pm feed, then 10am. Son now 19 weeks and I do 2 bf (first thing morning, lad thing night) and 2 ff. It was the right thing for me and him. Never looked back:)

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