Mixed feeding - where to start?

[toomuchtooyoung]

DD is 8 weeks and so far ebf. I want to introduce mixed feeding, specifically formula bottles for the nightime, as I can't get enough food into her before she falls asleep, then she's awake an hour later looking for more. I can't express enough during the day to make up a full feed, so looking to do at least 1 formula nightime feed so I know she at least has a full tum, and then happy to breastfeed around that.

So where do i start with formula? How much do I give her? What's the difference between all the brands?

Help?

When mixed feeding my DD, I found that a good bf, then 60ml ff, then back on the breast til she fell asleep worked well. That gave us about 5-6 hours before waking again. If your not sure how much to give her, maybe start at 60ml and increase that as you see fit. If you keep the ff to a minimum it'll be easier to go back to ebf later on if you so wish. One thing you should keep in mind is that cutting out night feeds could have an effect on your milk supply. As for the formula brands, I think they are pretty much all the same. Aptamil and Hipp Organic seem to get mentioned alot as favourites, but whichever you choose, make sure you can get hold of it easily and locally. HTH and well done on the 8 weeks ebf.

I mix feed my DD so not against mixed feeding but just a word of caution. At 8 weeks this behaviour might be due to a growth spurt and you might need to give her the extra feeds for a week or so in order to build and maintain your milk supply to the correct level.

There is a danger if you start to mix feed during a growth spurt that your supply will not adjust and you may find yourself on a slippery slope to having to completely FF.

If you are happy to take this risk then fair enough, there is nothing wrong with FF your baby, but you need to be aware that the risk exists.

I offer my baby 7oz of formula at 7pm and she usually takes between 5oz and 7oz then sleeps for anywhere between 2-6 hours (as you can see unfortunately it doesn't make all babies sleep better :) and DD does love to be awkward).

p.s. I also think all the brands are very similar so it doesn't really matter which one you try.

We use Cow and Gate because it's the only one that comes in a small tin and seeing as the formula only keeps for 4 weeks I didn't want to have any wastage.

I don't really mixfeed as such, but my ds has a bedtime bottle of formula once or twice a week. He does the same thing of often falling asleep during the last feed and then waking up an hour later for more - but it makes no difference with him whether it's breast or bottle tbh!

I use aptimil cartons just because they're available at our closest shop, and breastflow bottles as they're most similar to breastfeeding.

I think this just sounds like classic cluster feeding to me, something ff babies can do as well. Mix feed if you want by all means, but it may well not solve the problem.

I think it is trial and error on the formula front! We introduced a bottle of formula for the same reasons as you. First one we tried was SMA which blocked DS up for a week! Sames result with another brand as well (can't remember which!). We found Aptamil was the best for us!

Also, DS seemed to struggle with the ready-made cartons at first (don't know whether this is becasue they are thicker or not).

Thanks for all your words of wisdom.

DD is only just 3kgs at 8 weeks so her little tum can't take much volume to keep her full. She already cluster feeds during early evening, then a last feed about 10 and will be awake again at 1. From then on she will fall asleep within minutes of latching on and not even a nappy change will stir her, until an hour later when she comes out of her comatose state. She can do this all night long, I fear I cannot.

She has been fine on a bottle before, Dh given her a couple if expressed feeds, and showed no signs of rejecting breast or getting nipple confusion. Think I'm going to try to give her breast, then 60ml, them breast again and see how that works

I didn't know formula had to be discarded a certain amount of time after opening

It is a good idea to only go for the smaller size packs so you don't have too much waste. My local asda only stock SMA in the smaller tin and have seen the small boxes of cow&cate in boots I think. Hipp organic comes in a big box but has 2 sachets inside. I'm not sure if you can get Aptamil in a small pack. You could always try some ready made cartons to find a brand you prefer before forking out on a formula that might not agree with baby's tummy.

mousesma makes a good point about the growth spurt. I gave night time bottles (formula) from DD being 2 weeks to 12 weeks. When she hit the 3 month growth spurt she started waking more often in the night. At first I was giving a second bottle until someone pointed out she was needing to increase my supply. That was when I took the plunge and cut out the bottles altogether -which was easy to do btw, for me. So yes, if you start bottles during a growth spurt I doubt your own milk supply would increase sufficiently.

Personally I don't think DD slept any better with formula than with breastmilk. My reasons for mixing at first were because I could not physically cope with the night feeds - I was a total wreck. But then my DD is a very awkward customer. Hope you have more luck!

Well tried the formula last night at 2am and she slept till 5am.

Went to baby clinic this morning for a weigh in and mentioned the frequent waking/ falling asleep thing. They asked if I'd been eating enough, thought I had but they asked if I'd been eating before I go to bed. Turns out that whilst I was producing milk it may not have been nutritious and filling enough for dd. Talk about the bleedin' obvious! If I have my tea at 7ish then don't eat again till breakfast the following morning of course it's not going to be enough. Never been a big eater, but obviously I need to be. It just didn't even cross my sleep addled brain!

HV clearly thought I was stupid!

Oh dear :( What utter rubbish from the clinic - what and when you eat makes no difference to the nutrition or filling qualities of your milk and anyone suggesting this to a mother is in quite urgent need of training and education.

You are not stupid.

Your HV is very stupid, and actually very unkind as this sort of thing affects mothers confidence. If you want some references to share with this Very Stupid HV, then just shout! There is no excuse for the HV to be saying this - the lack of effect of maternal diet is well-known and the HV is not keeping up with her field (in fact she's about 30 years out of date so add 'lazy' to stupid!).

Eat what you want, when you want. Frequent feeding at night is normal at this age, and it's far easier to accept it and work round it than to start trying to change it, or, IMO, start using formula.

HV is a moron. Women in famine situations still breastfeed.

Oh. Well now I am confused, seemed so logical. Happy to be corrected by a knee though, to the hv I am just a number to be ticked off and sent on my way.

Not enough midwives available during dd's birth, now not enough hv's with time available to help 1st mums. Thank the stars for mumsnet!

A knee? Darn predictive text!

I'm not expert but you sound like you're doing fine to me. Just eat to your appetite and feed to the baby's appetite! Do what you have to do, giving the odd bottle of formula isn't the end of the world either.

TMTY: you could do your HVs a favour by referring them to this:

www.linkagesproject.org/publications/index.php?detail=16

This is actually info for the developing world and it is quite clear - even undernourished mothers bf just fine.

No one in the UK need ever worry about whether they are eating enough - chronic malnutrition and active under-eating in pregnancy is what worries people, but more because of the effect of bf on the mother in these situations, because the baby is usually fine unless the mother is literally starving.

Anyway, the calories you eat do not go whizzing into the making of breastmilk. Breastmilk is made from your own energy (fat) stores and not direct from your food. Flavourings and some traces of protein may get through but the actual energy content of the milk comes from your body.

It is actually a disgrace the HV does not know this . It is basic stuff.