Is it possible to mix breast and formula feeding successfully?

[SnoozleDoozle]

I warn in advance that this is a long post, but I need to explain!!

I had breast reduction surgery in my early 20s. When my DD was born 5 years ago, I wanted to try to BF, and explained to MWs/Drs about my circumstances. Anyway, the whole thing was a disaster, one of the most distressing experiences of my life. I was producing milk, a tiny bit, but DD fed constantly and was still hungry. MWs refused to let me give her a bottle, but she was feeding all day and all night, and screamed with hunger as soon as a feed was over. BF co-ordinator was happy that she latched on ok, but the pain of trying to feed her was unbelievable, and it didn't stop once she latched on, it was constant through every feed, and also on the rare times that she wasn't feeding. Nipples were so cracked and bleeding that one of them looked like it was almost severed - it literally was coming away from my breast. Eventually, she was so de-hydrated that they suggested putting her on a drip, and still did not want to allow me to give her a bottle. By this stage I had been in hospital for 8 days, was delerious with lack of sleep, had barely eaten either, as she was feeding all day, and was being scolded like a schoolchild by MWs who said that she should be in a routine of feeding then sleeping, not feeding all day and night. In total despair, I demanded to be allowed to bottle feed, and put her on formula - a decision I stand by, as I refuse to believe that it would have been preferable to put her on a drip.

Anyway, I am pg again, and have tried to research this, and pretty much all the websites I can find say that whilst BF should be possible, its unlikely that I would be able to BF exclusively. I wish I had known this 5 years ago, when my MWs all told me that there was no such thing as mixed feeding, that its all or nothing.

So, really what I'm asking is, does anyone have any experience of mixing feeding successfully?

I mixed fed both of mine. DD until she was 3 months and DS until he was 5 months. It is all about supply and demand though, so the more you give bottles, the less milk you will naturally produce. Mine just had one bottle a day (the midnight feed which my husband gave them).

I'm sure people with more expertise will be along soon to give you advice, but i just wanted to say that it sounds as though you had a really awful experience the first time round and I'm not surprised that you are nervous 2nd time round.

You should never have been made to feel like that and i am not surprised that you insisted on giving your baby formula. I would have done exactly the same kind of thing in your position.

Firstly, the experience that you had originally is beyond shocking. Your baby should NOT have been in a routine at that point, and midwives have no say in whether you choose to give your baby a bottle :( Good on you for making the decision you did in the face of all that.

Now regarding breastfeeding.

It's not possible for anyone to say whether you can make enough milk after your surgery until you try. The problems that you had last time are not necessarily due to the breast reduction. They could have been caused by the same types of latching or not-quite-got-it-sorted breastfeeding problems women who have intact breast tissue experience when they don't have good, experienced and positive support. Of course, you may have been low on milk but don't necessarily assume that this was the problem. You MAY be able to exclusively BF. To give yourself the best chance, find all the local QUALIFIED BFing help. You want someone who is trained as a breastfeeding counsellor by NCT, LLL or ABM, or who is an IBCLC. Get them to help you straight away after birth. Talk to them about the surgery so they know what the situation is and they can immediately help you with mixed feeding if it becomes necessary.

An excellent resource is www.makingmoremilk.com/. Read the book several times so you remember all the key parts! It covers exactly what you are looking at.

In the end, if you do need to mix feed, your local counsellor will also help you with that, with suggestions for methods of feeding that will maximise your breastfeeding. It's certainly quite possible. Many babies happily take both bottle and breast. Others don't, but there are solutions there also.

Hi,

I'm so sorry to hear of your horrible time breastfeeding your last baby.

I successfully mix fed my baby til she was 5 months old. Going from introducing one bottle a day, then to 2, then to 3 and so on. Each new bottle was introduced after a few weeks. I did it that I spaced out the breast feeds as much as I could so that I wasn't leaving too much of a gap between them ie So I wasn't breastfeeding twice in the morning, then nothing til the next morning. Does that make sense?! Once the bottles were up I alternated the breastfeedd with formula feeds. I was lucky, I think, in that my daughter never minded whether she had breast or bottle, I know some babies do but I think my luck was partly because I started mix feeding quite early, around 5 weeks. One of my friends did top ups, so she breastfed for X amount of time and then topped up with formula. This worked really well for her but my daughter didn't like changing how she was fed halfway through a feed and would get cross I was giving her the bottle.....I guess it depends on the baby!

I hope it all goes well, if you need any other info just ask!

to how mws treated you last time. In a way I had the opposite - I wanted to ebf but nasty mw would only let me be discharged if I gave DD a bottle as she said I wasn't making enough milk (no other mw said this - justthe nasty one).

I combination feed and it's very sucessful (touch wood) so it can be done. At 1 day old DD was given a bottle top up by the nasty mw. Then, I ebf until she was about a week when mws decided she was losing too much weight so I had to bottle top up every feed - I'd bf and then give ff after every feed (maybe that might be something for you to consider if they don't think you are making enough milk). I gradually phased that out and now bf every feed except one at night (ff which dh does). It works very well. I did have problems I admit - we had bleeding cracked, painful nipples, nipple and mouth thrush, nipple confusion (dd got muddled between how to suck on boob and kept trying to suck like I was a bottle!), and probably alot more issues I've blocked from my memory. But I stuck with it and now she's nearly 3 months and all is good.

I would go into it expecting it to take at least a couple of months for things to settle down and that it will probably be very paimful in the beginning again. People say not to give bottles too early if bfing but I had no option as mws told me to top up with formula. In a way it's been useful as it means dd will take a feed from a bottle whereas I know alot of people who leave it later and then los refuse bottles.

Hope that helps.

I'm always amazed when I hear people saying that they were put under pressure to give formula, when my experience and that of my friends who gave birth in the same hospital was that they take quite a bullying approach to bf, they refuse to discuss formula feeding at all, its like it doesn't exist. In my depths of despair, I would have given an arm and a leg for a mw to tell me it was ok to give a bottle, never mind insist that I do it! It would have eased my guilt, if I'm honest......And please don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying I don't believe it when people say they were pressured into formula feeding, what I mean is that I can't believe the NHS differs so much from hospital to hospital, there doesn't seem to be any consistency.

Thanks so much for all your replies, I really appreciate the support, and I feel much more positive now about trying again.

reastie could I just ask, does your DD take a bottle from you?

I onloy ask as my DS has started to refuse a bottle, and has only just started (reluctantly) taking a night time bottle from DH again. However, he will not take one from me and just cries!

(waves to reastie from Feb thread, sorry Ive not been over in a while. I do read every day and keep up with what you ladies are up to!)

Sorry for the thread highjack!

snoozle think i had an unusual mw as every other mw has been about it as they are so pro bf. good luck

suzy I haven't given her a bottle for ages as dh only does it now ay nights, but, when I did her top up feeds after every feed she always took ff from me with no issue

hi, i mix fed from about three months,however it was a bit of a struggle to get my daughter to take the bottle at first. Also my milk started to dry up not long after so I think you have to balance it csrefully and make sure you are eating and drinking really well to keep the milk supply strong.