combination feeding - is it possible?

[pickledhatty]

Hello, my DS is nearly four weeks, I've been breastfeeding and while he feeds well I have continuously had sore nipples. He feeds pretty much continuously in the afternoon and evenings and by late evening it is just really really sore. A few days ago we started giving him a bottle in the evening to give me a break. Not sure if we have made things worse now with the latching on.

Has anyone been successful doing this? I really want to continue breastfeeding but am getting really stressed and want to enjoy my beautiful baby not feel stressed about the next feed. Any tips?

Hi pickledhatty, congratulations on your DS!

I mixed fed my DD - My personal feeling is that unless the soreness while feeding has got worse since you introduced the bottle I'm not sure that it would be having an affect. It's probably not a good idea to introduce more than the one bottle at this stage, just to make sure your supply stays strong, but otherwise I'd say it's probably not relevant.

A lot of people say the first 6 weeks are bad for soreness and after that it gets much better... so if you can tough it out for the next two weeks things may well get better.

Have you had anyone check that your DS is latching on correctly? It's not my area of expertise, I'm sure someone else will come on in a min to advise you, but latch can make a big difference apparently.

Thank you! I have had midwife check he is latching on right but I think he starting off right and then when it gets to just comforting / sleepiness the latch is not so good... Good to know it gets better after 6 weeks!!!

Ah I see... perhaps the little tricks to keep them more awake when feeding might help? eg tickling their toes

Hope it gets better soon!

If your soure then seeing some one more trained in BF support mite be a good idea. If you have a local BF cafe, or a chat to a BF couciler by ringing one of the helplines would probably be a good idea. Midwife's can be good but not all of them have indeapth training in BF support.

Helplines

National Breastfeeding Helpline
0300 100 0212

The Breastfeeding Network Supporterline
0300 100 0210

NCT Breastfeeding Helpline
0300 330 0771

La Leche League Helpline
0845 120 2918

Association of Breastfeeding Mothers
08444 122 949

We successfully combination fed. DH would always (from about 4 weeks) do bedtime bottle (using expressed milk) and it gave me a really good break so that I could completely switch off for a few hours and go to bed early if I wanted to. If it works for you it is a great way to share responsibility of feeding but I agree with TeWihara that once a day is probably the most you should do if you don't want to mess with your supply too much. And the soreness probably will get better; it definitely did for me. Good luck!