Mixed feeding my 5month old baby. Advice

[moomsy]

Hi

My lovely baby is 5 months and we both have been great at breastfeeding since she was born.

She always took the bottle on the odd occasion when I need a rest / go out, with expressed milk. She recently had some SMA too without any complaints.

Since her 4 months, I have had terrible problems with her distraction. Day time feeds are a nightmare. I have to go up in her room, close all curtains and even that doesn't stop her from looking around.

This means it can take sometimes over 1hr to feed her. To add to the problem, she is now having bigger feeds. I can express sometimes 10oz in the morning - the pump can get that in 20mins. She takes over 1hr.

I work from home and I have had a lovely nanny to come and help me 3 times a week. She gives 2 or 3 feeds during the day from the bottle. I try to give mostly expressed milk with the odd SMA bottle just to keep the habit.

I am now wondering if it's at all possible for me to continue breastfeeding her only in the mornings & bedtime and bottle feeding her for the day?

She feeds at 5am ish Varies, wakes & feeds at 7am, 9pm, 12pm, 3pm, snacks at 5, bedtime feed at 7. Bedtime 7.30pm.

Is it possible for your supply to adjust and keep going just to cater for fewer feeds a day?

I don't want to stop breastfeeding altogether just yet :(

But I do need my life back a little. I am getting very bored of sitting in a dark room for 3hrs plus every day.

Forgot to say that atm. I express at the same time her feeds are due to keep the supply and also so that there is milk for the next bottle feed.

I was planning on feeding her SMA on the 2 or 3 day time feeds and not expressing at all. Hoping this would then mean supply adjusts and I wouldn't get engorged from not feeding her during the day?

Hi Moomsy

I've started to mix feed my 15 week old DS. We have similar feeding times to you. We started by dropping our evening feed (6pm for us) and replacing this with a bottle. i expressed over a few days at this time to stop the engorgement and just expressed less each day. Then just last week I dropped the 11am (so your 12noon) feed and changed this to a bottle feed. Again I expressed at this time (so feed bottle and put him down to play while I express) to relieve the discomfort and have slowly reduced the amount of expressing. He is breastfed on demand at all other times.

This is all I'm planning on doing until we get to 6 months and start introducing food unless my DS decides otherwise.

Good luck :)

I think it can depend on your body.
I did a similar thing and my supply dived dramatically. It was a nightmare to get it back up, we struggled for a month with that and then had to admit defeat and stop bf even though it wasn't what I wanted. :(
However I know others whose supply seems to keep going no matter what including my own sister who made enough for a small nation!

I would say go gradually, watch your body so you can change tack if it has undesired consequences.

Thank you for the answers.

I will try doing things gradually and stopping the expressing slowly, working on one feed at a time. See how it goes.

I have always been very good with my supply. I have always been able to feed her and express quite a lot after. Fingers crossed I will be able to keep going until she starts on food.

I love breastfeeding. Just finding it stressfull during the day :(

I had a different problem, health related, which made me decide to mix feed from 5 months. I switched the mid morning and mid afternoon feed over the course of two weeks, with no problem.

A month later, he just decided he wanted to stop the midday bf (refusing the feed and in one occasion screaming and trying to grab the changing bag where the bottles were).

We kept mix feeding until 7 and half months, when I think my supply dropped anyway, he was messing and refusing even the evening feed, and I was ready to stop.

Hi sittinginthesun

Thank you for the message.

I thought I would be able to breastfeed at least until one, when I could then give her cows milk. However, with the current distraction levels I will be glad if I manage to get to seven and a half months: mixed feeding or not!

x