A question about giving a BF baby formula once or twice a week.

[McKayz]

Can I ask a bf and ff question? I am going to be doing a course 1 evening a week and I am hoping to start driving lessons again. My mum will be babysitting so I will need to leave a bottle for DD. I am hoping it will just be expressed milk but if I can't get enough etc would 1 or 2 bottles of formula a week cause many problems for bf?

The main reason for asking is that DH works abroad, he went yesterday for 9 weeks, so it's just me and the 3 DCs. So am a bit worried about not getting time to express.

DD is 9 weeks old and is currently exclusively bf. My first day of the course is the 25th of Sept so hopefully I will have had time to express enough and I am worrying about nothing.

As your baby is already 9 weeks old and will be a month older by the time you start, you shouldn't have any problem with it affecting BFing. I assume it is already well established.
With only a couple of bottles a week, you should be fine on that count.
The biggest problem is likely to be getting your DD to accept a bottle at all. I'm sure your mum will be able to persuade her though.

You may find, depending on how long you're out in the evening, that your DD won't want anything until you get back then she'll tank up as soon as she knows you're back.

If it's your mom that will give her the bottle, then it makes sense to see if she can also do any test runs/practices too. Often ebf babies don't want a bottle from their mama (why would they when lovely boobies are right there!?), but may from someone else.

Good luck. I re-started choir rehearsals (admittedly DS was 7mo) and it was fine. I worried for nothing, and, in the end, expressed for nothing as he barely took anything while I was out. I was only out for maximum 3-4 hours though.

The class is 2 hours so probably about 2.5 hours in all.

She has taken about 1oz in a bottle from DH when he was at home. So I am hoping she will be ok with the bottle.

Baby will probably wait. Does your DH/Mum have any other techniques for calming/settling a baby?

DH can buy me a couple of hours by sitting on the birthing ball with ds and bouncing.

But, if you were to give formula that rarely I doubt very much it would impact on bfing. I was infrequently on and off formula with ds1 all the time and it didn't make any noticable difference.

Yeah they do. She does seem to calm down for Mum sometimes. The plan I had in my head was to feed just before I had to go and then have a bottle in case it was needed.

My DD used to have a bottle of formula once a day from about six weeks old. She was breastfed until she was a year old.