Breast feeding combined with bottle feeding

[Huntress]

Hi
I have a 2 week old baby girl that i am breast feeding(just about getting the hang of it) and have just started trying to use a breast pump for nightime feeds so as to get some more sleep.i wanted to know if it is possible to combine occassional formula milk bottle feeding with breast feeding and what are the implications.
many thanks

At that age, it could significantly interfere w/supply. Some people have successfully mixed fed, however. Perhaps they'll be around today to explain further.

I did introduce a bottle of expressed milk, but at 4 weeks.

Congratulations on the birth of your baby daughter. It is possible to combine the two. The implications are that your milk production will decrease and you may end up breasfeeding sooner than if you hadn't introduced formula.

Given that you say you're just getting the hang of breasfeeding (in 2 weeks! not bad at all), i'd stick with it. Good luck.

Mixed feeding is possible and a lot of MNers have done it at some stage. As the others have said, introducing a bottle, especially of formula, so early could have a serious effect on milk supply. It's also worth knowing that use of formula can interfere with some of the health benefits of breast milk.

When ds was born I had to give him a top-up of formula most days for the first few months as he was just too hungry, which initially devastated me as I really wanted to bf exclusively - although it was nice for DH to play his part, and a relief that ds wasn't screaming for more food all the time. I don't think it affected my supply very much as I then went on to successfully bf for 7 months.

Keep at the bfing tho, it's hard work initially but once you get there it's well worth it. :)

I topped up ds with formula from day 2 did not affect supply altho I think expressing too early did not help - try to wait until bf routine established before expressing I found avent anti colic teats good and ds showed no signs of confusion

Cristina, you mean 'bottle feeding sooner'.....

I agre with you. 2 weeks is too soon to expect no impact on sujpply. Some people can get away with it, I know, but others can't.

Tiktok - yes, I meant she's might end breastfeeding altogether sooner or find herself formula feeding altogether sooner.

hello huntress,
I introduced mixed feeding for dd2 from 6 weeks, because she went to nursery, and carried on breastfeeding her until she was around a year old.
I dont think I could have managed it at 2 weeks for a first baby without it interfering with my supply. (You havent hit the 3 week growth spurt yet, presumably, when you suddenly seem to have no milk left for a couple of days - you need to keep feeding to stimulate the supply.)
But dd2 was the fourth baby, so I was much more confident about keeping breastfeeding.
I got 6 hours sleep a night from 2-3 weeks old, but that was because I had my babies sleeping next to me, which I believe is no longer recommended.

"I had my babies sleeping next to me, which I believe is no longer recommended."

Just to pick up on this and say you can have your baby sleeping next to you provided you don't smoke, drink etc. This is from the SIDS foundation: "The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a cot in your bedroom for the first six months. There is a proven risk in bedsharing if you or your partner smoke (even if you never smoke in bed or in your home), have been drinking alcohol, take drugs or medication that make you drowsy, or are very tired. Avoid bedsharing if your baby was born premature or low birth weight, or has a high temperature. If your baby does come into your bed watch out for accidents, use lightweight blankets and keep the baby’s head uncovered."

advice seems to be mixed, but there are other MN threads on this issue. I think part of the problem is that people's interpretation of co-sleeping is so different. Eg, I would never sleep with a baby between 2 adults, or sharing covers with an adult.

I mix-fed ds from 2wks and it definitely interfered with my supply. At about 6wks I was so distressed by it that I made a concerted effort to increase my bm, and after about 5wks ended up managing 2.5 feeds exclusively breast, and from lunchtime on topping-up with formula. I certainly didn't have any problems with nipple confusion. I put that down to using wide bottles (Avent) and making sure that ds's mouth gaped around the teat just the same as it gaped around my areola.

Please do try to keep going with the nigth feeds for at least another fortnight. It will make all the difference to your supply. IIRC night-time stimulation is very important for establishing supply. Two weeks is sstill very early days - I found that after about 2wks my babies rarely woke more than once between about midnight and 6am. Nighttimes were vastly easier after 2wks.

Forgot to say that within a week of starting topping-up with formula, ds was taking 6 full feeds a day from the bottle, even though I was still putting him to the breast before each bottle.

Ds had problems feeding, so on his second or third night in hopsital after birth midwives gave him a bottle (without consulting me! Grrr)

This started a messup immediately, he refused to bf after that and wanted his 'easy' meal. I used nipple shields for a while but he wasn't overly convinced. Then after a few weeks the midwive told me he wasn't putting on weight and had to have at least one top up feed, preferably at night which would mean he'd sleep throguh too.

Granted he did, which was lovely. But after that he started refusing bf completely. We had to give up. Was gutted.

I know I had some bad advice, but I think if you introduce bottles too early you will run the risk of messing it all up...

hello huntress, just to say that there are implications to introducing formula other than supply issues. in particular, allergies and eczema/asthma
\link{http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/health.asp#allergic\the research is summarised here}

I will add though that dh and I are considering a nighttime bottle mixed with bf for number 2 - we know it might mess it all up though! I just wanted to warn you.

Huntress just to add that having your DH do one night feed may not really impact on your sleep quality! You will be knackered at this stage but this normal whether breast or bottle feeding. My dd2 is now four weeks and the night feeds are much easier - quicker and then straight back to sleep.
I topped up dd1 with one formula feed from 6 weeks as under pressure (she was teeny) but have always regretted it.
What I am doing this time is pumping a couple of ounces and freezing so that I can have an evening out with the girls soon - better than a good nights sleep perhaps???

To be honest, at night I found it better just to feed feed feed - had dd1 (and then dd2) at the side of me in the moses, or in my bed, and just fed them, far easier than having to get up and sort a bottle out.

What I tried to do was get dh to give a bottle in the evening so I could go to bed at around 8ish and get some sleep in before the next feed at 11ish or whenever.

But both of mine refused point blank to have anything to do with a bottle until about 5 months so all plans went out of the window.

I would introduce a bottle of expressed in about a week or two, when you dd isn't too hungry, to get her used to a bottle.

My story is a bit different. When DS was two weeks old I had a bit of a potential medical emergency (diagnosed with thyroid tumour). Before I got the biopsy results I thought I might have to go into hospital to have it removed immediately so I started giving DS a bottle of formula every day in place of a bf in case I had to suddenly disappear into hospital and I didn't want to leave him without knowing he could drink out of a bottle. It worked for me, I made it work out of necessity and had no supply problems. I carried on with this for five/six months.

(All was ok BTW - benign tumour removed when he was 18 months).

I successfully b/f and gave 1 bottle of formula a day from 4 weeks onwards. The formula was given at the same time of day, by my husband. No nipple confusion and made transition to all bottles easy.

The reason I was doing it was that my baby had a massive growth spurt and grew from the 2nd centile to above the 75th between weeks 3 and 8. Some days I was b/feeding about 20 hours a day. I would feed him all day (1 feed alone could take 6 hours) and then at 4pm my husband would give him 8oz formula. But within an hour he would be b/f again.

After the growth spurt he settled down into feeding every 3 hours, plus 1 bottle. No problems with supply.

I was told by my HV that if I introduced more than 1 bottle a day we had a higher risk of him rejecting b/f. On days when my husband looked after him he had 2 bottles and never rejected b/f. He just loved it too much.