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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

How do I duel feed?

7 replies

blurredlines · 09/06/2014 16:52

Currently pregnant with dc3. I bottle feed dd1 and dd2 but want to try breast this time. I want to introduce breast and bottle as Im really worried about having the time to breastfeed as I have recently separated from my husband. I have a friend who is ebf as her ds will not take a bottle. I want to try avoid this and wondered what is the best way to introduce both?

OP posts:
bakingtins · 09/06/2014 17:04

Once you get past the first few weeks BF is much less time consuming and more convenient than bottle feeding.
My first 2 were BF and bottle refusers. Currently BF, expressing and bottle feeding expressed milk to my DD who early/tiny, which is the worst of all worlds, but hopefully only temporary, as soon as she is 3 kg we will be ditching the expressing! The point of this ramble is that she has happily swapped between breast and bottle from day 3, and all the staff have said this tends to be the case and they don't see " nipple confusion" which is the normally quoted reason for not introducing bottles early. There is a potential issue with your supply though, if you are missing breastfeeds to give formula early on your milk may not establish itself well.
Might be worth starting with bottles of EBM to avoid that issue and introducing formula at a later stage? Though I won't lie, it is a major faff! I will gladly ditch the bottles, sterilising, expressing without a backwards glance for the convenience of exBF....

tiktok · 09/06/2014 17:20

Not sure how bottle feeding would save time, OP....?

susiey · 09/06/2014 18:46

I did both from about a week in . I did a week to 10 days of ebf and then gave formula in a bottle for 1 feed a day,rest breast feeds
The trick is to keep giving the formula in the bottle as they will quickly forget the bottle!
Don't wait 6 weeks like the midwives say by then the ship has sailed.

fledermaus · 09/06/2014 19:08

DC1 had a bottle at 4 weeks, DC2 at 8 weeks. Both took it fine. I think it's purely luck whether your baby will be happy with a bottle or not.

JaneParker · 09/06/2014 19:52

With a sword?

Somersetlady · 10/06/2014 01:55

My little man has bern taking an expressed bottle since 2.5 weeks without a problem. I had asked advice on here and spoken to people in RL and the only people who seemed to have refusal problems were those who left it until later to try. He switches between his one expressed bottle per day and bf no problem.... Do whats best for you and try things see how you get on. Every baby is different and every breadt feed is a bonus.
He flatly refused nipple shields though !

CustardFromATin · 10/06/2014 09:55

I bottle fed my first and then bf my second 2 - just be aware that the first few weeks can feel a lot harder, but it totally pays off as it then gets SO much easier! Especially with 3 to look after, you can pop out and about without worrying about bottles, and doing at alone (you are a champion btw), you can just bring the baby into bed, feed lying down and doze together (though make the bed cosleeping safe first, of course).

I tried ebf dd with a bottle at 4 weeks and she took it well but I didn't try another until about 14 weeks and she refused completely (oops), ds2 i have done a bottle a week (expressed breast milk) from 4 weeks and he's been fine with them, though it took a few different bottles before he found one he liked.

Some people have luck doing both from week 1, but it does increase the chance that you won't stick with it, partly because of nipple confusion but also because the first 4-6 weeks of bfing ARE usually tough and if you have an alternative that you know well it might be very tempting to throw in the towel. There's nothing wrong with that either, but if you want to try bfing (and in my experience it has been great), give it a few weeks of bf only first Smile

Also it's helpful to get out to a few la leche league groups in advance, people are really supportive. And hopefully you'll have an extra pair of hands to help you after the birth and to give you food while you do the evening cluster feed!

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