Why don't many people mix both ff and bf?

[Nancery]

I had to do both from birth for medical reasons (am Type 1 diabetic and bf affects blood sugar, plus we needed to get DS's levels up.) I continued mix feeding till, due to endless issues, I finally went to ff full time.
Nobody I know has mixed fed and I never thought to ask anyone 'official' (eg midwife) at the time so wonder if there's a reason for this?

[tiktok]

hollie, the data is not super-clear and some of the conclusions have to be inferred.

In the early days, we know that if a baby has any formula in the first week, the mother is three times more likely to be fully ff by the age of three weeks compared to the babies who have not had formula at this time - this is from Infant Feeding survey, and of course it is not pure cause and effect. The babies who are having problems bf are likely to be the ones who have formula and it's these underlying bf problems which precipitate the switch to formula, rather than the use of formula itself. Hope I have explained it ok!

If we look at the data showing introduction of milks other than breastmilk (so 'partial breastfeeding'), we see this gradually increases with the age of the baby (unsurprising). The number of babies not breastfeeding at all also increases with the age of the baby. We can infer from that that partial breastfeeding is strongly associated with earlier full formula feeding.

What we don't have is data showing the sort of scenario you describe - occasional convenience of night time formula - because all formula use is lumped in together, in the data.

Experience shows that this scenario - alongside a confident mother, who understands about how breastfeeding works, and who knows that several hours between breastfeeds will reduce her supply and how to manage that if she observes the signs - actually should not mean she is switching to formula sooner than she wants to.

So I should probably refine my statement about 'the majority of mothers' to reflect a sort of sliding scale :) Early on, partial breastfeeding is not likely to succeed long term (ie the mother ends up switching to formula quite soon). The later you introduce formula, and the more 'careful' you are about its frequency and volume, the 'safer' breastfeeding can be :)

[tiktok]

occasional convenience of night time formula feeding should read OR night time.....

[hollie84]

I think it's also worth considering that many/most women do not intend to breastfeed for a long time. Once you get to 3 or 6 months a lot of those women who have stopped breastfeeding have done so deliberately and happily.

[NoraRobertsismyguiltypleasure]

I found it quite hard to get going with bf and once we got the hang of it I didn't want to risk upsetting anything, so just did it all myself. Couple of times I tried expressing, but it was just a massive PITA. Never felt the need to share that part of having a baby with my DP, he bonded over a billion other things. Also, there was no pressure in going back to work or anything like that, so it was just easier to ebf.

[juliascurr]

I took advice to do both from day 2 to avoid refusal of either - worked out okay, took turns for night feeds, could leave dd for a few hours

[MoreCrackThanHarlem]

I EBF for 2 weeks, but struggled with dd waking every hour through the night.
Introduced a bottle at 10pm against mw advice, she said dd would have 'nipple confusion'.
Continued like that for 6 months. No confusion...dd would suck anything, fingers, thumb, nipple, bottle teat, blankets...

[freelancegirl]

I mixed fed for the first couple of months. DS was a very big baby and never satisfied. After we had got bf established however I ebf (with food of course from 6mo) until he was 13 months. I did feel bad that he didn't have a 'Virgin gut' which I've read about but he'd lost a lot of weight and clearly needed something more than I could give him. Yes it's a shame that more people don't know this is a possibility rather than giving up compeletely. Ok DS didn't have that pure ebf start but I am pretty sure it wasn't a waste of time and effort to then go on to bf until 13 months. He's very healthy with no allergies at 2 if that's any indication!

I would like to try to ebf the next one, due in January, but am also terrified about what this might do to sleep. DS pretty awful and boob dependent for a long time.

[RedCountryRoads]

I'm a first timer of a 12 week old. After a horrendous first 5 weeks I finally got the knack of breastfeeding. I was ebf for the first 5 weeks but also use expressed as well. I much prefer bf but it's handy to have the option. DH takes her one weekend morning so I can lie in, she ff then and if I get engorged I pump and freeze. I occasionally get DH to give her a bottle at tea time then she has a large feed from me before bed. She is a happy baby and on the 75th centile. I now really enjoy bf and find it so much easier than ff and will continue mainly bf as long as possible but just having the flexibility of ff makes life easier.

[ladybirdandsnails]

Me and everyone it know bar one mixed fed

[KeepTheCarRunning]

I give ds2 a bottle around 11 pm, he's otherwise fully bf. I suppose it's not really needed but I quite like to substitute that one feed for a bottle as I feel quite 'touched out' from being with ds2 all day. So I suppose it's a bit of a break for me. Did the same with ds1 from 6 months ish as far as I remember.
What are the signs of dwindling supply, tiktok?

[Rivercam]

I did both feeds - it worked for me.

[LBOCS]

We did a bottle of formula at bedtime in her Moses basket (so I didn't have to shift her), and that was all we did. I can't remember how early we started that but it was definitely in the first 6 weeks. Once she got better at being moved we stopped.

I gave up breastfeeding a couple of weeks ago, and my DD is 21 months. Doesn't have to be all or nothing.