8wks old - Can you mix feed easily?

[SellyMevs]

I've had some great advice on here and combined with RL support we have continued BFing and DS turns 8 weeks tomorrow.

At the moment we BF with nipple shields with a bottle of formula (120mls) in the evening. He's had formula from birth and we reduced it from a top up at every feed to once a day. We are trying to wean off the shields but his latch is still painful so it's a slow process. I've just recovered from mastitis and yesterday it finally started feeling like it's clearing.

DS had a posterior tongue tie that was divided at 6 weeks. He doesn't have a very efficient suck - he does a lot of sucking for each gulp. Feeds take forever and having met with some newborns yesterday, he still feeds more frequently and for longer than they do. We get one 4 hour stint of sleep at night, the rest of the time he's mostly awake or feeding. Occasionally he will sleep for an hour or so during the day, but the only other sleep I get is an hour at 10pm when DH gives the formula. He's either cluster feeding or just inconsolable until 2 am when he finally falls asleep on the boob. We also cluster feed in the mornings when he wakes until about 11 am. DS has slow weight gain but appears to be growing well otherwise. HV isn't concerned, we are just monitoring his weight every 2 weeks. The only issue is that he doesn't poo without us giving him a glycerin suppository. We have an appointment next week to discuss this with a GP.

We've been persevering so far but now we've reached 8 weeks I want to start thinking about what will happen long term. I don't think I can sustain feeding him for 10 hours a day! Despite all this, I do enjoy feeding him and would like to continue but the frequency is wearing me down a little. I've only got 4 months left before I return to work and I want us to be able to do more. Everything we do involves us sitting on the sidelines watching whilst we feed again.

My idea was to increase his formula and give him maybe 3 set feeds a day? In between these I'm happy to feed on demand as I am now. Is this a feasible option? Does it work like this?! I know my supply will drop but will it just disappear completely? I don't understand the physiological effect at this stage. I don't particularly want to resort to exclusively formula fed, mainly because it feels a shame to "give up" after working so hard! (I am of the opinion that switching to formula is not giving up in the true sense of the phrase, but can't think of another way of phrase it!).

I don't want to make a rash decision but I also want some more time for us. Any advice or experiences would be gratefully received. Thanks

Although, further to this I have just seen the GP. I have a suspected uterine infection but mentioned his lack of pooing again. This GP thinks there is a cows milk intolerance so we are going dairy free and he's prescribed formula for his evening feed. Any advice on this?!

Not an expert, but I can offer my own experience.

To cut a long story short, we ended up topping up after poor weight gain (no other issues, though). We started with 6x50ml bottles of formula, given after BF, which was on demand. As DD got older, and my hope of EBF went out the window, the bottles got bigger and less frequent, but she was on roughly 300ml formula/day until 7 ish months, eventually 3x100ml but not bothering if she missed the middle one.

The biggest thing for us was night feeds. At first we were doing top ups after both night feeds, then just one, but she did the 4 month regression thing and we ended up cosleeping (from first waking i.e. any time between 9pm and 2am) until she was 15 months. She fed a lot at night.

She was weaned (my choice) at 18 months. It is certainly doable.

I was still hoping to just breastfeed at night, formula at 10pm as usual and breastfeed until morning. He does most of his feeding during the day.

It's just once we start feeding at 6 am, we don't get a break longer than 10 or 20 mins until lunch time. This makes showering, eating and leaving the house very difficult!

That bit (the feeding ALL THE TIME bit) does get better.

Two things, from my limited experience...

• how's his head control? Could you get a sling and feed on the move?
• we always tried to change things gradually, so we could always take a step back in the other direction if we needed to.

I topped up due to poor weight gain and no pooing and I did it slightly differently to you, 20 mins on each side and a top up if still not satisfied. I only had to do this for 2 days before my DS stepped up his game and was mainly done in the 40 mins (or thereabouts, I wasn't that strict but it helped me to know it wasn't going to be alllll day) I've always done one 5oz bottle at about 6/7pm too. He doesn't usually drink it all but sometimes does so I make 5. I offer this not as a full feed but prior to a breastfeed so I know what he has had. If he wants topping up with breast straight after or soon after I absolutely let him and in the evenings I let feeds go on as long as he wants until we go to bed when he is always done in the 20 mins on each side, no top up.
I probably don't need the nighttime bottle anymore but it gives me a lot of reassurance and enables me to go off and have a bath etc knowing my DH can sort him out. He's a rabid feeder and would be at the breast 24/7 if I let him, just messing around, not feeding properly. When I'm at home I don't mind this at all and let him do what he wants, but psychologically ithas really helped me to have that 20min limit as there were times I would never have been able to leave the house!