combining breast & bottle - will breast milk eventually dry up

[joorla]

hi,
at the mo I'm combining breast and bottle feeding which I've been doing for approx 4 weeks now.
What I ideally want to do is to totally breast feed at night and mainly bottle feed during the day. I still breast feed a couple of times during the day though but my dd doesnt seem to take much now from the breast - usually about 10 mins. Will my breast milk dry up eventually or is this enough to keep the breast milk still coming.
Dont want to give up breast feeding but not sure whether it's actually worth it if she's only latching on for 10 mins at a time.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks.

joorla, how old is your dd? (Have you been mixed feeding from birth or is this a recent thing?)

Babies get more efficient at breastfeeding as they get older, so I wouldn't take the fact that it only takes 10 mins as an indication that she isn't getting enough.

How old is your DD? My DS is 23 weeks, i am back at work 3 days a week now, so he is bf morning and evening ( and sometimes during the night!) and bottle fed late morning and early afternoon. He is also on solids now, so doesn't have quite so much milk, but this is working well for both of us, if i am late home from work, i definitely have "lumpy" boobs, ready to feed, so my milk isn't showing any sign of drying up yet! I will be happy to continue this til 12 months, then i suppose its cold turkey for a few days!

hi
my dd is only 9 wks old on weds.
i solely breastfed for the first 4 weeks.

Chances are that it will dry up then.Way too early to be switching from one to other.

I'd try and increase the breastfeeding again if you can - presumably the formula feeding during the day isn't so you can get someone else to do the feed but because you feel she's not getting enough from the breast?

Some babies only feed for 10 minutes at a time. If she's happy, gaining weight, etc, etc, she's probably getting all she needs.

I'd say ditch the bottles and bfeed now - if she's unhappy about it, she'll let you know.

Or is there a reason you want to bottlefeed during the day?

yes i started introducing bottles as I didnt think she was getting enough milk from me.

now i know it will dry up i'll start to increase it again.

Just ditch the bottles and relish having a DD who feeds so quickly. Unless you start to worry she's not having as many wet nappies (poos can diminish in frequency at this age), she sounds fine. She may well up her feeding length at some times because it's a nice thing for a baby to do. DS2 feeds very quickly during the day but for much longer at bedtime, for instance.

Joorla,if she needs more milk just feed her more.
So many women have scuppered their chances of b/feeding beyond a few weeks as they lack faith in their body to do the business.

The more you feed,the more milk you wil produce.

Good luck.

Definitely increase the feeding, DS was prob about 17 weeks when i started combining. If you need a break from feeding, express some for someone else to bottle feed, this will also make it easier to switch to combined feeding at a later date. My DS only ever fed for 10 mins at a time, but if they are putting weight on and weeing and pooing thats fine. Your DD is obviously a really efficient feeder, no messing around, my friend's ds used to take an hour to feed, and hour later he was ready again, she spend the first 3 months feeding and doing nothing else!

I did combined feeding (bottle last feed at bed time) but didn't start til DS was at least 12 weeks. My milk was still enough for the other feeds until I stopped BF at 6 months. Perhaps just wait a little longer if you can and are keen to continue with BF. It will get easier!

right - i'm ready to give up this total breast feeding lark. I breast fed her through the night, she fed at 12.20, 3.30 and 6.30 woke up at 7.30 and fed her again, then fed her at 9.30, 10.30 and 11.30. She seems to fall asleep on the breast but is still gently sucking so I dont know whether she is getting anything or not from that. After the 11.30 she fell asleep, after a couple of minutes I took her off the breast and she had a 10 minute nap. She then woke up crying and was rooting for more food, so I caved in and gave her 120 ml of formula.
What am I doing wrong???
Feeling very exasperated and frustrated.

joorla, if you are aiming to increase your breastmilk supply, you are doing nothing wrong!

Your baby will feed more often in an attempt to increase your supply.

It will not last forever

Honestly - at this age, ds was formula feeding on a similar schedule.

Joorla, My dd only ever fed for 3-5 mins at that age and she was only bf, no bottles. Some babies can feed quickly.
She's prob feeding more to make you make more milk. It will settle soon.
The night feeds sound normal to me too.

Hey Joorla
Why do you want to BF at night rather than day? Most ppl its the other way round?
Anyhow have you thought about expressing? this will increase and keep up your supply? that way you may also have enough EBM to give her from a bottle during the majority of the day too anyway?