If a breastfeeding mum wants to give a bottle.....

[Beccarollover]

....is it best to use formula or express at 11 days old.

I know your not supposed to express this early but my friend is at the end of her tether after a run of very bad nights and wants just a little break this afternoon.

Should she give a one off bottle of formula or attempt to express?

Baby is 11 days old and fully breastfed so far

becca - i expressed from day 3 since ds was in special care....

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It is better to express as that will both be better for the baby and help her milk supply.

The reason they say don't express that early is partly because expressing isn't as efficient as the baby feeding so it can impact on the supply and partyly becasue some babies who havn't established feeding properly can get confused.

I expressed from day 5 as my baby refused the breast but I fed from a special cup or the top off a bottle. Maybe your friend could consider cup feeding.

Yes babies - our wonderful next generation are very important, but you as mum are also very important. If you need a break then give your child a formula feed (even better if you can give the bottle to someone else). My children wouldn't take the bottle at first from me, I think this was because I smelt of breast milk. If they sleep for a larger chunk than normal they could 'miss' a feed anyway. One bottle of formula is not going to be catastrophic.

My mum (who has kept me sane through my 3 kids!)gave me one of the best bits of advice whilst going through the same dilema with my first - what is more important a solely breast fed baby with an exhausted stressed out mother or a baby who has a bit of formula every now and again but has a mother who has that little bit more sleep so is less stressed. Babies pick up on this stress and worry, PLease tell your friend that what ever she decides her baby will be fine, she'll be fine. There is no wrong way here. Try not to feel guilty. Good luck in what ever direction you friend chooses.

Express. Definitely.
Not only will this further encourage the milk supply, but it's definitely best for the baby.

The problem with the 'one off' bottle of formula (apart from the well established risks of allergies/eczemea etc) is that 'one off' rapidly becomes a slippery slope and the mother's milk supply will become adversely affected, and then formula will be needed to 'top up' and so it goes on until the poor mother gives up feeding in desparation.

Hope one of our 'resident midwives/ BF counsellors' posts with the 'official line' to reassure you.

Becca, I think your friend needs some specialist bf support....she's had a lot of issues since the baby was born, and someone needs to help her see the bigger picture and get it sorted.

Formula at this stage - as an 'end of tether' strategy because bf isn't working - is a risk to bf. This is because it can undermine confidence, as well as making gaps between bfs longer.

Of course this doesn't have to be the case. Sometimes, mothers need this for their own sakes, and they are the best judges of what is right.

But it is a risk.

I know your not supposed to express this early

I've never heard this - in fact the contrary. Expressing early is supposed to encourage your supply ahead of growth spurts, otherwise there's a likelihood of baby needing feeding every couple of hours every time his/her appetite increases, which is every few days at that age

Personally I couldn't satisfy dd1 with bm (no weight gain after 4 weeks) and never managed to express more than 2 oz and that took 40 mins. Maybe a good bf counsellor could have helped me fix it but where I live I had a different community midwife every few days and they all said something different and there was no consistent help. I introduced formula at 4 weeks and by 14 weeks it was all formula (and I had to be kidding myself that dd1 was taking any more than 1oz per time from me for the last several weeks since she would follow that with 4 oz formula.

If expressing works, I'd say do it

No problems with expressing.

I expressed from very early on as bf was too painful. Dd also had some formula from day 1 as that's what the nurses in hospital gave her - without asking me - despite the fact that they knoew I wanted to bf. I was worried about nipple confusion, but gradually - over several weeks -increased the number of breastfeeds and dd has never had any problems. Nobody told me you can't express straight away, but then nobody told me anything much!