Can you really combine bottle & breast

[Babybeesmama]

Hello 😊
DS now 6 weeks & EBF... I'm using the Haakaa pump at night & building up a freezer stash.. the ideal is that DH could either a) do an 11pm feed so I can get more sleep or b) give him the odd bottle if I want to go out or take the other 2 DC somewhere... how realistic is this? DS1 wasn't keen on bottles & it took a good few weeks of persuasion.

I know even if they take a bottle once it's not forced to be an option every time.. & id probably worry if I was out that he wouldn't take it anyway... 🙈 thanks

Ah stargirl we successfully combi fed but stopped at 5 months as my baby rejected the breast completely. But I was ok to stop then as she was very happy and healthy and sleeping brilliantly. Didn't want to mess it all up esp when going into weaning

I know someone who is still bf her 3.5 year old but mix fed for the first 18 months or so because she didn't want to bf in public. So if she was out and about she would give him a bottle along with the occasional night one but bf the rest of the time. I suppose it's very hard to say what will work for individuals.

You can combine bottle feeding and BF easily but start asap. Yes 'breast is best' but people have thrived on formula or a mix of BF and formula for years. For mothers who can't or don't want to express their milk it's perfectly ok to get someone else to give a bottle feed last thing at night while mother gets an early night.

Yes.

I guess like you say it depends what you want to achieve.

Wow thanks for all the helpful replies! The plan is no formula at this stage.. my idea would be till 6 months only breastmilk but I'm under no illusions whatsoever.. I find my mood seriously suffers with lack of sleep... so if I need to use formula then I will. Plus I've come off some hefty immunosuppressants for skin allergies to breastfeed & although I'm ok at the moment there's a chance I'll need them again & so in that scenario it would be good if he already was use to a bottle.

Trying the minbie bottle at some point this weekend .. will let you know! X

He took 1.5oz this morning no problem !!

Not sure how much to offer him in a bottle but DH thinks tonight he should try the first feed after he goes down.. anywhere between 11-12 then I could sleep a bit longer (although I bet I'd wake up 🙈) x

Hurrah! I mixed fed DS (breast and formula) pretty much from birth as late-diagnosed tongue tie effected my supply - we tried to cut out bottles after he'd got into the routine of having a few in hospital (on drs recommendation due to jaundice treatment.. ) and he dropped from the 9th to the 0.2nd weight centile in 2 weeks!

Mixed fed without any issue for a year. Gradually cut bottles out once he started weaning. Kept a bedtime BF until almost 2 years. I know without the option of mixed feeding there's no way we would have carried on BF for that long, if that makes sense?

I mix fed dd from day 1 as she was poorly at birth and in scbu and then I was poorly and in hospital as well! Everyone said it the end for bfing but luckily dd was happy with being mix fed.

I bf dd for nearly a year in the end which given the rocky start was pretty good going and it was massively helpful knowing she would take a bottle when needed.

That's great news Babybeesmother. Glad it's working well for you so far.

If you try expressing you can see how much milk you get and that may give you an indication of how much he generally has at a feed (although babies tend to get more a bit more milk out than expressing does). I always got more from expressing in the mornings than afternoons/ evenings (I think due to hormone levels over the day).

The formula boxes also gave a chart on with guidelines of how much to give in a bottle at different ages. Although because we were breastfeeding on demand I just formula fed on demand also, rather than fixed amounts on a fixed schedule. Some days he was hungrier than others, when he was having a growth spurt for example.

Babies don't take an increasing volume of BM like they would do formula though, it apparently stays fairly constant at 1-1.5oz per hour.

so my ds, who at 8 weeks still feeds every 2 hours, takes 2-3 oz if i pump so DH can do an evening feed or if we're out somewhere like yesterday at agricultural show in crap weather when i really didn't fancy trying to feed, sat on a soggy straw bale, in the wind and rain.

And expressed volume may or may not bear any resemblance to what baby gets out either

arbrighton that's not correct. When giving expressed breast milk (and combining this with majority breastfeeding) it was very noticeable how my baby drank much larger quantities as he grew. When babies cluster feed it is to increase your supply of milk because they need larger volumes as they get bigger.

I did for 6 months mixed feeding with both dc.

Breast then bottle at each feed. No problems with confusion.

My DD is 2 weeks old and is combination fed as at the moment my supply can't keep up with her demands; this wasn't what I was hoping to do, but needs must to have a happy and well fed baby.

She'll happily change from nipple to bottle half way through a feed if needs be; I don't know whether introducing a bottle sooner rather than later helps but we've had no problems chopping and changing so far. Hope it goes well xx