Combi-Feeding Advice

[sunshineandrainbows01]

Currently breastfeeding my little boy on demand have done since he was born, I am now wanting to combi-feed.

When would you suggest that I introduce bottle/formula?

Baby is currently 12 days old.

Do it now I’d say - HVs would suggest waiting until 6 weeks for your supply to establish but from bitter experience and from friends, leaving it until 3 weeks often ends up with baby refusing the bottle! Make sure you use the slow flow teat and pace feed to avoid bottle preference x

I would also do it now. I waited until 6 weeks and baby refused the bottle

Thank you ladies @poppet131 @SassyPants87

I've got some of the MAM Anti Colic Bottles which I'm hoping will work well for baby alongside BF.

I'm only wanting to switch a couple of feeds out for formula each day, presumably I'm best doing this gradually at first to see how he takes to a bottle and formula? Then the rest of the time continue to BF. I'm hoping it doesn't mess my milk supply! Will all adjust accordingly?

Sorry for all the questions!

12 days is very young and your supply is still regulating. Baby being at the breast is the best way to get your supply to match baby's needs.

That said, if combi feeding is a long term goal id introduce an oz or two of milk in a bottle now at random points in the day. The aim is not to give a full feed yet, but to get them used to the bottle.

You can use a pump like a Haakaa alongside feeding at this stage to get an expressed stash going if you want. Supply is still really up and down so use sparingly at the moment so you don't end up with an over supply.

In another couple of weeks you might find baby has settled into more of a pattern. Then is a good time to switch out a feed for a bottle. Again if it's a long term plan you don't need to express the missed feed (unless you want that milk for the next day's feed)

Swap one feed at a time and leave a good week between swaps to allow your body to adjust. If you're expressing the feed you don't need to wait so long.

Ideally alternate between a breast feed and a bottle feed (so try not to have two bottle feeds next to each other) at this stage for your comfort and to reduce the risk of mastitis.

@Twizbe Thank you for your message. Just to clarify when I say combi feed I mean a mix of breastfeeding and formula. I dont want to bother with expressing.

I'm just trying to work out when will be best to start slowly introducing small amounts of formula. When I spoke to the midwife yesterday she said I can start now but do it very gradually.

That's fine, I wasn't clear in my response either reading it back.

What I meant is while the supply is establishing you should hand express the feed you're not giving through formula. This is to protect the supply and also guard against mastitis.

In a couple of weeks if you swap out a full feed then you don't need to express the feed. You might want to hand express a bit for comfort while your body adjusts.

From now, introduce a bit each day. The starter pack little bottles are really good for this. You're not wasting much if you only give an oz or so.

Thanks @Twizbe 😊

My chosen formula is Kendamil I've bought a couple of their ready made bottles and I have the small MAM bottles, so I was just going to see how he took to both the formula and bottle over the coming days. I'm going to pick up some of the extra slow flow teats as well as the ones that come with the bottles are size 1 and I don't want the flow to be too fast!