please come and explain mix feeds and other things with someone a bit silly

[mumblesmummy]

Totally useless first timer, still worrying about feeds despite having only 1 week to go until due date.

Please could someone explain mix feeds to me in some detail?

This does mean some breast and some formula? How does that work?

If you BF hw on earth can DP go off with baby for a few hours? Because he hasn't got breasts.

It does mean offering some of each - cn be a top up of formula after a breast feed or replacing some b'feeds with a formula or ebm one. However if you do this before your supply is well established(6 weeks is a guide) you may find it hard to keep breastfeeding for long as it is the demand/supply response that makes your milk available, therefore any substitute or top up feeds can confuse that cycle. After a few weeks you may find your baby will go a few hours between feeds or you could express some to be bottle/cup fed in an emergency. tbh it is unlikely you would be that far from your baby for long in the early weeks.

It means some feeds are breast feeds, other feeds are bottles of formula. You decide which - but be aware that giving mix-feeding can sometimes lead to problems with your supply of breast milk, and can even mean that the baby ends up completely formula-fed at an earlier age than you would have liked.

DP can take a bottle of expressed milk with him if you want him to take the baby for a few hours. But my experience is that, for the first few weeks at least, you will not want him to go off with the baby for a few hours! After the first few weeks you will get to the stage where you are only feeding every couple of hours - and you can have a little time to yourself.