Is it OK to top up with bottle feeds during baby's first week

[HadMyTwo]

Hi, my sister gave birth on 25th. It was a C-section and the baby was kept in the nursery and given bottles for the first day (she does not live in UK). She is now trying to breastfeed but according to her the baby seems hungry after feeding and does not feed properly so she is bottle feeding after each breast feeding try.

I have breast fed two DDs and during first three weeks did not give them bottle so as not to confuse them and help breast feeding to develop. Am still exclusively BFing 6 mo old DD.

I did advise her to trust her breasts and not to top up at the moment, just feed again whenever the baby seems hungry. I think she is feeling lack of confidence and control and checking how much the baby has drunk gives her some semblance of comfort.

My question is:

1. Is there anyone out there who combined bottle and breast feeding so early on and still could breast feed?
2. Any other advice I can give her?

Thanks in advance

Remind her not to compare her breastfed baby with a formula fed baby. Her baby will want to eat more often....she may feel as though that is all she is doing sometimes, but it is normal and expected.

If she absolutely feels baby needs something more, she would be better off going with cup feeding or syringe feeds after having baby at the breast....especially since they are both still getting the breastfeeding established.

If at all possible, can she be seen by a lactation counsellor to assess how baby is doing? Another good option would be if she can just hang out in bed for a couple of days and do little else but have baby at the breast.

the more formula she gives the less milk she will make. it's as simple as that.
some people DO combine breast and bottle feeding early, but it normally results in a premature end to the breastfeeding relationship to be totally honest. and I do not think it will work if she is topping up after every single feed.

Forgot to add.....yes, some women do find they can combine the two. It works well for some women, but not for others....better if she can work at getting the breastfeeding down well first though. If she is going to follow up with a bottle, have her hold baby more upright and the bottle more horizontal so that milk still fills the teat. Let baby suck several times and take the bottle out, such several times, take bottle out, and so on. This has the baby work a bit more at the bottle and less likely to balk at going to the breast. Always she should offer the breast first and watch for hunger cues...smacking lips, tongue thrusting, etc. Put the baby on before the crying stage.

Thanks all for your advice, I will get back to her and give her encouragement to carry on with the breastfeeding

I was pushed into top ups from 12 days as ds had lost a lot of weight and then when he stopped losing his weight was static for 5 days. After a few days of offering at least 6 tops up a day (on instructions) and being let out of hospital, I cut down to 4/3/1 and then none gradually after a few weeks, and have now been exclusively breastfeeding since ds was 6 weeks.

I think the hardest thing about it is that to maintain supply, you can't risk replacing bf with bottles - I was feeding ds as much as possible before top ups. I got dp to help quite a lot as I really didn't want to be preparing formula feeds/washing up when I felt I could/should just be feeding him myself as much as possible. I think at that point it would be easy to give up bf through sheer tiredness even if the milk doesn't start to diminish.

As I reduced top ups weight gain did slow down a bit, though it speeded up on exclusive breast milk after that, and at this point I did get quite stressed and panicky. It's now slowed down again, but ds2 seems well, content, has wet nappies etc.

Where is your sister? Are there any groups or people there who can support her face to face? I found it tough with a hospital which is supposed to support breastfeeding etc.

Good luck to her carrying on.

I haven't read all the replies just the OP but just wanted to add my bit.

I gave birth on 24th so one day on from your sister. I have had trouble with BF, although improving now. My DD also seemed hungry after a feed, but possibly my fault as where I was in a lot of pain from BF and latch problems I guess I probably was a bit too keen to finish the feed. ANYWAY, I have ended up expressing and giving her some in a bottle, when I feel I need to, so I know she has had enough. Expressing is easy for me though as I have lots of milk. But I always try and BF as much as possible as I am worried that giving a bottle will make the latching problems worse. She has only every had EBM rather than formula but it still makes me feel a bit guilty TBH.

I would def get her to express if she can rather than FF as it will keep her supply going if nothing else. She shouldn't NEED to though, she can just keep offering the breast, even if it is for most of the day - it will get better. But if she wants to make sure her baby is drinking - I would see if she would express.

STBFO4, thanks for your advice . Congratulations and well done fro keeping on wiht both BF and expressing. Definitly no need to be guilty. I have been there and putting a lacerated nipple in DD's mouth was always a test
elkiedee, thanks . I have talked to her and she has been tryign to get him to breast feed. She is at my mum's currently so not bothering with the housework etc. Best wishes for you and your DS.

HadMytwo,

I won't offer any b/fing advice as there are many, many more able people to do that on here than me.

Re: experience giving a bottle early on - on day 6 my DD was admitted to hospital as she had lost 20 per cent of her birth weight.

We were (basically forced) to top her up with formula.

The good news is that I did manage to carry on breastfeeding until I chose to stop at 6 months. The bad news (if you want to call it that) is that DD continued to have one bottle of formula in the afternoon and one at bedtime for the whole of that time.

I did try to go back to exclusive breastfeeding a couple of times but I found it very difficult to cope with DD's (literally) constant feeding and giving formula gave me a tiny bit of breathing space (maybe an hour a day) where I did not have her attached to me.

chequersmate,
Thanks for th emessage. I think my sister has the same thing as you, her DS is constantly feeding. She is also keeping on wiht two bottles now to get some breathing space .
I have found that since I have started on solids for DD, the demand for milk has gone down a bit (not overly though