Advice for anyone both breast and bottle feeding

[MiniLlace]

Hi Im now 27+1 and starting to plan for the birth of our first DD. I have been reading and would like to try a combination of both breast and bottle feeding - with (to start with) the breast all day and then the 10pm feed using a bottle so my DH can get involved (he works until about 8.30 each night so will miss bath time!). I was wondering if others who have taken this approach could let me know whether this worked ie no nipple confusion? Also if you did the 10pm feed with formula did your DD/DS cope with the switching between breast and formula milk? .. Many thanks in advance for any help - its one thing reading the theory but it would be good to hear some stories about what happens in practice!

Hi, MiniLlace.

I agree - theory can be different from practice. And the evidence on practice is crystal clear - giving bottles in the first days and weeks of life increases the liklihood of no breastfeeding at all. We know this from the regular UK Infant Feeding surveys - babies who have a bottle in the first days are three times more likely to have stopped breastfeeding completely by 2 weeks.

It's not so much nipple confusion (babies can usually manage both techniques) as the effect on supply. The breastmilk 'production line' does not work well if it is interrupted and undermined by formula - nothing you can do about that, 'cos it's biology!

Your dh can get involved in a zillion ways - and your baby definitely doesn't need to be bathed at a particular time in the evening....switch it to a time when he can be there

Hi Tiktok or any other bf expert

When can you introduce more bottles without effecting supply?

I am currently bf my nearly 6 week old DS2 (3rd DC - all 4 and under) bar 1 bottle of ebm which my DH gives to him around midnight so I can get some sleep. I am just having problems coping with the cluster feeding madness that can hit as early as 1pm but usually from 4/6pm to at least 10/11pm. DH is not around due to work to help with cooking/bath for the other 2 DC's and I am finding it impossible to even eat my dinner and have 10 minutes to recharge let alone trying to get my other 2 DC's fed and in bed etc.

I have already had them stay at my parents and in laws days at a time so don't really (and can't anyway) want to ship them off to relatives yet again.

I am now thinking to continue bf as normal but if after a few hours of cluster feeding DS2 is still grizzly maybe supplementing with ebm to tide him over.

Will I be making it worse?

Sorry to hijack this thread minilace.

Misspaella - start a new thread, sorry....it's not fair to highjack like this as replies get confused. Don't mean to be rude!

MiniLace I BF my DS and from week two I expressed at 9pm so my DH could give him a bottle at 10pm and I could go to bed. This worked really well for us (we used these bottles which are meant to be good as they make the baby work as hard as if they were BF).

AFAIK (but I am not an expert) if you are only doing one feed and you express that feed shortly before baby needs it, it shouldn't interfere with your supply? I know someone more wise like tiktok can answer this one. Perhaps you could do this instead of just using formula, at least until your supply is well established? This is what I did and when DS was 6 weeks old I gradually mixed my EBM with some formula (as I couldn't express enough) until at 12 weeks I stopped expressing for this feed and it was only formula. (expressing is dull as dishwater but worth it for your baby to have just breastmilk as long as possible)

I know what tiktok said about people who introduce a bottle early are more likely to give up BF earlier but for me its been the complete opposite. I found BF more of a chore at the beginning because I felt so tied to DS (post-pregnancy hormones probably didn't help!) and I couldn't go anywhere in case he needed feeding that I wanted to give up as soon as possible. So when I started expressing and keeping a stock which I knew he could have if I wanted to escape BF became much more relaxed and enjoyable for me. And at 9 months DS has 2 BF a day (one bottle) and I do not ever want to stop!

That's just my experience, I hope it helps.

Good luck with your pregnancy!

choc - individual experience varies, and I can understand that your solution to the issue was a help for you

Generally speaking, it just isn't a good idea to start mixing ff with bf, and MiniLlace wanted to do it so her dh could be involved, and honestly, I think that's a misleading and unnecessary reason.

Hi MiniLace

You sound so like me - DS is now nearly a year and while he was pregnant I was reading up on all sorts of things such as nipple confusion so thatt I would be ready for everything when the time came. But honestly every baby is different so no theory will fit yours, and there is so much stuff you only know when she arrives! Here is my advice:

If you can let yourself do it, forget formula feeding for now, make a promise to yourself to get through the first (say) month, and only to take a decision then. Get hold of a 'reasons to be proud' breastfeeding support leaflet. Have your DH read the thread that was around about 2 weeks ago (will try to link in a minute) about ways to support a breastfeeding wife. Most importantly, find out now where your nearest breastfeeding cafes are, and go to a few while you are pregnant. They are really supportive to pregnant women, and you can ask tons of questions, not just about breastfeeding. Take DH along if you can. Then when you have DD you already know how to get there, and know that there will be friendly faces when you arrive. Take some phone numbers while you are there and pregnant and you will have a ready made network, almost as good as better than mumsnet. And do come back and post so we know how you are getting on!

Hi Minilace,

I just wanted to second what eclairea said.

At the risk of sounding a bit patronising, I read lots of books before my DS1 was born and was sure I was going to follow a routine. I'm a very organised person and it would have suited me. But DS1 was just not the sort of baby who was going to be put into a routine and I got really stressed wondering why he was crying all the time and not doing what the books said he should. Some babies are quite malleable and will fit into whatever feed pattern you want but I don't think many are, certainly before about three months. My DS2 who is now two months is pretty similar to DS1 and I have to follow his cues for when he's hungry or tired. I think if you look at some of the posts on here then you'll find that lots of breastfeeders in the early weeks are continuously feeding in the evenings, rather than having a specific 10pm feed!

Breastfeeding is really hard work in the early weeks when you are likely to be constantly feeding, though really rewarding, a fantastic way of bonding with your baby and IMO much less work and more convenient than formula feeding in the long run. I think it's worth having a look at some of the advice on here and perhaps reading some books like the NCT breastfeeding for beginners book, which might do better to prepare you for that.

Sorry if I've misinterpreted what you posted and if this comes across as patronising. I'm off on hols tomorrow so won't be on MN for a while but good luck with it all. Must go to bed now as have a baby that does a 3am feed, rather than a 10pm feed and I have no intention of spoiling a good stretch of sleep and waking him for one!

I mixed fed with breast feeds and formula from day one

all night time feeds were formula and my ds got it and breast fed well

however he is my second child and because I breatfed my dd ( less successfully) but I knew technique.

If I were you I would establish breast feeding at least for a few days and introduce a bottle after a week or so your baby doesn't reject the bottle entirely

hope that helps

Thanks everyone for your advice/views - prob didnt make it clear but yes was planning on still expressing around 9pm so it wouldnt interfere with supply and yes was not planning on starting this until week 2 or 3. Happy if DH uses the expressed milk for feeding - but was interested (as some of you ladies have) mixing the two and doing both formula and breast during a day. Will let you know how it goes!!

MiniLlace,

I'm gonna tell yuo what I did and worked perfectly for all of us, but I want to make clear (so that I don't get shot down) that I'm not giving advice, I'm only telling my story, like you originally asked.

My second and third were supposed to be ebf, but from day one I didn't hesitate to ask dh to give them formula if I was too tired. It wasn't a regular thing, porbably 3 or 4 times a week, but I was already too tired to beat myself up about it. Now, at 15 month and 3yo they're both still hapilly breastfeeding.

One piece of advice though: DO NOT plan feeds, I know you've probably read the books and they say that this is how often your baby will need to eat and establish a routine, yadda-yadda-yadda.... That's all good info to have. However babies surprise us all the time. There might not be such a thing as a 10 oçlock feed for which you'll express at 9. I'd say take it easy the first few days and once you recover a bit from the birth do yourself a favour and follow your baby's lead in establishing a routine.

HTH

You cant really plan feeds - however they/you both just eventually fall into a routine (of sorts).

I gave DS1 a bottle at 6pmish feed from 7 weeks as i (wrongly) thought he wasnt getting enough milk and I was all dried up by that time - i had never been told or understood about cluster feeding!

Even though i usually expressed around the same time, I had lots of problems with my supply and looking back probably made things worse.

This time around I tend to occasionally express in the mornings and freeze it. So far I have only given DS2 a couple of bottle feeds - a couple of nights out, and a couple of occasions when i was really tired and just couldnt face it. DS1 also has had formula as one time I didnt enough EBM stored

The fact that I am not completly tied to DS and able to give him a bottle once in a while means that i am far more likely to BF for longer.

Sorry, but isn´t there anything else your DH can do to be involved?
Breastfeeding is best on demand.
Plus, why bother sterilising bottles if you don´t have to?

oh just seen this is 3 years old!

My DS2 is 3 months and I mix feed. I did with ds1 also, as you say for the final feed. Sometimes formula sometimes expressed milk. I still express if possible and there are no problems with my supply
For me it's about having the baby take a bottle as you never know when that will be necessary (illness, stuck in traffic etc) I have had sooo many friends who waited to give a bottle and the baby wouldn't take one. I started with a bottle about 4 weeks in this time and expressed milk but started at a week with Ds1 and he was better with a bottle.
I don't buy all this about nipple confusion.
I think you should what's best for you and your plan sounds sensible. I have got Avent advanced this time used tommee tipper before both fine

mama, some baby's will quit happy go between breast and bottle and that is great but I've seen baby's who have been give one bottle and have never breastfed again so don't go around saying you don't buy the nipple confusion just because it's worked out well for you. It doen't for everyone and mum's need to know that it is a risk espicaly if a bottle is given early on.

I don't think its really nipple confusion but bottle prefernace a baby needs to learn to suck at the breast but a bottle is easier to get milk out of so some once given the easy option espicaly if they haven't learn to suck well at the breast will refusse anything but a bottle.