Hello all
Like many out there, I'm giving my eight-week old DS both boob and bottle. And, probably like many, my reasons include:
1 Drugs involved in induction and emergency c-section meant my milk didn't come in for ages, baby lost weight, docs in hospital insisted he went on formula until he gained enough for us to leave. Then had to teach him, and me, how to BF, while keeping up formula.
2 Now, even after four boobs-worth, he's often still crying with hunger, so I top him up.
2 Bad latch and sore nips meant giving the odd bottle gave me enough relief to keep going with the BF
3 Formula at night helps him sleep better, and thus makes for a happier me
4 DH can give him the odd bottle. In an ideal world I'd make that bottle EBM, but pumping is both grim and not very productive - 30 mins of udder action yields about 3oz.
It's hard to find out much about the best ways of mixing the two. I'm sure all us mixed feeders know that we're in danger of jeapordising our supply ? so please no-one come along and tell us off - so it would be good to exchange info on, for example:
1 How much boob to give to maintain supply. For example, I'm doing between five and ten breastfeeds a day, sometimes topping up, and the occasional bottle-only feed. My supply seems fine, but will this last?
2 How to know they're getting enough, or, perhaps too much? For example, DS has put on TWO POUNDS in three weeks. Is he getting too much formula?
3 Do we feed on demand, like breastfeeders, or to a schedule, like formula?
4 How to get the time taken for a feed down from the current hour? Two boobs worth, seeing if he's still hungry, making up a bottle (ready-made formula, natch), etc...
Perhaps I should ask a breastfeeding counsellor, but frankly I'm rather scared of them and how they'll tell me off for using formula!