Advice wanted on combining breast and bottle feeding

[catmat2002]

Wonder if anyone can offer their experiences...

I am wanting to feed my baby (I'm 41 + 1 so she should be here any day I hope!) with breastmilk, but don't really want to breastfeed when in public.

I've got a Tommee Tippee closer to nature electric breast pump and their bottles as they say on the pack you can combine breast and bottle feeding.

Has anyone combined breast and bottle from birth? Midwifes in our area aren't allowed to condone bottle feeding so are not willing to discuss pros/cons.

Am I better to start this from day 1 (so to speak) or wait a couple of weeks.

I'm only looking to give 1 bottle a day, either if I am out or if Daddy/other family members want to be involved.

Surely if I start the way I mean to go on, she'll know no difference???

I look forward to your comments

x

I BF DD for the first 6 weeks, after which I introduced bottles of EBM (once a day, roughly)
she took well to it - which meant that returning to work v. early on was not a problem...

good luck!

I'm not sure about this and am interested to see what people say (although I wouldn't do it myself).

I can see what you're saying about starting from day one. However, I can think of a couple fo potential problems.

1. DC may prefer the speed with which milk comes from the bottle. Babies can find it less effort, can't they - leading to a preference.

1. A baby is more efficient at getting milk from your breast than a pump, so if you are replacing a feed with a pump there will be less demand on your breast for milk and I imagine this could cause problems with getting bf established (notoriously difficult to say when this is. 6-8 weeks is the usual figure quoted).

Waiting to see what others say, too.

It's better to wait to introduce the bottle until breastfeeding is well-established. If you can exclusively breastfeed for the first 4-6 weeks, then your supply will be solid, and the baby will have the habit of good latch.

What are your concerns about breastfeeding in public? (All the other options are a lot more work, from what I know - you have to carry stuff and sterilise things. [lazy])

catmat - midwives are able to discuss feeding options, of course they are...have you asked about this? They need to do so, so all women can make an informed decision.

Have you asked?

A bottle a day is not a good start for breastfeeding. It risks interfering with your supply and with the baby's ability to learn about effectively transfering breastmilk - and while some women make a success of it and go on to fully breastfeed for as long as they plan to, early bottles do undermine breastfeeding. The research on this is clear. No one can predict whether it will happen with you, of course, but if you wait a few weeks, you reduce the risk.

It is a shame you feel unable to breastfeed in public - when the time comes you may find you have the confidence to do so, you never know! But if you don't want to, then of course you don't have to. You can find somewhere private, and many women do it that way.

Hope you get the chance to talk it through in real life.

Catmat...was about to post exactly the same question on here! Im only 18 weeks with first DC but interested to hear everyones comments.
I'm not sure if I would be comfortable BFing in public either but as you say tictok, that could change.
Im not in the UK and we don't have midwives or anyone to help with feeding here, you are basically left to get on with it. I am also not sure how breast feeding in public is looked upon here which makes me extra wary!

Would also be very greatful for everyones advice!

Where are you? Might you have a branch of La Leche League / La Liga Leche near you?

I'm in Cyprus...will have to make some enquiries but nothing here so far that I have heard of

I'm all for breastfeeding, and giving your child the very best start in life, but personally I would feel totally uncomfortable in BF in public. A huge pat on the back to all of you who are happy to do so, its just not for me.

I'm kinda thinking that the first couple of weeks I won't be venturing out of the house much anyway so that shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I think from that point onwards I will express a feed a day. Looking at other websites people seem to suggest that if you feed and express at the same time then it shouldn't interrupt with your milk supply. And the reviews on the TT Closer to Nature bottles seem to point in the direction that combining breast and bottle does work.

If anyone has actually had experience (positive and negative) in this area I would be very interested to hear from you.

With DD1 I introduced a bottle of expressed milk once a day from 5 weeks old. Having read extensively about the timing of introducing a bottle when wishing to mainly breastfeed it seemed best to wait until baby was at least 4 weeks old, so that your milk supply in properly established and to minimise nipple confusion. The latter reason is most relevant (former reason not so relevant if expressing milk for the bottle feed)- some babies do show a preference for bottle teats (partly because the sucking action is very different and less effort than breastfeeding) if introduced before a month old. I'd had personal experience of this with DS, who was 10 weeks prem and came home on bottles of EBM- was a nightmare to get him to feed directly from me (but that's a whole other story!).

Personally I don't think the type of bottle makes much difference- my DDs actually didn't take to the Closer to Nature ones too well, and have ended up on Dr Browns / B-Free bottles (v good for colicky babies).
What I have found is that expressing in the morning is easiest for getting a decent amount (I use a simple Avent manual pump which usually gives me 4-6oz in about 15mins- and I can operate it one handed so multitask!). Electric pumps are great though if needing to express greater amounts- especially double ones.

With DD1 we got into the routine of DH giving her the bottle for an evening feed- she'd cluster feed from me in the eves (from about 5pm til 10 or later) so it was to give me a slight break, but also gave us flexibility. With DD2 I am less well organised, and she for some reason doesn't accept the bottle from DH- only from me or my MIL!! What I have learnt is if we skip the bottle for a day or two it can be very difficult to get her to take it again (she's 5 months old now), and we didn't start her on a bottle until 9 weeks old and even then it was quite hard to get her to take. I only got her on the bottle because I went back to work 2 morns a week from 4 months old.

FWIW combining breast and bottle feeding worked pretty well for us with DD1- she had one bottle a day of EBM from 5 weeks til 4 months, then one bottle a day of formula from 4 months until 7 months, then I gradually reduced breastfeeding until I was only bfing once in morn and at bedtime, which we continued until 13 months old. She'd still only have one bottle a day and the rest of her milk she had in a cup.
Good luck!

jumpingjellyfish thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I've done a bit more research and think I'll wait til the 4 week point, but will definitely give a bottle a day. Gives a little more freedom and allows Mums to pop out and not have to worry about being back in time for the next feed!

I gave DD1 a bottle of expressed milk from 3 weeks (I had to attend a funeral and was away for 5 hours) and she took to it fine. I changed it to formula at 16 weeks as I was returning to work and thought it'd be best to slowly cut down on my milk. (Turns out when I moved onto 2 bottles of formula my supply started drying up and had to stop feeding at 5.5 months but that's another issue)

DD2 is 4 weeks today and I have been expressing milk for a freezer stock for about 1.5 weeks. We have tried her with a bottle the past few days but she's not keen and only takes 1oz then wants to feed from me straight after. I've tried the medela and avent bottles. There are bottles with a double teat that collapse like a breast (different from the Tommy tippee) which I'm going to try if things don't improve.

I was very uncertain about bf DD1 in public but with a muslin square and someone supportive with you both my mum and DH were great) it is easy to be discreet and it really is convenient and hassle free. I never thought I'd be saying that! You might just surprise yourself.

As long as you do what feels right for you and your baby and wait til your milk is established, you'll be fine. Good luck.

My DD had very high levels of jaundice which was discovered a day after she was born. I intended to EBF from day one and maybe introduce a bottle after 6weeks.

However, as soon as the doc and MW discovered DD had such high levels of jaundice (they were even talking about having a blood transfusion), they insisted I give her formula as my milk hadn't yet come it and she needed liquid as she would get too dehydrated under the phototherapy she was receiving. While she was given the formula, I expressed so that my milk would come in and when I had enough I would give this to her by bottle so that we knew how much she was having as we had to keep a record.

Once we were home, I did BF her but also continued to express and continued with the formula. She didnt seem too bothered at first how I was feeding her, however about two weeks later poor thing got really confused and couldnt work out how to latch on properly to my breast. It was very frustrating and painful for me, however with the support and encouragement from my DH I carried on and stopped giving her a bottle for a little while and re-introduced it after a couple of weeks when BF was properly established.

We were also using TT CTN bottles and also tried the Breastflow ones (which she didnt like too much). I would probably say wait a few weeks until BF is properly established before you introduce a bottle.

Eight months on and I am still BF (with one bottle most days, TT CTN ones), although DD seems to be on a nursing strike at the moment, but I am determined to carry on until she's atleast two.

Thanks Bluerose Breastflow is the name of the bottles I meant!

I think the whole "wait until 4-6 weeks" stuff is a little misleading. It should really depend on you and your baby. My son, for example, took to breasfeeding really well and I had tons of milk so I decided to intoduce a bottle at 2 weeks. He has never had nipple confusion (now 5.5 months) and has always taken a bottle really well. I know lots of people who have waited until 6 weeks plus to introduce a bottle and have babies that point plank refuse them. So I'd just go with what you think is best for you and your baby. If he/she gets into the swing of breastfeeding then you could give a bottle every 2-3 days for a while before increasing. Good luck!

Link to La Leche League International here.

I gave DD her first bottle (formula)in the hospital on day 2 when i was having a blood transfusion as i couldnt feed her. I have continued with a bottle of expressed milk given by DH each morning and the occasiosnal bottle of formula/ EBM when out and about.

It works well for us, DD is now 14wks old and doing really well, There has been no teat confusion and its great that i can leave her for short periods with relatives as she takes the bottle so well.

It will depend on your baby tho, DD is so laid back about everything and nothing phases her.