Combination Feeding

[rhuds]

What is the best way to combine feed without losing your supply WITHOUT pumping? Currently breastfeeding all day and give a bottle of formula at night before bed, but come about 6/7 pm all he does is scream like he is starving (baby is only 7 weeks and goes to bed around 11pm so gets bottle starting about 10:30 ish). I can have him on the breast for over an hour and when I take him off he will be happy for maybe a minute and then be rooting and crying and not be able to be settled unless I put him back on the breast. I wonder if he isn’t getting enough from me the further into the day we go ..

I would like to have a happy baby to enjoy a bit more - how do I go about combination feeding to have the best results

We did CF with DD and it saved my sanity.
Moat important is to replace specific feeds with the bottle so your body adjusts. It is also recommended to Bf in the early hours as this helps with supply.

From what you are saying though, it may be that he is using the breast as a dummy and not really feeding in the evening. DS was a bugger for this. Someone who knows more about BF than me may have some ideas on how to deal with this if it is the case.

Ds had a bottle at lunchtime, bf +dummy during the night. Night weaned at 9 months and slept 7-7 since. Never ever pumped.

My dd was similar at that age. I mix fed her from around 3 weeks. She would have a bottle at 10.30 ish (only perhaps 2 oz at 7 weeks)then bf all of the rest of the time. At 6 months we started to actually put her to bed and then we moved the bottle to 7.30 ish. Up until 6 months she spent every evening basically in my arms on and off the boob, crying of I put her down. I don't think k it was a hunger thing, more of a comfort to her.

How long has he been doing it for? It sounds like he’s either been cluster feeding which happens at this point or using it as a comforter. At one point my DD would have a bottle of formula but wouldn’t settle to bed until she’d had ten minutes on the breast, I knew she wasn’t hungry but it was her comfort. Then at times when she was cluster feeding she’d have been on the breast feeding all evening then still take the bottle of formula.
In answer to your first question if you’re giving him formula at 10.30 your supply will readjust to not needing to give that feed but your overall supply won’t change.
You could try a dummy to see if that helped with the comfort side.