Combination feeding from birth

[T0rt0ise]

I had planned to EBF my second as I did with my first, however my nipples are in tatters and we're only on day three! I'm getting help with the latch etc but in the mean time will be adding in some bottles to give my nipples a chance to heal. Those of you that combination feeding from birth - what ratio of bottle to breast did you go for?
Thanks

Have you tried expressing? I did a lot of this in the early days when my nipples were shredded from cluster feeding. Keeps up your milk supply and baby gets used to the bottle.
I did a bottle at least once a day, usually the evening/bedtime feed.

@tuesdayruby I expressed with my first and had planned to later down the line with this one but at the moment the thought of adding expressing into the mix alongside caring for a toddler and a newborn is one thing too many lol

Congratulations!

I wouldn't think about ratios at this age but just whenever you feel like you want to give her a bottle/need a break from breastfeeding, give the baby a bottle.

@T0rt0ise fair enough, do whatever works for you! I always found the bottle at bedtime best so I knew how much my LO had drunk. I found formula gave me about an extra hours sleep over breast milk - supposed to be more filling!
Obviously if you do want to BF in the future you need to keep your supply up, so don’t substitute too many boob feeds with bottles just incase.

I'm trying to remember, I think I did like every other, so I'd breastfeed, bottle, breastfeed, bottle etc. Some days my dd wouldn't take bm and other days she wouldn't touch formula, it was actually quite handy having the two options

Also, I ended up breastfeeding dd until she was 2.5yrs so there was no supply issue with adding the formula in

BFing never worked out well for us so I pumped from the get go and introduced one bottle a day and slowly increased it, did that for first 3 months before going completely to formula as the pumping took up too much time that I didn't have definitely a good idea to introduce it slowly though to avoid painful engorged boobs if you're not pumping. Do what you need to do to survive! Xx

Have you tried nipple shields?

Thanks for all the experiences, good to know it's worked out for others. Was going to try expressing today but going to stick with breastfeeding/formula combination for the next couple of days as an still feeling like a zombie

@seaborgium I haven't but I'm going to talk to the breastfeeding councillor about them when I see them in person this week.

Is your latch ok? My nipples were hanging off the other week but after a session with a breastfeeding lady I realised he wasn’t quite matched right and just rotating him slightly made a huge difference! Now I can’t feel anything when he’s latched on. He has a bottle of formula in the evenings and sometimes in the day if im out as he’s a bit of a bugger to latch and I don’t want to try that in public. I can’t be assed to pump anymore

I second the nipple shield suggestion, just as a temporary thing until you get more latch help. And lanolin before feeds, multimam compresses after feeds.

Nothing wrong with the odd bottle of formula but be careful not to skip too many breastfeeds this early on, as you might inadvertently tank your supply.

Combination feeding from day 5. I always first put him on the breast and then offer a bottle top up. He usually has between 30-120ml from the bottle. Some days he doesn't want to breastfeed at all and some days he rejects the bottle. I also express once or twice a day to keep up my measly supply bit genuinely don't know if it makes a difference.

It's going well so far and he's putting on weight nicely though it is very time consuming.

Mine had a terrible latch and it turned out she has an awful lip tie. No tongue tie and was dismissed by all the professionals. I fed with nipple shields for nearly a year (when she became too busy to bother with breastfeeding!) and it worked fine for us. I also expressed (Elvie pump which was amazing) and sometimes gave formula.

Husband obsessed about her not having too much formula but she had quite a bit whilst we got sorted - for 4 weeks to 6 months she was ebf and from 6 months she had a bottle of formula at night so I had a break and daddy did bedtime.

You could get those milk catcher things that go on your nipples and my MIL recommended silk patches in bra.

You got this OP!