Can you breast and formula feed at the same time??

[Christmasqueenx]

Hi all I’m a FTM mum and am quite keen to breast feed but also would like the option to bottle feed with formula or breast milk if/when needed (is this ‘combi feeding’?)

It’s mainly so if I need a break from breastfeeding for whatever reason (eg: going out, sore breasts, tiredness) my partner can just do a feed instead. I’m wondering if you can BF and bottle feed at the same time or if it’s true that this is confusing for baby? I have heard so much contrasting information about nipple confusion, not being able to do it when they’re too little etc and would love to hear from real mums and what you did?

Thank you for any help 🙏

It is combi feeding yes.
I think the general consensus is to bf initially full time until that's well established then bottle feed. I'd do a regular bottle per day so baby gets used to both and so your body can adjust.

I’ve been doing it, not through choice, but because my baby has been struggling with breastfeeding. We haven’t suffered with nipple confusion luckily, but it has totally messed up my milk supply and has taken me weeks of pumping and endless cluster feeding to get back to optimum supply. This is obviously a different situation to yours as I wanted to exclusively breastfeed, but just be cautious.

I did this a little with my second. Bf exclusively for 8weeks and then did 4 bottles of formula a week. The main reason was to ensure he was happy taking a bottle when I returned to work as it was a huge struggle with my first.
You might want to try expressing and storing your milk in the freezer. My milk didn't store well which is why I used formula otherwise I would have just expressed.

Yes I did. Baby is now 4 months and has two 4oz bottles a day. Don’t let anyone else tell you you can’t, be firm that that is what you’re going to do. Take a look at info online and get as much help as possible with breastfeeding from hospital/midwife. I used a tiny cup that the hospital gave me to top up with 10ml of formula alongside colostrum (caesarean, my milk didn’t come in until day 5)

Then one or two 1oz or 2oz bottle per day and I sometimes used a second hand electric breast pump to express the same amount.

Sounds like a bit of a faff but was great as baby was a bit fussy at times about both bottle and breast…that way she was never hungry.

They do recommend giving breast first and then bottle each feed but I found giving a bit of bottle first satisfied starving crazed baby and then she liked the comfort and snuggles of a relaxed breast feed.

Just try it out. I know a lot of people who wish they’d persevered with breast feeding and I think combo feeding makes that a lot more possible.

I mix fed from 3 weeks to around 4months, no nipple confusion but when I went from 1 bottle a day to 2/3 at around 2/3months my supply definitely dropped.
I sadly hated breastfeeding though so I wasn’t bothered if mix feeding did lead to it ending as it was either that or just fully formula feeding.
Ive heard either do a bottle at a different time each day to keep your supply unaffected or stick to the exact same feed each day so your body just expects not to do it (but I’m not an expert)

Long time ago now but this worked brilliantly for me. The health visitors disapprove of it but it was a life saver for me and gave me so much more flexibility, including when I went back to work, it was no trauma to move to all bottles (I kept one evening breastfeed for quite a few months).
I'd say don't leave it too long to introduce bottles and start with maybe two a day.

Yep, I’ve done it with both mine. My second son I did one bottle a day right from the start so he was used to bottles. And breastfed successfully the rest of the time up till 10 months. I think you just have to be wary that the more bottles you introduce, if you’re going to use formula, your body will no longer make that supply if that makes sense. If you’re going to express that feed to give then that’s not so much of a problem.

My little boy is 5 weeks old and we've been combi feeding for the past couple of weeks. He's happy to take the breast, formula or expressed BM so I pretty much just choose what I want to do and he's happy. I do have a very good supply though (when I was EBF I had a bit of an over supply) so just be wary of the tips to keep your supply up if your boobs aren't majorly over eager like mine

Beware of nipple confusion. Some babies can switch between boob and bottle without a problem but I wouldn’t tempt fate.

I was struggling with breastfeeding after DS was born. It always took several attempts to latch him on and once he was latched on he would often come off again after a few minutes. So one of the hospital staff gave him a bottle of formula. After that first bottle he would not latch at all no matter what anyone did. He wouldn’t even try to latch. It took about four weeks to get him back to the breast.

I also have a friend who decided to give her month old son a few bottles from time to time. He decided that he preferred the bottle and completely refused the breast from then on.

Thank you everyone this is so helpful! It’s nice to hear what actual real life mums do, as the health visitor and midwives all seem quite against combi feeding. I don’t want to feel like they’ve pushed me to stick to either breast or bottle so this has made me feel like I can give both a go 🙂

Another question sorry, how often-ish do newborns feed? And what is cluster feeding? Do they all do that?

Yes you absolutely can do both but you need to be careful.
The thing about nipple confusion is because babies have to work harder to get milk from a breast than a bottle, milk flows more freely from a bottle. So if you introduce the easy option too soon to to baby who hasn't quite mastered the breast there is a danger that they will not be interested in learning the harder way. But once you're both confident with breast feeding then the chances of your baby rejecting the breast in favour of a bottle are much less.

There's also the danger of falling into the trap now worrying that you're not producing enough milk, particularly during a growth spurt. Breast milk is supply and demand, so if you reduce demand by giving too much formula too soon your supply won't grow with your baby's needs. You could start off by always just giving the same volume of formula each time so your body is still producing more when your baby needs it.
Our bodies are amazing things, they're really adaptable. Take it slow and soon enough you'll ne switching between the two quite happily.

As for how often newborns feed- don't ask! All the flipping time in the early days. But it settles down.

I combi-fed both my DC - out of necessity with first child & out of choice with second.
Had no issues with nipple confusion etc with either.
You may need to try a few different bottle/nipple types till you find the one your baby prefers - MAM bottles are great.
Midwives/HVs aren't keen because they see it as the slippery slope to stop breastfeeding & going to full formula; but it can work & it actually prolonged breastfeeding for my DC as I could have a break & we could start to teach them to sleep without breastfeeding to sleep as they got older.
If you want to do it just hold your ground.
Cluster feeding is when the baby breastfeed s continuously for hours, or stops & starts repeatedly.

My baby has taken a bottle a day since birth so I can get an evening nap. It's usually breast milk topped up with formula - I was using a hakka to collect breast milk for the first 6 weeks but usually only got about 80mls a day so my husband would add some formula to the bottle. Now I usually pump enough breast milk for his bottle but on days I don't then he gets some formula. He isn't fussy at all about how he gets fed.

I'd recommend investing in an electric pump to keep your supply going if you plan to bf for a while, I could produce plenty of milk with an electric pump...I felt like a cow being milked.

@Christmasqueenx

Thank you everyone this is so helpful! It’s nice to hear what actual real life mums do, as the health visitor and midwives all seem quite against combi feeding. I don’t want to feel like they’ve pushed me to stick to either breast or bottle so this has made me feel like I can give both a go 🙂

Another question sorry, how often-ish do newborns feed? And what is cluster feeding? Do they all do that?

Ideally 2/3/4 hourly but google 'responsive feeding' and look up feeding cues.

Midwives and hv's aren't against combi feeding, they honestly don't care how you feed your baby. I really mean that! It has no impact on their lives whatsoever, they just want you to be happy with what you're doing.

What you're probably picking up on is a hesitation around mixed feeding from birth. Everyone will have different experiences of course, but breast feeding is a skill, that you and baby both have to learn. Breast feeding requires a good amount of effort from baby.

Most babies find feeding from a bottle and teat much easier, it requires less effort. If you tip a bottle upside down for example, formula will drip out freely.

So if you breast feed your newborn, then for the next feed offer a bottle, then the next feed offer the breast again, they're going to prefer the bottle because it's much, much easier for them to feed. It's not necessarily 'nipple confusion' which is a phrase you hear a lot. It's just that the baby gets the formula with less effort from the bottle. This leads parents to say 'they prefer the bottle' 'the don't like breast milk' etc etc.

This is the reason it's a good idea to allow breast feeding to establish first. So baby can practice the skill, get really good at it, and remember how to do it again and again before introducing a bottle.

Essentially, combi feeding from birth usually leads to exclusive formula feeding very quickly. But mums hadn't set out to do that, but they then often feel sad because they feel baby doesn't prefer their milk and that their BF has been cut short.

From my experience a top tip would be to really look into breast feeding. Look into how it works. Look into positioning and attachment. So many parents don't. They think because it's such a natural thing babies come out and they will instinctively know what to do. That generally doesn't happen. Some do! But most don't and will require some support at the beginning. So give yourself a head start by doing a good amount of research.

All the best!

I’m doing it. I wanted to eventually combi feed but understood I’d have to exclusively breastfeed to begin with. It took a little while for my colostrum to come in after delivery then a little while to get her to latch, so the hospital topped up with formula via syringe feeding. I spent a day at home and then ended up readmitted as she’d lost too much weight, at that point she needed topping up with formula and they gave me a choice of bottle or tube fed. I picked bottle as it would get us back home quicker and the hospital helped me keep breastfeeding.

Bottle is easily accessible and they have to work for breast so to keep breastfeeding going we have to try a mix of different things. Sometimes I need to give the bottle first to take away that initial hunger, sometimes I have to bottle feed her in the breastfeeding position and discreetly switch to breast, sometimes she’ll happily latch to my breast and take her whole feed. So it’s not as easy to breastfeed as it would have been if I’d managed to get it established properly. However, it means I can sleep and DH can do a feed and as I’m only able to breastfeed in the rugby ball position at the moment (I have large breasts), it means I can formula feed when out. I try to do some breast feeding during the day time feeds and little top up feeds, I do the 7-9pm feed as I want this to be part of the bedtime routine when we get to it. I tend to do formula overnight. I find with breastfeeding as she feeds I get really tired and overnight that was worse and I’d be falling asleep, I was worried about falling asleep with her and so have dropped the night breastfeeds.

I had to express to keep my supply up and I stopped expressing as it was just too much. We were on a feeding schedule of feeding every 3 hours. I would start with breast which could take 40 mins, then formula or any expressed breast milk. Then wind, change and out her down. Then express 20 minutes each side. Then by the time I’d set up for the next feed I’d maybe have a max of an hour between feeds but that’s only if she went down. We’re now reactive feeding, sometimes she feeds every hour and sometimes she’ll go 5 hours between feeds (does depend on which milk she’s had). I stopped the expressing and my supply dropped, so I essentially formula feed and top up with breastmilk but it’s working for me.

Just to add a contrast to some of these posts, my husband would give one bottle a day at the same time before bed so I could get a little extra sleep - I was exhausted from the constant feeding in those early days but by about 7-8 weeks she just completely refused the bottle. Has never taken another one since and I have tried so many different brands and teats etc etc. Luckily, I love breastfeeding and I've been really lucky to have had very few issues and my daughter is 9 months tomorrow and still a massive boobie monster.

I've said I want to combi feed more with any subsequent babies but if I have the same journey as this I won't be too upset. Breastfeeding truly is so convenient and honestly feels like a superpower sometimes!

You absolutely can do it if it's right for you!

I've been exclusively breastfeeding my 6.5 month old & the neonatal nurses & midwives at the hospital suggested combi feeding when we were there. I've never needed to use formula (aside from a few bottles when I had emergency surgery), but I've managed to build a stash of expressed milk for when I've been away from baby and my husband has fed him. So that's always an option if you can and want to ☺️ x

Of course you can. I combi-fed from the beginning, because I didn't have enough milk.

the health visitor and midwives all seem quite against combi feeding

I was actually praised by a nurse for combi-feeding.
She said something like: "Well done, at least he's getting some benefits of breastfeeding. Many people think it has to be all or nothing, but it's not the case".

Just to add every baby is different, so good to have a plan but be aware you may need to be flexible on how things will go for your baby. With dd1 we combi fed from 6 weeks (one bottle in evening routinely, then had cover if I was out at work etc) with no problems, we had it all sorted.

Dd2 on the other hand we did exactly the same plan but she just wasn't having it at all, it was quite stressful trying every bottle brand etc and eventually she was just old enough for a cup/food instead when I was out (otherwise she just stubbornly waited until I got back from work!)

I've never been able to breast feed successfully sadly no matter how hard I trued so I've exclusively expressed the last two which was exhausting and a faff but i have my reasons for it.
Anyway just on case you need help with milk supply try oats! The days I don't have it I notice a huge difference in how much I pump, also fennel tea helps.

Yes! I wish there was more discussion of this and research into it. Combined feeding can reduce supply but in my experience if you can mostly bf to 6 weeks then many people can combo feed without issue so long as they do at least some night feeding.

Combination feeding book by ICBLC

You hear a pot of scaremongering about nipple confusion, but with most people that I know (and I'm on a lot of mum groups), those that waited to introduce a bottle had bottle refusers.

It's a bit of a myth that we as mums get to decide how we feed. Some babies have a preference, and some are simply better at one method!

It's not always the way that a baby has to work harder at the bottle then boob - for those with a fast let down the baby doesn't even to latch but just lie there with an open mouth 😂

Have a think about which you would prefer if it had to be 100% breast (with no expressed bottles) or 100% bottle and couldn't be a mixture. That helps your decide what to risk. If you'd like them to take bottles but ultimately if it had to be 100% best you'd be ok with that, then wait to introduce bottles to reduce the risk of confusion (at risk of bottle refusal)

If you'd like to do breastfeeding, but it is important to your to have the freedom for it not to always be you, then introduce a bottle straight away as the rush of bottle refusal is much less (though the rush of nipple confusion higher)