Will my milk dry up if husband feeds with bottle??

[newbluecurtains]

I'm 33wks with my first and researching breastfeeding online, I'm probably going way too far with the details but I'm confused.

So I'm supposed to stick to a breastfeeding/pumping schedule to tell my body that I am using the milk and to keep producing it. But what if my husband does some feeds with a bottle of breast milk? Like if we split night feeds.

If I sleep through a feed so I'm not emptying my breast, will my body take this as a sign it's producing too much?

Basically if I'm going to pump to have a stash...when do I use the stash??

I combi feed from 5 weeks to 6 months. He had 1 bottle a day with dad while I slept or showered or did whatever I wanted and never had a problem.
My advixe is give it a few weeks for your milk to come in and to avoid nipple confusion but really do what works for you and your family

It’s in the early weeks that this really matters. As well as signalling to make less milk you’re likely to wake up sore and possibly engorged. Everyone is different though, so you might feel ok. I’d get some advice from a breastfeeding support group if I were you.

If I sleep through a feed so I'm not emptying my breast, will my body take this as a sign it's producing too much?

Yes, sorry, but in the very early weeks this is completely correct. Trying to build a ‘stash’ very early in a breastfeeding journey is why so many people tie themselves in knots with regards to their supply. They either under-do actually feeding the baby and their supply dwindles…or they pump too much and end up with an oversupply which is unpleasant for the baby. For at least the first 4-6 weeks, ideally, every feed should be directly from the breast. If this isn’t possible, then pumping each side for 20-30 mins for every missed feed is a reasonable alternative. You can get suction cups (the brand I had was Haka) that catch the let down from the none feeding breast - this is a good way to have some milk in reserve without pumping and/or missing feeds.

If there are medical reasons to need to pump in the early weeks then of course you should do this (if you want to breastfeed). Hospitals have medical grade pumps you can hire for next to nothing. Otherwise, I’d attempt to spend the first month directly feeding. It is hard, don’t get me wrong. But it’s worth it for your supply - it’s a really fine balancing act and babies are masters at fine tuning it if they are given unfettered access.

My baby had a bottle from my husband 4 or 5 days a week since birth, sometimes pumped, sometimes formula, never caused any problems. I definitely recommend introducing a bottle early.

I think it's different for everyone, but my personal experience was that breastfeeding was straightforward but I found pumping really hard. It took me ages to pump enough for a bottle. It was honestly easier for me to just do all the feeds myself in the early weeks.

You may find pumping easier than I did though.

My advice is to put the internet down. No schedule, feed on demand for a few weeks, see how you go.

Then around 6-8 weeks, you'll have a much better idea of how it's all going.

At first yes, skipping feeds will affect your supply. Once you get established missing the odd feed won't make quite such a difference.

I have just introduced a bottle for the odd feed at 2 weeks. Was told has to be before 6 weeks if I want to be sure of combi feed when returning to work at 6mth. I am using a hakka/breast bud on the non feeding breast to catch run off and that is being frozen for bottle feeds. I am not pumping and all early feeds have been breast (just 2 bottle in the past 2 days but this was due to tongue tie issues). The hakka catches alot. You can also combine milk from different feeds provided both been cooled in the fridge first before mixing. That means you can make sure you're storing enough for a feed in each storage pot/bag.

My experience with this was that it’s a worse than useless idea.
I started pumping a little at about 8 weeks to get baby used to a bottle so I could work part time from 4 months pp. Anytime in the first maybe 8 months that my husband tried to help me by feeding the baby at night from the bottle instead of bringing him to me for a feed, the crying would wake me up and then my breasts would be engorged because of the let-down reflex and I’d have to pump in the middle of the night instead of just feeding my baby.
Get your partner to do bath time or change all the nappies instead. Pumping is useful months later on when your supply will be more stable and more adaptable, and when you want or need to spend time away from your baby (at whatever age). It’s not at all helpful for getting more sleep in the newborn phase. (Or it wasn’t for me).

When my DS turned 4 weeks old, he had one bottle feed at midnight done by my DH. It was the letdown milk I had collected throughout the day, so no pumping required.
Worked really well, as I could have some good chunk of uninterrupted sleep between 10pm and 2 am.
I think 4 weeks was a good timing as the supply was established enough to skip one feed, but the baby was also still young enough to accept bottle without any issues. I've heard many stories of babies rejecting bottles if you wait too long.

I wouldn’t bother with pumping at all in the first few weeks. Let your supply settle down first.

As this is your first baby, then just sleep when baby sleeps as they take a while to sort day from night. And it’s easier to pop them on the breast than bother with bottles especially if they aren’t on a routine yet. Plus baby may not take a bottle.

After 6-8 weeks, then think about bottles. But be prepared for baby not to take it - which is what happened with us!