ADVICE ! Combination feeding from birth

[Newlyttc]

hi everyone, I’m just looking for some advice, I’m currently in my third trimester with my first and trying to get my head around feeding and what I feel would work best, so I am not super overwhelmed trying to figure it all out when baby is here.

Personally, I am keen to try breast feeding but I’m quite laid back about it too so if it doesn’t work then that’s fine too!
anyway, if BF was to work I would still like baby to be happy with both breast and bottle. This is because I’d like to maintain some flexibility in our routine rather than having baby just rely on breast 24/7.

Basically, (in an ideal world LOL!) I would like to start combination feeding from day 1. i have read it is best to wait 3/4 weeks to establish good latch, however I’d like my partner to give baby just 1 bottle of formula of an evening so he can bond with baby and I can rest. The reason for this is I have heard a formula feeds of an evening are really good for encouraging longer sleep. But i am worrying, Is it true that 1 feed a night from a bottle in the first month will really mess up a baby establishing a good latch?!

Then from around 1 month onwards - using pumped/stored breast milk I’d like to introduce another bottle or 2 throughout the day time between BF so I have the flexibility to choose between breast or bottle depending on what we are doing that day/giving my partner opportunity to help with feeds etc. Of course replacing any bottle feeds with pumping so I am still maintaining supply.
this will then just continue until I feel it is right to just switch to bottles completely which will probably be around 5/6 months :)

I know I can’t have a strict plan in place because it’s based on baby’s needs but I’d just like a rough idea in my head, if all fails then I of course will have to change my approach and do what’s best for baby.

I just wondered if anyone has experience with this/combination feeding from birth and can offer any advice please? Or if you could please tell me if I am on the right track ? Lol . Thank you!

This was pretty much exactly my plan.

I found the pumping breastmilk to give later to be quite a bore and I didn't stick with it for long. It would take me half an hour attached to a pump to get a feeds worth- it was quicker just to stick the baby on.

We waited about a month to start with the first bottle as it really did take quite a while to get the breastfeeding working. Also that first month you want them to wake up to feed during the night as you need to get the weight on them. Also my nipples got a bit sore for a few weeks to start and I needed to power through that- after the month they were fine and continued to be for my other kids.

If you are offering a bottle I'd offer formula in the bottle. As they prefer breast and most will end up going down the sink. But it's worth some familiarity so your partner can maybe let you sleep now and then.

it's really frustrating when you skip a feed becuse you've given a bottle and then your breasts are full and sore because they are full and the baby isn't hungry.

Ultimately I found just sticking with breastfeeding to be easiest. There is many things I liked about it, not least that in the middle of the night milk was ready to go without getting up and having to prepare and sterilize anything.

I’d wait to establish breastfeeding at first otherwise I think, not only will the baby’s latch be harder to form but you may find yourself defaulting to what earlier on may seem the easier option. Hard boobs, sore nipples, cluster feeding can seem a lot at first but it gets easier. I combi fed both mine eventually so not a bad thing at all.

I did this with both my dc. From day 1 - we used formula for the bottles as pumping was just too much to do. It worked well and they knew no different so never refused the bottle . I had friends who waited till 6 weeks as advised and their babies didn’t want to take the bottle / formula at all. Combi feeding is great I feel it was a really good decision !

I think it's good to remember that breast feeding is the much harder option at first, but once you and your baby have learnt together and your milk is established, it's much easier later on. Formula is much easier at first, but it's a pain later on having to make bottles up in the middle of the night, having to make sure you take enough out with you and going home when baby has finished it all, formula harder for baby to digest and babies often breastfeed to sleep so much easier to put them down for a nap. So if you don't give formula in the first 4 weeks or so, your baby will probably learn much quicker how to feed and your supply will come in quicker too. That said, if breastfeeding is difficult just give formula, no need to feel guilty or anything that's what it's there for!

My baby is 2 months now. Started using formula until my milk came in and then used only my milk. We used both breast and pumped milk for exactly the reasons you said. Also the first week, my milk had come in but i wasnt able to hold my baby to breastfeed. I had to pump and we fed with a bottle. Baby doesnt have any problem going between the two and can latch though I personally prefer to use a nipple guard because of sensitivity.

My baby latched onto one breast during the golden hour after birth. That one he latches better on. Try to use the golden hour to latch.

There is no need to wait before you start formula (I did from day one), but you have to make sure you pump every time when you do give formula so your milk will come. Where I'm from, they advise you to top up with formula until you establish breastfeeding. I don't know anyone who had a problem with supply because of that.

I'm not going to lie. It's very hard and time-consuming. I did all 3: breastfed during the day for comfort, give expressed milk when we were out, and formula for nightime.
But! My daughter slept through the whole night (12 hours straight!!!) from 12 weeks, and even before, she was a good sleeper. I also had time for myself and never had to worry about leaving my dd for a few hours. My husband also enjoyed feeding her.

I'm 34 weeks with my second now and going to do the same.

to me this completely defeats the reason for introducing formula earlier on, I can’t rest if pumping. Pumping was by far the worst aspect of feeding for me, did it twice and never again, felt like a cow and took bloody ages. It was boob or formula for me.

That's true. I had a horrible experience with a hand pump. After a week, I bought an electric one with a bra so my hands were free too. Changed everything for me. It took 20-30 minutes all together.
I guess it's worked because my dd was such a slow eater. Every breastfeeding took at an hour, so pumping and formula were still faster for me.

Some advice contrary to what official guidelines say. I had no choice but to combo feed my two got various reasons my supply was badly affected.

Second time around, supplemented with top ups. Baby was on breast for 20- 30 mins a side to start. Then topped up with a bit of formula after each feed. I then would pump while baby had the top up feed to try and increase my supply. I pumped from the first day my milk came in so day 4. Most advice to wait 4 weeks before pumping because you can increase supply too quickly and end up with an over supply which can cause mastitis.

Between feeds I pumped around 6 x per day including through the night. Ended up with a pretty decent stash considering I wasn't producing enough. It is a killer. Sterilising, breastfeeding and pumping plus making sure you're hydrated and eating right were all time consuming. It allow for my H to help with feeds though.

I did this for around 6 and then 8 months before packing it in. I feel Bot babies had the best of both worlds.

Check out American breastfeeding resources. kellymom is great. Many American women end up pumping and bfing due to their may leave restrictions and the website lays it out really well. Also, American forums have some great advice.

Do what feels best for you and don't beat yourself up. Remember fed is best. It doesn't matter how.

The lactation consultant at a breastfeeding group I attended explained one of the mistakes made by a lot of people combi feeding is they use formula at night initially, it doesn't fill the baby up any more than breast milk but it does take them longer to digest it giving people the false impression they're fuller for longer. This method does work for some people, but you'll also see plenty of others saying they just didn't produce enough breast milk so gave up. One of the reasons this happens if you formula feed at night before breastfeeding is established is that the night feeds are what trigger a spike in prolactin, the hormone responsible for the milk production. The way they explained it was that when baby feeds at night they're almost putting an order in with your body for the milk they'll need over the next 24 hours as well. The consultant said for the best chance of combi feeding straight from birth you should replace day feeds with formula, not the night feeds, which does defeat the objective for some people because it's the sleep at night they're wanting to combi feed for.

I combi fed for the best part of a year. I didn't pump much, I mainly used formula.

My top tips-

It is harder for your baby to learn to drink from the breast than the bottle. So try to wait till you feel both you and baby have learned to breastfeed before giving a bottle. Or else you risk baby preferring the easier option of the bottle and you end up defaulting to the bottle because you think breastfeeding is not working. So I wouldn't give a bottle in the first week or so.

In the early days breastfeeding is all about supply and demand. So give a set amount of formula every day and let your body provide the rest. If your baby is feeding a lot then it's not because you are not making enough milk or because baby prefers formula. So don't fall into the trap of giving more and more formula. Then your supply won't keep up.

Once you've got both technique and supply established then combi feeding is super flexible. But you do have to be careful in the early days or breastfeeding tends to dwindle away. Which is fine if that's what you want. Fed is best after all.

Everyone is different.. yes you can plan now.. but it might not work out that way.
I EBF for two years.. once l needed to go somewhere and expressed some milk ( not pump that is awful and painful).
I expressed into a sterilised glass jug by putting my breast over a bowl of hot water and the flow was amazing) .. this was a trial run.. but no way would she take the bottle.. screamed and screamed.
So luckily my sister was also breast feeding so she fed her for me..
If you're doing it purely for your partner to be involved lMO l don't think that's a reason.. baby comes first.. my husband used to cuddle me and baby when feeding to be involved.
I also fed my friends baby when she had an appointment.. think lots of us from the La Lechè group believed in wet nursing back then rather than bottles.

Thank you everyone for your replies, I understand that breast and bottle has its difficulties however I’m only wanting to give 1 bottle of a night and BF the rest of the feeds from day 1.
so would 1 bottle for example around 11/12 really hinder my milk supply that much overall ?

Id assume that my body would adjust to its needs from the beginning, eg if I have never given a breast feed around that time, my supply would make enough so it’s sufficient for my other feeds - if that makes sense? (Just genuinely curious, because there is such conflicting research)

Then When I want to introduce another 1 or 2 bottles through the day from around 4 weeks this is will be with the view to keep it that way. So would I need to replace those feeds with a pump to maintain supply if I want to keep them as bottle feeds? Again would my supply not adjust to make enough for other feeds which I continue to do BF.

I don’t want to EBF, I want to combi feed. But I can’t help but feel I’m making it complicated for myself.

sorry if all very confusing !! I think I’m just overthinking it as it’s driving me insane.

In my experience you'll need to pump for the feed you're giving formula for. It's about building up the supply initially by feeding/pumping very regularly, not about your body knowing when the baby is due to feed or not. Your body doesn't "know" that until you've built your supply and got into a routine of sorts.

And one other thing to think about is you're wanting to have this 11/12 feed via bottle that if you're in the cluster feeding stage you could be breastfeeding at 10pm and then 12:30 again. I was feeding every 20 mins - 90 mins for a few weeks.

The lactation consultant also advised me to breastfeed during the night- hoewer, but it didn't work for me. My baby preferred to take all of her calories during the day (double and sometimes triple ml that the "guidelines say") and she didn't want to be breastfed during the night- she was only sleeping on me, regardless how much I tried to shake her up.
So I guess eventually it will depend on your baby.
I think you need to find out what's works best for all of you.

How much you will need to pump will also depend on your milk supply after it's been established. I had issues with mine (or maybe it was ok, but my baby needed a lot of milk), so I had to pump every time when I used formula. My friend, for example, has loads milk and a less hungry baby; she doesn't even need to pump when using formula.
Again, this will depend on your baby and your milk supply.

It's complicated until you establish a routine. You have to do what makes it work for you.

Replacing a breastfeed with a bottle will affect your supply. I wanted to limit formula as much as possible, so pumped and supplemented with bottled bmilk as much as I could. Your body will eventually adjust.

The best breast milk though your body produces is between midnight and 6 am, I was told. It's when your hormones are at their peak. Where possible if baby wasn't on boob motn I pumped at around 4 am. Your body also produces less milk as the day wears on and evening milk has hormones in it that help your baby sleep. It's important to label your pumped milk with either am, pm or night. Ideally, you want to be giving expressed milk in bottled at those times. Midwife and HV were also very clear on this.

Also, something to consider is the cost. It was recommended by the hospital to only use the ready to feed formula for the first 8 weeks before moving on to powdered.

Do your research and draw your conclusions and then try to work it as best as you can. It's a minefield of information and scheduling! Also, baby will naturally cluster feed during growth spurts and at the beginning to get your supply to accommodate thier needs.