Is combi feeding the holy grail?

[TinyArena]

Baby 2 due soon and thinking about our feeding approach.

It's been 6 years since our first so I'm a bit out of practice, and also 6 years older so worried about the effects of lack of sleep a bit more.

First time round my little one was EBF. Really lucky in that we didn't really have any issues and got the hang of it really quickly. Started pumping (again, fine) and tried to introduce pumped milk in a bottle from around 6/7 weeks but she point blank refused the bottle anywhere near her. We tried for so long but no luck so just left it in the end but I felt so trapped and struggled with the lack of sleep (co sleeping not for us for various reasons).

I know there are so many advantages to breastfeeding but would really like my husband to be able to share the load this time with feeding, and be able to go out on my own for more than a couple of hours but also get some more sleep than the first time round.

Is combi feeding the answer? I keep reading about formula fed babies sleeping better so am wondering about just leaving pumping and trying to combine breast feeding with formula?

We introduced a bottle, not through choice, in the first week. It is a bottle to stop nipple confusion (which isn’t even scientifically proven). I bf and express. 100% BM. I think it’s the answer! (And a fridge in your room)

I used to give a bottle of formula last feed at night, in the hope they would sleep a bit longer.
I also had one who refused a bottle/dummy and I was stuck feeding until 12 months, so with the others I introduced the teat from birth.

I don’t think combi feeding actually helps babies sleep longer, unless of course you have inadequate breast milk supply. In my experience, some fully FF babies can be encouraged to take most/all of their milk in during the day thus if their night wakings are related to genuine hunger they will reduce or stop completely.

My experience is that they do sleep longer on formula.

This was kind of the approach I was thinking.. and they took the formula fine even though it was only one feed?

Yes, one bottle last thing at night. And they definitely slept a bit longer.

I expressed milk for both mine as we just couldn’t get the hang of breastfeeding and it worked well as they had the benefits of breast milk without the downsides. The big downside was being attached to an expressing machine for large parts of the day!

DH gave a formula feed at around 11pm after I had gone to bed early. I breastfed at all other times. Worked really well.

I’ve had one that one bottle fed and one that was EBF. EBF was by far easier. So much less faff, so much quicker, so much faster back to sleep at night. Feeding is only a tiny bit of baby care. I did the feeding and then handed him off to Dh to do everything else while I slept or relaxed. The time saved not making up bottles or washing and sterilising them was spent resting or doing something more enjoyable. I think certainly it’s great if your baby will take a bottle or a cup as long t does mean you can miss a feed, but really I couldn’t be asked with the added hassle of regular bottle feeding.

I combi fed my first due to him starting off in NICU, being tube fed, and poor supply due to traumatic birth. It worked well. Didn't really have a specific time for bottle v breast, but just whatever easier at the time. He was not a good sleeper.
My second was ebf. Just wouldn't take a bottle of expressed or formula. Never had a bottle, cup or even cows milk once she weaned at 15 months. It was hard. But she was a fantastic sleeper.

I combi fed two children, never had an issue with nipple confusion, bottle refuse etc. BF exclusively for about a month or two then introduced one bottle, then 2/3 bottles on a schedule in the day and BF in between and overnight.
Best of both worlds imo.

Our boy is 3 months now and has never had formula but we introduced a bottle at about 2 weeks and he now happily takes boob or bottle.

I was determined that I didn't want to be his only source of food night and day so was prepared to risk him nipple refusing by introducing the bottle earlier than advised. He now has a minimum of 1, maximum of 2 expressed bottle feeds a day

Turned out well for us.

I exclusively breastfed both children. The first one was constantly on my breast and co- sleeping too. I couldn't do the repeat with my second who was born 21 months later. He got a dummy at 3 weeks. He would spit it out at the beginning but I persevered. I believe as a result he learned not to fuff about on the breast. At 2 months he took 15 minutes on the breast and that was it. All my friends were fuffing with flasks of hot water and formula when going out. Then sterilising when they would get home. That looked like a lot of work to me

I have a 4 month old and am ebf. From about 5 weeks once breastfeeding was mostly established I introduced one bottle of formula a day. I’ve done this with all 3 of mine and it’s worked really well. I’ve not struggled with any nipple confusion, they’ve all accepted bottles no problem and it means that I have a little bit of freedom in the evenings and can manage a meal out without having to take baby. I’ve always used formula as I never had much luck with expressing and I don’t have the time to sit and express for the sake of one feed a day.

Also, rightly or wrongly we've never really faffed about with flasks of hot water when we're out and about since it's breast milk. We take it out in a cool bag with an ice pack and about half an hour before he's due a feed we'll take it out of the bag to come to room / air temperature and take the ice chill off.

Having it a bit cool or at room temp doesn't seem to have harmed him! Only when he surprises us with being hungry earlier have we procured hot water or sat with the bottle wedged in my arm pit for 5 minutes

Formula or bottles really aren’t a faff. I don’t know why it’s usually people who haven’t done it who moan about what a faff it would be. Really don’t get how you can comment when you actually just don’t know!

Bottles in the dishwasher, bung into steriliser or stick the mam ones in the microwave. It’s literally seconds to set the timer and reassemble them.
Most brands have premade milk these days, plus if you’re combi feeding you usually don’t need anymore than one bottle on you, or not at all depending on the schedule you go for.

I think this is one of those cases where two women doing the same thing will experience it differently. With my first, we introduced a bottle of expressed milk at about 4 weeks, which she got used to. We continued giving her a bottle of expressed milk usually once a day and I breastfed the rest of the time. When she was six months, we introduced a bottle of formula. I found collecting milk with a silicone cup fine, but really hated pumping. And I absolutely hated bottles. I found them such a faff and really inconvenient. And I didn’t feel like I actually got much more sleep.

with my second, I decided I would do my best to avoid bottles. She never got a bottle and I found it so much easier and felt like I got much more sleep by just side feeding.

Wouldn't have been the holy grail for me. I spent ages pumping for DC1 and trying to get him to take a bottle. It was a ton of work and upset and only so I could go to a hen do when he was about 5 months.

DC2 I didn't even get the pump out or faff about with bottles. Would have been far more work than benefit. DH had plenty to do in the night and with a second child around the last thing I wanted to do was have to worry about pumping or making up bottles or any of it.

Thanks for the inputs... I'm definitely thinking of breastfeeding mainly and then bottle of formula before bed / if I'm out then my husband can do formula. I wasted so much time pumping last time and feel like it's the worst of both worlds? This is all assuming I'm able to breastfeed this time of course...

I didn't start combi feeding until 8 months with DD2, kind of wish I'd started earlier. She wasn't a really terrible sleeper before but it did still improve with the introduction of formula.
Though I will say I know plenty of terrible sleepers who are combi or exclusively formula fed so I don't think it's a given at all.
I think if nothing else, I appreciated the sense of freedom that came with introducing a bottle.

I have combi fed two babies from the start - DD1 because she was in NICU and couldn't gain enough weight on BF alone to be discharged, DD2 because she had a 90% tongue tie that wasn't identified until 8weeks and she was losing weight. I think combi feeding is great but only if you start after BF is well and truly established. I had to start it too early with both of them and it meant my breastmilk supply was never very good.

We've never found bottles / sterilising a faff. We bought 8 bottles and teats - once a day, they get washed and put in a microwave steriliser. The whole process takes about 15mins? It takes less time than I was spending sorting out the bloody pump to express 8 times per day as per the NICU schedule. Going out, we just used ready to drink formula so we didn't bother with flasks of hot and cold water. If you are only planning on giving one or two bottles a day then it's even easier.