Still confused about expressing milk to combine breast and bottle feed. When can we try? Conflicting advice

[Jellybabie3]

I really want DH to be able to bottle feed DS when hes born. We plan to bf but express milk. We have brought a nuby pump and a munchkin set of bottles as they appear to offer the best chance of acceptance from breast to bottle. I have asked mw and HV and both give different answers of when to try to avoid nipple confusion. I appreciate thay DH can do other things to bond but he is keen and i will be grateful of a break. Any pointers please?

I don't have an advice to offer but I am also interested in any replies so placemarking.

I forget if it's 6 or 8 weeks that's normally recommended? Mine was getting a bottle from a few days old though and we haven't had any issues.

I'd like to know this too!

We started at four weeks and so far so good. Bottle only given a couple of times a week though.

We started giving one bottle late in the evening (expressed breastmilk) when DD was about a week old. It was an absolute lifesaver as it allowed me to sleep a 4 - 5 hour stretch every night. We used Phillips Avent bottles and never had a problem with breastfeeding.

Expressing isn't as easy as it sounds so your plan for having a break might not work out that way. It's not recommended initial at least 6 weeks when your supply will be established. Just see how it goes?

If you leave too late then baby won't take the bottle

I did mixed feeding from day one

Had no problems with nipple confusions and dd happily swapped from
Boob to bottle

Used avent bottles tho mam are also very good for both
and stopped mixed at 12w and then just formula and then weaned at 17w shock horror

I'd agree with the start early.

I'd be prepared to not express much to begin with. Spend time attached to the pump and see how it goes.

You can also try paced feeding when giving a bottle to ensure baby doesn't take too much.

I'm a trained breastfeeding peer supporter and it's advised not to express before 6 weeks to give your supply a chance to regulate and for you and baby to get the hang of breastfeeding. Expressing before 6 weeks can cause problems with an oversupply which in turn can cause blocked ducts and mastitis.

I will also say that you will need to express at every missed feed in order to prevent a drop in supply. Milk production works on a supply and demand basis so if you're not telling your breasts they need to produce milk, they won't. This also means that you would need to express if baby is given a bottle during the night. Feeding at night is extremely important for your supply so if baby is having a bottle, you will need to express.

Also some women don't respond to a pump very well. I can barely get anything when expressing yet my 2 year old has never had formula so I obviously produce enough. Some babies can struggle to swap between bottle and breast so you will just have to see how it goes

Ok thanks. It looks like its dooable. I am not too hung up on DH doing the middle of the night feed so wouldnt worry about expressing at that time. More likely i would express during the day and he could do the feed just before bed. I woukd still get a break at some point. We will see how we go.

I would also say that for the first few months giving baby a bottle doesn't really give you a break as you will have to express (and thus sterilise etc) due to the missed feed (you'll have painful boobs like rocks if not, and as PP Said it's all about supply and demand, so if you miss a feed your body won't produce the right amount the following days and you'll lose your supply). I would aim to be and the bottle feed ebm or combo feed from a couple of months onwards

I expressed for one evening bottle from a few days old. I've never had any issues with supply or with confusion, he'll happily guzzle whatever is put before him. I started on mam bottles but have been using Nuk recently and have found he paces himself a bit better with the Nuk. Best of luck x

With DD I exclusively expressed for her for 6 months, she was pre-term and never got the hang of breastfeeding. I have a Medela swing double and can drain both breasts easily in 15 minutes.

This time I really hope that I can make breastfeeding work but intend to express for one feed a day from about 1 week. I'll express just before I'm expecting baby to feed and give him the milk from a bottle instead. I'll still breastfeed during the night. I want to do this because I know so many people who waited the recommended amount of time before expressing and found the baby refused to take it from a bottle. So I wouldn't wait to long and wouldn't necessarily listen to guidelines but be mindful of when your expressing and the possible effect on supply.
I only want to breastfeed for 6 months so the baby will need to take to a bottle. Plus I may want to have a break and leave baby with DH from time to time after the first few months.

Giving a bottle early doesn't guarantee anything btw.
My ds had bottles of ebm from about 3 days due to tongue tie which was cut at 2 weeks. He still had one every night but slowly took less and less of it and then refused entirely.

I combined breast and bottle feeding from early on and did it for over a year. I feel quite strongly that people don't get enough advice on this. I breastfed for way longer combining the two than if I had been unable to give a bottle and have a break.
My hv was actually really supportive. This is how she advised me.

It's harder work for a baby to learn to get milk from a breast than from a bottle, so if you introduce the 'easy option' too early you run the risk of your baby giving up on the harder option. Some mum and baby combinations figure out the breast really quickly, some take longer. But once you are confident your baby knows what to do then giving a bottle should not make your baby refuse the breast.

Giving a bottle or expressing too early can interfere with supply. So start off by giving the same volume of milk in a bottle each day and let your baby feed as much as they need from the breast the rest of the time. After a few weeks you can be much more flexible and your body will adjust no problem.

The biggest danger is that during a growth spurt you fall into the trap of thinking that your breast milk is not enough and you up the bottle feeding. But in fact your baby spends more time at the breast to boost your supply.

I intended to express and not use formula but quickly gave up on that. Expressing took ages and I hated pouring my hard won breast milk away if for some reason he didn't drink ask much as I expected. So we mixed formula and breast feeding quite happily for months and months.

Sorry, I went on a bit there, but I am a big fan of mixed feeding and I wish there was more information for new mums out there about it.

Thanks teaandakitkat that is really useful and good to hear. I want to breastfeed but really hope I can give a bottle and have a break from time to time. I'm aware that there is no guarantee things will work out the way I plan but I intend to try! It's a personal decision and I agree there should be more info and support out there.