Combi feeding | Mumsnet

Oreopie · 2023-08-09T18:37:22+00:00

Hi first time mum due In November I have to leave my baby with my husband for a weekend in April when he will be 5 months old. I want to try breast feeding at first, but never really planned to do it long term. With me having to leave him at only 5 months I am really anxious that he will be ok for that weekend in April. Am I best to start combi feeding from newborn so that he is used to both breast and formula? Also, my husband works shifts Monday -Friday so he won’t always be here at the same time to do a 10pm bottle feed for example. Would I still be able to combi feed if I have to give him the bottle or could that confuse him?

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Treetophill · 09/08/2023 19:44

Following this as I'm also interested in combi feeding from early on!

snoopy18 · 09/08/2023 19:46

We combi fed from birth & it worked very well for us. Son took to the bottle & boob very well thankfully. Some friends who exclusively breastfed had issues with their babies later accepting bottle. On the other hand some babies prefer bottle to boob so there is that too. You can also pump & see how that works for you if baby did lean towards bottle for any reason. Good luck it’s a journey in itself breastfeeding!

Spottypineapple · 10/08/2023 09:30

I'm not sure this is something that's worth worrying about now.

You might not get on with breastfeeding at all and go straight to bottles. You might love breastfeeding and carry on for much longer than you thought. Try and go with the flow once baby is born and figure out what's right for you. They also change so much in 5 months and by April I'm sure they'll take a bottle of either formula or expressed milk, and you'll have gotten into your groove.

Mangotango39 · 10/08/2023 10:27

I'm really interested in combi feeding to. Seems like best of both worlds.

Wondering how it works though in general - how much breast and how much formula .
I am all new to this !

Original poster

Oreopie · 10/08/2023 10:37

snoopy18 · 09/08/2023 19:46

We combi fed from birth & it worked very well for us. Son took to the bottle & boob very well thankfully. Some friends who exclusively breastfed had issues with their babies later accepting bottle. On the other hand some babies prefer bottle to boob so there is that too. You can also pump & see how that works for you if baby did lean towards bottle for any reason. Good luck it’s a journey in itself breastfeeding!

Did you introduce a bottle right from birth or did you wait a couple of weeks for your supply to come in? I have seen people do both so interested to hear!

OP posts:

Original poster

Oreopie · 10/08/2023 10:39

Spottypineapple · 10/08/2023 09:30

I'm not sure this is something that's worth worrying about now.

You might not get on with breastfeeding at all and go straight to bottles. You might love breastfeeding and carry on for much longer than you thought. Try and go with the flow once baby is born and figure out what's right for you. They also change so much in 5 months and by April I'm sure they'll take a bottle of either formula or expressed milk, and you'll have gotten into your groove.

I think you're right! I had a bit of an overwhelming panic as it's all so new to me! My midwife has put me in touch with a breastfeeding consultant so I could reach out, I'm hoping that they won't be judgemental about me not wanting to EBF

OP posts:

Spottypineapple · 10/08/2023 10:57

Oreopie · 10/08/2023 10:39

I think you're right! I had a bit of an overwhelming panic as it's all so new to me! My midwife has put me in touch with a breastfeeding consultant so I could reach out, I'm hoping that they won't be judgemental about me not wanting to EBF

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Yep, it can feel so overwhelming before your baby arrives because there's so much advice flying around and you feel like you need to make a plan before they are here.

I was like this with naps/sleep and worrying about wake windows and how I would know when to put them down and if they were getting enough sleep etc etc

But trust me once they arrive you'll just get into the swing of things, and you and your baby will learn together. This is why I don't think there's much point in putting too much pressure on yourself to make a plan now.

For what it's worth, I EBF but when I went back to the gym around 12 weeks she took a bottle of expressed milk with my partner just fine. Everyone has different experiences with breast/bottle acceptance, so again, you need to wait and see what your baby is like! X

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 10/08/2023 11:15

Combi fed babies can start to show a very clear preference for one type of feeding early on and this could well be BFing. So just because your LO takes a bottle nightly at 2 months doesn't guarantee that they will take a bottle at 5 months.

I'd follow the usual advice and not introduce s bottle till at least 4 weeks.

You can usually get some good advice by going to your local BFing Support Groups. You don't need to wait until LO arrives, you can start going to them now

Wolowl · 10/08/2023 11:23

We combi fed from 3 days old and it worked really well for us. We were still in hospital as DD wasn't feeding well and nearly got dehydrated, I know now that my milk hadn't fully come in but kept being pressed to breastfeed/pump. We ended up giving her formula in a bottle and she took it really well, then we got on with breastfeeding as well which I did until she was nearly 10 months.

It's definitely the best of both worlds as it meant my husband could feed her, I could sleep etc and we both did the night waking. She didn't show a preference towards either, just fed well from both which is really lucky.

Obviously each baby is different, but it definitely worked for us.