Anyone Combi feeding? Looking for buddies, not sure which section I should be in?

[DSM]

Hi,

I BF & topping up with FF's plus 1 FF bottle b4 bed for sleeping,

my Lil boy is 1mnth 1 day old

Anyone else combi feeding?

 

[Noelle610]

Me! I exclusively expressed for 8 weeks and then started introducing formula. My LO has about 50% expressed breastmilk and 50% formula. She is 15 weeks old

I never feel I fit 100% in either section, but I generally feel most comfortable in the Formula Feeding section since we bottle feed.

 

[CarliCareBear]

I'm with you ladies! Just started a few days ago, she's been getting one 1/2 bf milk and 1/2 formula bottle a day to help with her weight and I am bf the rest of the time. I was really struggling with supplementing but feel very relieved now that I've started. Do your LO's do just fine with FF?

 

[Noelle610]

My girl does just fine with formula! The only issue we had was switching from ready to feed to powder. Since it was the same brand, I assumed it would be fine, but the powder upset her tummy and made her constipated. Unfortunately we had to switch back to ready to feed... it's so expensive!

 

[mrs.erickson]

I just started combi feeding this week. I was exclusively expressing for 7 weeks!
She gets one FF in the evening, and one in the afternoon. The rest is EBM. However, now that I'm working ~45 hours a week, she may be getting more formula.

 

[bellaloo]

Hi ladies, so glad I found this post. How have you been combi feeding your little ones? My son is 2 weeks old tomorrow and I've been bf and expressing as much as I can for night feeds but the expressing is so time consuming! I'm planning on carrying on with the bf for a bit longer but am introducing formular for a few feeds as well. How do you think I'm best to do it? Any advice I'd be so greatful. Its stressing me out worrying about how to go about it. Also how much did your LO's take of formular at 2 weeks? My ds seems to want to take 4 oz at least x

 

[DSM]

wow! so glad I'm not alone, I was feeling really bad for having to top up with formula

but I feel better about it now I know others do it too

My LO has a 3oz top up after BM in the afternoon, then a 4oz FF about 6pm & a 4oz FF at 11pm the rest is BM & he feeds every 2hrs in day & every 3 to 4hrs at night - he's gaining about 6oz a week in weight which Im told is average

I have been toying with giving up BM but then I have a good day & think i'll carry on LOL - Swings & round abouts..............

 

[bellaloo]

wow! so glad I'm not alone, I was feeling really bad for having to top up with formula

but I feel better about it now I know others do it too

My LO has a 3oz top up after BM in the afternoon, then a 4oz FF about 6pm & a 4oz FF at 11pm the rest is BM & he feeds every 2hrs in day & every 3 to 4hrs at night - he's gaining about 6oz a week in weight which Im told is average

I have been toying with giving up BM but then I have a good day & think i'll carry on LOL - Swings & round abouts..............

That's exactly what happens with me. I have a good day and think " I'll give it a bit longer with the bf " then I have a bad day and think " I can't do it " how old is your LO?

 

[lysh]

Hi ladies...I combo feed as well. I know how you feel about swinging back and forth...for now I am finally comfortable continuing BFing and FFing. I have to go back to work the end of Nov. though and I am having trouble expressing milk, so she might end up on more formula again. That stinks because my supply has finally increased some and she is only taking about 4-5 oz of formula a day.

I think having a thread for combo feeders is great since we do not really fit into either fully!

 

[mrssunshine78]

I'm glad I've seen this thread too, I'm trying to combi feed our little girl, at the moment she gets 1 ff per day, but am thinking of increasing this and thinking of giving a ff either mid morning or mid afternoon. I too have days where I feel like giving up bf, but I really enjoy it

 

[flashy09]

I started combi feeding at 7 months. I now BF 3x a day and give 3 bottles of formula. I was really gung ho exclusively breastfeeding and glad I did, but wow, this is so much easier!

 

[DSM]

My LO is 4wks 5days old

Ive decided this afternoon to try expressing every 2hrs 1, to increase my supply & 2, to see how much little mad is actually getting - wish me luck people!! Lol

Thanks for joining ladies!! It's nice to have a combi feeding support thread

 

[Noodlebear]

My baby totally refuses nipple so I was expressing for a while, only it's harder to totally empty the breast a way a baby would so I'm not producing enough milk for him to just feed from me. (which I find quite upsetting in all honesty!) I don't want to stop giving him breastmilk but I seem to spend my entire day expressing, feeding and sterilising and it definitely gets frustrating after a while

I tend to send baby to bed after a formula feed and keep expressed milk for during the night as I find it easier to just heat them up a bit then do a formula bottle.

 

[bellaloo]

My baby totally refuses nipple so I was expressing for a while, only it's harder to totally empty the breast a way a baby would so I'm not producing enough milk for him to just feed from me. (which I find quite upsetting in all honesty!) I don't want to stop giving him breastmilk but I seem to spend my entire day expressing, feeding and sterilising and it definitely gets frustrating after a while

I tend to send baby to bed after a formula feed and keep expressed milk for during the night as I find it easier to just heat them up a bit then do a formula bottle.

How old is your LO? I know how you feel I tried to express rather then feed my ds strait from the breast. This proved really difficult as he always wanted to feed so by the time I'd sat down to express more milk he was ready for a feed again and I wasn't getting anything else done. Just feeding and expressing. Bearing in mind I have a 2 half year old to look after too. That's why I really need to start formular feeding a bit more. Just can't establish a good routine. I really enjoy the bf but part of me wishes I'd just gone strait to ff from the off x

 

[Noodlebear]

He's only 5 weeks old, just started having to use formula as milk supply suddenly just went right down!
Bellaloo - I know exactly what you mean, OH gets home from work to find total chaos and I've got nothing else done! lol. To try and find time to do other things in the day I make a formula bottle and have it sat ready for when he's going to feed next then express. When he wants his feed I give him the formula then finish expressing if I haven't already before rushing around like a headless chicken doing other things! lol.
Otherwise I end up with a screaming baby and I'm there desperately trying to get enough EBM for a whole feed and it's just a nightmare x

 

[ktod]

I've been combi feeding since 7 days. I was crying my eyes out for a week cos I really wanted to bf but he was losing lots of weight and always screaming for food. I'm loving combi feeding now but I do think my bf supply has gone down even more so will probably end up just on formula. I'm keeping the bf going as long as I can though cos I love doing it.

 

[jd83]

My lo gets one ff bottle at night so dh can feed while I sleep. Then I get up and bf the other feeding. I bf all day. Once I go back to work it will be more of a combination as I'm sure my supply wont be great with pumping. It def went down with my first son once I went back to work.

 

[lolalei3]

My lo is almost 4 weeks old and we had to supplement with formula on about day 6 as my supply was low and she was losing too much weight, i felt bad at first as i really wanted to ebf but ff is great as i actually get a break and can let someone else feed her, also when out and about its so much easier and less daunting than having to pull a boob out put on my nipple shield and hope she stays on longer than a few minutes!
So at the moment i am putting her on for a bf then topping her up with formula and expressed milk, and expressing every 3hrs if i can usually with one arm holding her and the other the pump!

 

[DSM]

I BF from boobs all day until about 6pm when he takes a 2oz top up after a BF then at 9pm my boobs are practically empty! - would expressing at the time they are empty make milk come in at that time??

my supply is back by 11pm - but i give a full formula bottle then for sleeping & express what i have (usually 3oz)

 

[Celesse]

I've combi fed both.

DD was a latch refuser until day 9, then a veerrrryy slow gainer. We just couldn't get away from having to give additional milk until she was over 4 months old. Prior to that she just didn't gain.

DS got poorly at day 3, and I got poorly at day 12 and the result was that by 4 weeks he was pretty much exclusively bottle fed (EBM and FF when couldn't get enough) By 8 weeks he was exclusively breastfed. And at 16 weeks I decided that I wanted to give him a bottle FF a day as I'm tandem feeding and was feeling a little nursed out!

So I've got experience in combi feeding little babies, bigger babies, moving it onto exclusively BFing and introducing a bottle. I'm also a BFing peer supported so I know quite a bit about the mechanics of breastfeeding and I think that has helped to make combi feeding work.

I'd suggest a combi feeding thread probably belongs more in the breast feeding section than the formula feeding section. Often combi feeding is something that happens when BFing isn't going well, or is 1 or 2 bottles to compliment Bfing as opposed to the other way around.