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

[DSM]

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.

hello,

For me to increase my BM supply between 6pm & 10pm, do you know if its better to express at 6pm & 9pm or better to latch LO for 10mins each side at these times B4 FF to increase supply?

 

[jd83]

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.

hello,

For me to increase my BM supply between 6pm & 10pm, do you know if its better to express at 6pm & 9pm or better to latch LO for 10mins each side at these times B4 FF to increase supply?

I think you'd get better supply by latching lo. The suck of your baby will always stimulate your supply way better than expressing.

 

[Celesse]

LO will increase your supply better than the pump for sure. Pumps are no where near as good as getting milk out as a baby as we don't emotionally respond to the pump and therefore the let down isn't as much.

Expressing on "empty" boobs (your boobs are never really completely empty) should tell your body to make more milk. But suckling a baby on empty boobs is even more effective.

Evening times are when supply is usually lowest and baby is usually hungriest. Its very common to feel stuck to the sofa and baby during the evening. At least its during prime time TV! You could try expressing from one side whilst feeding baby from the other. That will help get the milk flowing. It's kinda hard and you feel like you need extra hands but it is possible.

I must admit that for me one of the advantages of combi feeding is giving a bottle during that cluster feeding frenzy of evening feeding, and is one of the main reasons I combi fed through choice when DS reached 16weeks.

 

[DSM]

Okay I'll give it ago, thank you

Its so frustrating that I can feed him all day but every night without fail I can't give him BM at 9pm, he just pulls off & on, off & on, & after 10mins ech side my oh gives a top up bottle while i stick pump on max & I dont get even half an oz out..............Gggrrrrr

 

[jd83]

Okay I'll give it ago, thank you

Its so frustrating that I can feed him all day but every night without fail I can't give him BM at 9pm, he just pulls off & on, off & on, & after 10mins ech side my oh gives a top up bottle while i stick pump on max & I dont get even half an oz out..............Gggrrrrr

Have you tried any supplements to increase your supply? Fenugreek and blessed thistle are both really good for giving you dome increase. I took fenugreek 3 times a day when I went back to work with my older son. It did help some.

 

[amy19604]

I'm combi feeding my lo, i couldn't of carried on bf this long without doing so. I have 3 other children including one only 13 months older than this lo so times when i've needed to leave her with dh he will give her a bottle of formula as i don't have the time to express (and quite frankly can't be bothered! i expressed for my last baby and it's too time consuming to do this time round) Also i would give her the odd bottle for example she would never let me put her down in the mornings wanting to feed non stop but i had to do the school run and she would cry, so i give her a bottle just before that so she will be full and settled and go to sleep, stops a lot of stress for both of us.
she doesnt have bottles at regular times, just whenever needed to make life easier for everyone and she's bf the rest of the time. like i said without doing it i would of fully ff ages ago, as ebf is too hard this time round!
im starting to give more formula during the day now as i want to stop bf soon anyway during the day, and just carry on at night for as long as it lasts x

 

[anti]

I'm going to start combo feeding soon. I exclusively express but my LO is drinking more than I'm making and she won't drink my freezer stash (argh, all my hard work down the drain). Bit nervous about it to be honest but sure it will all be ok

 

[Celesse]

Anti, well done for going so long exclusively expressing! I'm sure everything will be fine. From babies point of view the hardest part is usually getting them to take a bottle but if she is already taking one then your ahead.

When I was combi feeding my daughter I moved from bottles being all expressed milk to formula milk at around 3 months, maybe a little earlier. I started by mixing EBM and formula. The method I used to make up the 50:50 bottles was: Add boiling water, add formula powder, add chilled EBM. This generally took the milk straight to the right temperature and ensured an easier transition from the taste of EBM to the taste of formula.

Amy, I completely get what you say about combi feeding allowing you to continue BFing. I am now combi feeding by choice with DS and it really was a choice of start combi feeding or loose the plot. The difference one bottle a day can make to my mental health is amazing!! I felt instantly more chilled and more relaxed when we introduced his bottle at 16 weeks as it meant a little break for me. I'm tandem feeding and at the time DD was matching DS feed for feed during the day. When DD went to bed at 7pm DS would then cluster feed until bedtime and co-sleep and feed all night. That one bottle of FF gave me 2-3 whole hours of not BFing!!

 

[becks1981]

Iv been combi feeding since LO was 5 wks old. Don't matter how much i tried, she was always hungry even after a feed. She has 3-4 bottles a day and I BF in between.

 

[KatVM]

I am combi feeding as well. I had major latching problems and it hurts to much to feed for more then ten mins on each side. Now I do 4 Ozs formula with 1 - 2 Ozs pumped milk every 4 hours. I pump every two hours and let him breast feed after I pump two to three times a day. I am trying to get as much breast feeding in as possible but latching does not work for long. It's great there is a thread for this!

 

[bumpycat]

I'm combi-feeding too, by choice for the last couple of weeks. Initially I was giving LO a bottle of formula mid-morning and expressing at the same time so that I had enough breastmilk to mix with his Colief drops through the rest of the day. Then we added a bedtime bottle of formula as well, so that OH could do more of the bedtime routine. Now LO is pretty much done with the Colief, I am dropping the mid-morning pumping session. I'm really happy with BFing 4x/day and formula 2x/day. The two night feeds are way easier to BF, and the two formula feeds are spaced so that I don't get sore from engorgement.

 

[campost006]

Im combo feeding as well.not really by choice. I bf my first for 11 months and he would not take a bottle. My lo is 2 weeks tomorrow and the last few days he just hasn't been getting enough to eat when I bf so now I'm ff too. I ff more during the day than at night. I'm thinking about switching to ff completely but I'll see what happens.

 

[DSM]

Hi guys,

Some great advice & tips on here, thank you everyone for your combi feeding journey's keep them coming

My combi feeding took an unexpected turn last night when my LO decided he wouldn't take my BM from a bottle!! my OH said he wasn't hunry but i knew he was so latched him on & he took from boob, he would still take formula from bottle just not my BM................Im hoping that was a one off, but has anyone else had this??

 

[Celesse]

Had you eaten anything strong tasting recently? Maybe the milk tasted funny. Feeding straight from the breast the milk bypasses a lot of the taste buds, so they wouldn't necessarily notice a change in taste from the breast but may notice it from EBM.

 

[mrssunshine78]

My lo has stopped taking the bottle completely!! Unless she's absolutely starving, I really don't know what to do as I won't bf when we're out, it's a bit of a nightmare.

 

[DSM]

No not eaten anything different.............although it was daddy giving him the EBM not me??

 

[FeelSoBlessed]

A great thread - thank you!! I think in addition to BF and FF forums - BnB need to add a combi-feeding forum. This may ease the pressure and anxiety experienced by a lot of mums who want to EBF but can't due to one reason or another.

My LO is 3 weeks and 5 days. I needed to introduce formula as a top up quite early on due LO being extremely hungry and my milk taking a while to come through.

I started initially supplementing his before bed feed with formula - but it was obvious he became hungry during the day despite being latched on for hours!!!! So it was becoming necessary to top up BF with FF throughout the day at times.

Admittedly this broke my heart at first. I think I'm almost dealing with it emotionally. Back of my head - I do think... Wish I could produce enough milk for his appetite. Now it's just a case of finding the best combi schedule - any tips would be greatly appreciated!! I just find that I have no routine as I'm not sure what's best and it seems hard to find combi-feeding advice!!

- I BF throughout the day on demand - occasionally needing to top up with formula - about 3 oz after BF.
- I pump at various times throughout the day but with no set time as such. I can get about 5 oz (both breast).
- DH gives a bottle of formula at about 10pm. LO will sleep until 1-2 o'clock. But this is when I become unsure!! Heeelllppp!!
- If I BF when he wakes he falls asleep despite all attempts to wake him! I know he's not content after 10 mins so I keep persevering to get him to take more as I know that he'll be up straight away if I put him back into his cot!
- Sometimes I FF or give expressed milk - but then I fear that a long period of time goes with no breast stimulation and I fear my milk supply decreasing. I've considered getting up to express but I'm then torn that its just best to put baby on??

As I've said - I'd appreciate any advice/tips/ideas. I know the main thing is that baby is happy and gaining weight which fortunately he is. I just need to sus when to express/BF/FF - especially during the night?

Thank you in advance ladies!!

 

[teazle]

Good to read this . We're combi feeding as he was dropping weight and I really don't have enough milk. I seem to produce too much foremilk which then gives him the runs and doesn't help him, then he gives up before he reaches the hind milk. I've switched to alternating bf and ff (so a bf every 4 hrs), which gives my boobs time to recharge, then I can express off most of the foremilk and he gets a bf that doesn't turn his insides into gassy acid that explodes out. I feel so much happier and more relaxed doing it this way - just because he's happier! Still hoping to bf at least in part to six weeks, then I don't care if we end up fully ff. It suits him better, I'm only bf for the antibodies and immune benefits!!!

 

[ktod]

FeelSoBlessed are you sure you can't just drop the formula cos pumping 5oz is loads! If I could do that I'd ditch formula for a few days and keep LO latched constantly for couple of days to really establish BF. I borrowed a hosp pump in week 2 due to LO losing weight. I pumped for a week and barely got an ounce each day so gave up expressing and combi fed. I am still putting him to the breast as often as I can as I'd love to get off formula.

 

[DSM]

A great thread - thank you!! I think in addition to BF and FF forums - BnB need to add a combi-feeding forum. This may ease the pressure and anxiety experienced by a lot of mums who want to EBF but can't due to one reason or another.

My LO is 3 weeks and 5 days. I needed to introduce formula as a top up quite early on due LO being extremely hungry and my milk taking a while to come through.

I started initially supplementing his before bed feed with formula - but it was obvious he became hungry during the day despite being latched on for hours!!!! So it was becoming necessary to top up BF with FF throughout the day at times.

Admittedly this broke my heart at first. I think I'm almost dealing with it emotionally. Back of my head - I do think... Wish I could produce enough milk for his appetite. Now it's just a case of finding the best combi schedule - any tips would be greatly appreciated!! I just find that I have no routine as I'm not sure what's best and it seems hard to find combi-feeding advice!!

- I BF throughout the day on demand - occasionally needing to top up with formula - about 3 oz after BF.
- I pump at various times throughout the day but with no set time as such. I can get about 5 oz (both breast).
- DH gives a bottle of formula at about 10pm. LO will sleep until 1-2 o'clock. But this is when I become unsure!! Heeelllppp!!
- If I BF when he wakes he falls asleep despite all attempts to wake him! I know he's not content after 10 mins so I keep persevering to get him to take more as I know that he'll be up straight away if I put him back into his cot!
- Sometimes I FF or give expressed milk - but then I fear that a long period of time goes with no breast stimulation and I fear my milk supply decreasing. I've considered getting up to express but I'm then torn that its just best to put baby on??

As I've said - I'd appreciate any advice/tips/ideas. I know the main thing is that baby is happy and gaining weight which fortunately he is. I just need to sus when to express/BF/FF - especially during the night?



Thank you in advance ladies!!

Hi, Im not sure on schedule advice as good this is my first time but this is what I did good& now do;

I was topping up from 10 days old in the evenings as my supply was low & he would just fuss on book, he would take 2oz after a bfax x3 an eve & 3oz ff before bed at midnight, new my supply seem to be more adjusted to his needs & i feed on demand through day, in the eve he now takes 1oz top up after a bf about 7pm, he feeds eevery hour from then on books til 10pm or 11pm then he has a 3oz ff & sleeps through the night lil 6am or 7am (we are on 4th night in a row) he then feeds every 2hrs from books til 10am & then a 3hrs nap, he turned 7wks yesterday he is still gaining weight x x

hope this helps, when i express i can only get a max of 3oz bmth books on a good pump but mostly i only get 2oz, every baby is different so id say go with your instinct x x x