Anyone mix fed from the start?

[Mummyxofx2]

Hey all I have a 4 day old
Lo I was just wondering if anyone has mix fed from the start? How did you do it and how was your milk supply? Did you get mastitis or plugged ducts often?

TIA XX

 

[TheNewMrs]

I did, not by choice and it was the start of the end of our breastfeeding relationship. Baby preferred fast flow from bottle right away, refused breast, and my milk supply didn't build. She was sleeping longer after a bottle, obviously, it takes so much out of them trying to digest another Mammals milk, and I was enjoying the rest after a Csection. So I, unknowingly to myself, was giving more bottles than breast and she just stopped latching..

If you want to Combi-feed I'd say wait till 6 weeks when your supply is established and introduce a FF every 3/4 days.

 

[feedindy]

I did for both of mine and it was awesome.
I combifed my first for a year and now I am 5 months in with my second and I hope to get to a year again. I loved it!
If you wanna do it, don't let people talk you out of it.
For both my kids, my milk took so long to come in and they lost a lot of weight, so I topped them off with formula every breastfeeding until the doctor was pleased with their weight. Then I just did one bottle per day at about the same time of day. No problems with my supply at all after that.

 

[Mummyxofx2]

My milk came in yesterday (day 3) it was bliss because she is so settled between feeds now but she also developed jaundice which midwife has suggested supplanting 1 bottle a day so I am thinking about giving her a bottle before bed at night so then also my partner can feed her and I can go to bed earlier to get some much needed sleep. But then I have had people say it will mess with my supply so I'm confused on what to do.

 

[summer rain]

Jaundice is normal in most cases and not harmful and giving formula does not help in most cases, if that is your only reason for mix feeding I would advise against it (all five of mine were jaundiced and the two given formula it actually prolonged it) xx

 

[Fortune Cooki]

Yeah make sure you have a really good reason and high need to substitute, because you will lose all of that passed on immunity from the breast milk when you add formula.
My friend ended up with a really low supply when she started substituting. I ended up with oversupply, because I exclusively breastfeed and then I pumped manually as well to let DH offer a bottle. The whole milk supply thing seems super sensitive.

 

[feedindy]

My milk came in yesterday (day 3) it was bliss because she is so settled between feeds now but she also developed jaundice which midwife has suggested supplanting 1 bottle a day so I am thinking about giving her a bottle before bed at night so then also my partner can feed her and I can go to bed earlier to get some much needed sleep. But then I have had people say it will mess with my supply so I'm confused on what to do.

Yeah I agree with you I just like having that bottle per day so I can take a break. The baby is still getting antibodies because you BF the rest of the time.

I just think if you want to do it, then go for it. You don't need a "good reason" to give a bottle of formula. That's insulting to formula feeders. You just need to do what you want to do and not worry about anyone talking you out of it.

 

[optimistic1]

If you don't want to you don't have to my daughter was highly jaundiced and the doctors kept telling me to supplement but I didn't want to every part of me was saying don't supplement so I didn't and eventually I think after she was 4-5 days old after my milk had been in a couple days her jaundiced levels dropped well enough that the doctors weren't worried anymore. It takes a couple of days after your milk comes in but a good sign that your lo's levels are dropping is seeing yellow poo. If you just want to give formula for a break here and there go for it but make sure you still pump to keep your supply. I was thinking about supplementing for a break but I found it much easier just to pump here and there and build up a small stash in the fridge so if I want a break I've got ready to go breast milk and don't have to deal with the actual breast feeding.