breast and bottle ?

[annalw21]

hi all well i thought i would like to breast feed this baby as she is my last and i wanted to my last 2 but chickened out i know sounds childish but mum and mother inlaw wernt very helpful anyway i am thinking i might combo feed does anyone have any views or tips on this as im not sure how it would work ......

 

[Lu28]

The general advice for combination feeding is to exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 weeks so that you can build up your milk supply and so that baby doesn't get confused by your nipple and the bottle. Other than that, it's just alot of persistence! Good luck hon, everyone on this forum is very supportive and helpful so ask as many questions as you like xxx

 

[Mervs Mum]

Lu said it. I'd recommend reading the sticky thread at the top of this board too....https://www.babyandbump.com/breastfeeding/115736-helped-you-starting-out.html

 

[Lara+sam+bump]

I breastfed Noah exclusively for the first 3-4 weeks then introduced an eve bottle. He never gets confused, never has and my surply isnt affected atall. Although thats just me and I guess it widely varies on how many bottles you wanted to give. xxx

 

[Hope22]

I definitely agree, try VERY hard to exclusively BF for at least six weeks. If you then want/need to supplement, you can replace certain feeds with a bottle, or you can BF and then 'top off' with formula. I can't keep up with Darwin's demands no matter how hard I try so what I do now is BF him from morning until evening (with meals of solids in between) and when he's super hungry before bed I BF as long as possible and then offer him a bottle of formula.

I also use formula to mix with his cereal, and sometimes have to use bottles if I'm away because I can't pump enough milk.

 

[WilliamsAd19]

Just wondering does anyone find that if they give a bottle of formula at night they sleep that little bit longer? and does it affect your supply of milk? Had lots of different feedback on this and now confused!!

 

[ellismum]

WilliamsAd19, welcome to the forum!!

As mentioned above, its best to wait until your supply is in and baby is less likely to get confused, usually 6 weeks. Ellis has a bottle of formula and he doesn't sleep any longer than if he had a breastfeed. My HV also mentioned that she has several ladies that introduced an evening bottle in the hope they would but don't and if you look through threads here on on the FF section there are BF that sleep through and FF babies that don't. I would say it depends on the baby more than the feeding method. Sorry I can't give you a defenitive yes or no.

 

[Mervs Mum]

My LO slept through from 3 weeks on BM alone.

 

[WilliamsAd19]

thanku ellismum, nice to have someone who knows what they are talking about! Books only tell u so much and seem to contradict each other! x

 

[ellismum]

Thanks WilliamsAd19, I read all the books and researched and decided to just go with the flow after coming to the every baby is different conclusion (esp as my sisters 2 could not be any different) The nights do pass and I now look at him and wish we could go back there, even the every 2 hour feeding!! Ask any questions you have, the support on here is utterly fantastic x x