Breast and Formula Feeding???

[Dukechick]

I was thinking that it might be easier to do both (instead of pumping so DH can do it, and if I have a night out etc......)

Has anyone done this, and their baby prefers the formula, and won't take the breast anymore? Or vice versa? What are the pros and cons about doing this???

 

[Sarah88]

Babies tend to prefer the bottle as they don't have to work terribly hard to get the milk.

 

[Brockie]

agree, they find it easier to drink from a bottle xx

i do both now but only started giving a bottle of formula at 3+ months, its not a problem for us but all babies are different! xxx

 

[elmaxie]

I started about a week ago giving my baby a bottle of formula or two a day after he started feeding for hours and my nipples were sore and bleeding and I got really down and depressed by it all. But at that point I was going to give up completely

Now I feed him and he gets a bottle midmorning, before bed and sometimes overnight too if he is still sucking away after 1 1/2hours.

I was so worried that once I gave him a bottle he wouldnt take breast or latch on properly anymore but we have been lucky as he likes both but I can definately tell he likes the booby more

I also express when he has a bottle feed. To begin with we mixed it in his bottle but now I am freezing it so when he switches to bottles exclusively I can mix it on then and prolong his intact of breastmilk(I might sound crazy on the last one but it will make me feel happier as it broke my heart the 2 days he had formula)

Emma.xx

 

[Serene123]

What happened with us was, she'd take the bottle for food and just use me for comfort. It took ages to get her to stop demanding bottles all the time. It was horrible!

All babies are different and it's all trial and error. You do what works for your family, and if your LO ends up prefering the bottle then you'll cross that bridge when you come to it. I'd suggest waiting untill 6 weeks though

 

[Always&4ever]

Jasmine was combined fed from 6weeks and we had no trouble with it. She still has breast-feeds now

 

[Mervs Mum]

I think they are all different and you can see from the replies. Generally they fine bottles easier. I've been lucky that my baby will eat from anything BUT some babies are cute and realise what's easy then refuse the breast.

So long as you know the pit falls and dont start with a bottle too soon ie ideally not before 6 weeks ish - then you may well fine it works well.

 

[Lu28]

As the others have said, I think all babies are different. Aisling had bottles exclusively for a week from about 6 days old because my nipples were cracked and bleeding and she wasn't getting any milk - I was extremely close to giving up totally at this point. Since then I've managed to get her back on the breast (it does take persistence) and have increased the breast feeding from once or twice a day to her only having a bottle of EBM just before bed. She seems to prefer breastfeeding, I think because of the close contact with me and she definitely seems to prefer the taste. If I haven't managed to express enough, we'll give her formula and she always turns her nose up at it at first!

 

[Genna]

When my nephews mom started to combination feed (she exclusively BF for the first 3 weeks), she switched him over too fast. He still BF fine (and actually preferred it because he would suck so hard on the bottle he would choke) but he got sooo constipated and didn't poo for about a week poor bubba. She ended up switching completely over from breast to formula because in the end his system couldn't handle both. From my experience of what I've seen, I'd say wait until like the other woman have said, at least weeks, that way it isn't such a shock to his system as well. My SIL, momma of my nieces, always BF for the first 8 weeks then switched entirely to FF and my nieces would do fine Good luck!

 

[sparkswillfly]

Combination feeding didnt work for me. after about 4 weeks she started to completely refuse boobie. She screamed her head off. It was horrible

Edit: I didnt start combi feedin until about 6 weeks

 

[mummy to be]

i have been wondering the same thing. Layla is 4 weeks old and i was looking to start giveing her a bottle or two a week. I am going to have to buy a breast pump before i do this though as i want her to still have my breat milk Then eventually maybe in 2 or 3 weeks i might start with combined breast and formula milk....

It is all confusing

 

[codegirl]

We combo fed from 0-7 weeks (had trouble getting started) and have exclusively bf since then. This last week we had to bottle feed for a few hours (had a procedure done that meant I couldn't bf cause of the drugs) and he was MAD even though there was breast milk in the bottle.

Every baby is different.