Combi-feeding - how to from the start

[Rickles]

Hi ladies

OH and I have agreed we will combi-feed this baby from the get go.

Bit of background in case anyone wants to lecture - I EBF DD for 14 months and truth be told it nearly killed me and my marriage. (I was dangerously underweight due to her multiple allergies meaning I had to give up dairy, wheat, apples, pears, tomatoes, soy...).

OH couldn't help and it put our marriage under enormous strain as I was so exhausted and desperate. DD refused to take a bottle despite us trying EVERYTHING and was days away from NG tube when I just broke and said I'd carry on BFIng.

So - I do want this baby to have some of my immunity but I also need to know / some experienced mummies to tell me which are the best feeds for Daddy to give so that we balance engorgement / feeding etc.

Can anyone help???

 

[SucreK]

Hello! I have twins and could never make enough to feed them both (9 oz per bottle per baby--they're 8 months old--would kill me!). Anyways, I just pump what I can and supplement with formula. I try to make every bottle part breast milk/part formula, and that works for us. When the girls were still doing night feeds, it was lovely letting my husband/mother feed them while I slept! (If we were feeding at 2, 5, 8, 11 am and pm, then he would often take the 11 pm and 2 am feeds.)

Also, when they were first born I pumped 7-8 times a day. Now I pump 5-6 times.

I hope this helps! I'd be happy to answer any specific questions, too.

 

[Rickles]

Thanks so much for answering. I'm trying to avoid pumping if I can - so hoping OH can do the 11pm feed each night and will then slowly work towards 50:50 bottle and breast by about 6 weeks. Hoping that if I don't pump too much I won't suffer as badly with engorgement.

So nice to hear someone else is doing it!! xx

 

[lauraemily17]

I combi fed with my eldest from 2 weeks until 6 months. The key to it working for a long period I found is to go through the hard slog of building a supply over the first 2 weeks then offering the breast at the start of most feeds topping up with formula. Once I was a few months in I could totally skip some feeds with no impact on supply. We did however introduce 1 full bottle feed at night quite early.