Combi-feeding support thread :)

[Emmy1987]

I thought I'd start a thread for us mums who combi feed as sometimes I feel torn between the BF and FF forums!

So, why did you decide to combi feed?
For me, I got so sore my nipples bled, she was drinking blood with her milk and it was doing no good for my mental health. So I decided to change one night feed to a bottle of formula. Now every other feed is a bottle, I pump regularly and use my milk mixed with formula. My boobs feel a lot better, I still make enough milk for her, and we are both happy.

What bottles/formula are you using? Do you mix your milk and formula in a bottle?
We started with TT bottles but they give Daisy such bad wind it's unbelievable!! So now we use dr browns and MAM
We used Aptamil but are now trying hipp organic as she was a bit sicky with Aptamil. I also pump and we do half BM half formula

Enough about me, tell me of your combi feeding experiences

 

[Shell999]

Hi Emmy.. I am glad I saw this as this last two days Ive been giving my LO one feed of SMA gold, mainly so I can pump a good supply to freeze, my DH can help me feed LO and I also like the convenience of it... i'd not thought to mix my BM with Formula.... did your MW or HV say to do this?
Im using TT bottles, they work fine for us, I bought the Medela pump tho- what a god send!!! My manual one was truely naf!xx

 

[Emmy1987]

I only started mixing milk after researching whether it's possible to do or not, and only started a few days ago. She seems to take it better all mixed up than formula by itself

I have a manual TT pump for quick relief but it's terrible for proper pumping so I got the electric TT pump and it works well for me (am currently hooked up as OH feeds madam)

 

[bellablue]

I pump alot! and use the dr.brown bottles Arianna breast feeds all day and evening at nite she gets the EBM with a little formula bottle before bed i use the enfamil newborn she will not take the formula bottle at night with out breast milk in it lol

 

[MissRoc]

I'm starting combi feeding tonight with a bottle of nutriprem2 as my LO is a preemie, not decided whether to pump tho as OH is bottle feeding him, but I've a medela pump so think I better had pump to justify the cost of the thing!!

 

[tina3747]

Wish I'd had this thread last week! Had 3 weeks of exclusive bf then week of 1 ff a day then formula/day, bf/night. I gave up in the end as myboy just got confused and stopped latching as well. A whole battle every feed and threw the towel in after a week ! Was getting a bit piggy in the middle between the forums too...bubbas now formula fed but feel soooo guilty as he still hasn't forgot about boobies! He keep rooting for them and the bottle won't do in evening think he wants it for comfort! Oh well... Good luck you combis, wish I had the patience to carry on a bit longer!

 

[mrssuggy2b]

Hi ladies, I combi-feed now. I used to exclusively bf but had to wean him onto a bottle as I went back to work full time 3 weeks ago. He now has formula during the day and I feed him myself in the evening/night and when he first wakes up in the morning x

 

[ke29]

I used to combi feed. In the beginning I combined bottles and breast but then he got lazy and wouldnt latch so then combined formula and expressed for 15 weeks. He had mainly formula as my supply was rubbish and time became an issue but im glad I kept going as long as I did.

 

[Emmy1987]

Wish I'd had this thread last week! Had 3 weeks of exclusive bf then week of 1 ff a day then formula/day, bf/night. I gave up in the end as myboy just got confused and stopped latching as well. A whole battle every feed and threw the towel in after a week ! Was getting a bit piggy in the middle between the forums too...bubbas now formula fed but feel soooo guilty as he still hasn't forgot about boobies! He keep rooting for them and the bottle won't do in evening think he wants it for comfort! Oh well... Good luck you combis, wish I had the patience to carry on a bit longer!

Don't feel guilty!! You could always offer booby if he's rooting for comfort, Daisy likes to have just my nipple on her bottom lip if she wants comforting. Do you pump or does he now just have formula?

I felt so bad earlier, I pumped my boobs dry and Daisy randomly woke up and wanted boobie but there was nothing left in there for her to get without lots of hard work and she was quite upset I gave her a nice long cuddle then let her have another go but she just fell asleep with nipple on her bottom lip bless.

 

[pigboo22]

I have been since she was born. Im not making enuf to satisfy her.
I didn't know u could mix them. I've just bern giving her one or the other.
I dont use any special bottles.
I can only pump the breast milk tho...she never prfected latching on.
its tiring.

 

[bky]

I combi fed every day for 7 months We're now fully on breast at home, but she still has formula for daycare as it takes me 3 pump sessions to get enough for 1 3oz feed.
I never used to mix the breast milk or formula because I didn't want to have to throw out any breast milk if she didn't finish. Breast milk can be put back in the fridge after being drunk from for up to 24 hours, but formula needs to be thrown out 2 hours after being drunk from. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Ohmy4]

I combi feed...my little guy has Failure to thrive and needed the extra calories. Normal formula has 20 calories he needs 24. His weight is low so I do both. I wish they would make a whole Combi Feeding section!!

 

[Ohmy4]

I also read that if you combine the breast milk with the formula the active antibodies in my BM will help babys tummy break down the formula WAY easier. Rather then just straight formula

 

[Emmy1987]

I combi feed...my little guy has Failure to thrive and needed the extra calories. Normal formula has 20 calories he needs 24. His weight is low so I do both. I wish they would make a whole Combi Feeding section!!

Agreed!! I feel cheeky being in the BF forum then hopping over to FF!

Oh Daisy won't go back to sleep I fed her almost two hours ago and she's still wide awake!!

 

[2016]

Stewart was EBF then went on a nursing strike after a hospital stay at 4 months and my supply all but vanaished from severe stress/sleep deprivation. For a month I pumped every thing he drank because I didn't want to give him formula (seems silly now). I nearly killed myself trying to keep up with his 35oz a day! I was on the highest does of Domperidone just trying to keep my supply going but, after 2 rounds of mastitis, my doctor said I can only take a small amount a day.
At 5 months I started to introduce 1 bottle of formula a day but that has gradually increased as my supply decreased and he now just has one bottle of boobie milk a day.

We use Hipp Organic milk (after trying all the others) and he gets on really well with it. It certainly doesn't taste "disgusting" as I have heard some people say formula tastes. We use TT CTN bottles and stayed on size 1 teats for ages (in the hope he wouldn't get lazy/go back to the breast) but have now switched to 2s as he has mostly formula.

I don't mix BM and formula because I would hate to throw any precious BM away. I give him the BM first then top up with formula if needed.

I have a Medela Swing breastpump which is fab and have just bought the Medela harmony manual pump to take on hols and, I must say, I can get pretty much the same amount of milk out with that one as I can the electric!

 

[Emmy1987]

I'm trying to get my supply up a bit more, when I BF she just never seems to get full even after an hour OH has had to give her a bottle of formula to finish her off while I pump to trick my boobs into making more milk. Has anyone else tried this?

 

[stary-eyed]

My LO has had an evening top-up bottle since a couple of weeks old as lost a lot and gained slow (6 wks back to birth weight) - used to be expressed, then mixed, but now formula. Since about 12 weeks she's also had one during the night (as she was feeding every 90 minutes in the night for several weeks). She's now 20wks and has just started regularly stretching her feeds out to every 3+ hours, and occassionaly gets a couple of topup ozs somtime in the middle of the day when she's finished with me and still hungry - I've always worried about my supply drying up, but finally feel confident I'll make it to 6 months with something.

... I've tried to find out about other combi feeding routines a few times but never got much response so would love to hear some long-term success stories.

 

[Palestrina]

We've done combined feeding since he was born because he had to spend a whole week in the nicu since birth. Since he had low birth weight the nurses had to be very diligent about measuring everything he ate so I would pump and combine with formula to make the right amount he was prescribed. He's now on the breast, gets about 20minutes of BF per feeding but most of the time he is still hungry afterwards and needs to be topped off with formula. As I make more milk I hope to BF exclusively.

 

[moomoo]

I combi fed my first till 7 months and I'm combi feeding now lLO and she's 10 weeks old x

 

[Emmy1987]

I combi fed my first till 7 months and I'm combi feeding now lLO and she's 10 weeks old x

What was/is your routine? It sounds successful!!