Combi feeding

[mc mummy]

My baby is 7 weeks old and I'm EBF. I'm thinking that when he is at least a few months old I may introduce one bottle of formula a day. This is for several reasons. 1. So he is used to the bottle when I decide to switch. 2. If I need to be away from him it saves having to express (just don't feel I have the time as this is second child).

Just wondered if anyone else has done this and if it could potentially cause any issues? Will it affect my supply? Will it cause any digestive issues etc for DS?

 

[TXJen]

If you don't want your supply to go down, you should pump during those formula feeding sessions just to be safe.

My LO hasn't had any digestive issues with formula (we combi feed), but we use the "gentle" ready to feed kind.

 

[noon_child]

My baby is 7 weeks old and I'm EBF. I'm thinking that when he is at least a few months old I may introduce one bottle of formula a day. This is for several reasons. 1. So he is used to the bottle when I decide to switch. 2. If I need to be away from him it saves having to express (just don't feel I have the time as this is second child).

Just wondered if anyone else has done this and if it could potentially cause any issues? Will it affect my supply? Will it cause any digestive issues etc for DS?

I don't think one bottle would cause issues. I 'topped up' by one bottle a day from 8 weeks till about 4 months when I realised it wasn't making any difference to her weight gain, so i went back to ebf. I don't recall any huge issues with my supply as it had just been 4-6oz per day of formula. No-one can predict digestive issues but if LO has been OK while you've been drinking milk/eating wheat with no eczema asthma etc you are no more likely to have digestive issues.

You say it is so he's used to a bottle for when you decide to switch - you could always get him used to a bottle using expressed milk too, if you are worried about digestion, and of course you don't HAVE to switch at all. have you considered extended breast feeding? it may not be for you, but it is an option and saves on bottle washing/steralising/taking stuff when you go out etc.

 

[TCK_Runner]

I agree with the previous poster re: bottle. Maybe try to hand express a bit now into a bottle? I know some people are really anti-bottle and what not, but I also know some women - actually, more than a few - who have babies that would not take a bottle after having been only breastfed on the breast for several months (like the baby could not figure out to suck the bottle or didn't want to and cried the bottle away). I started my daughter on a bottle within a week of birth, but I was lucky I guess in that she never had nipple confusion. However now that I'm weaning at 6 months, I have to say that the early bottle nipple seems to have worked magic, she hasn't even been on my breast directly for a week and no complaints. (I've been pumping just once a day for the last few days, which is enough for 1.5-2 bottles, so I can turn in the pump soon... but she's also eating one full meal of purées + milk for lunch, and a bit of cereal with formula for dinner now, so she's not missing it too much.)