does anyone combi feed?

[Lamont]

My baby will be 3weeks on friday he was born at 36week 4days and has had problems latching and staying latched. I still offer my breast at feeds but he seems to get very frustrated and starts hitting me. Ive been pumping since day 2 and hes been feeding great! Now hes taking up to 110ml per feed and im started to get worried that I wont produce enough for him. In the early days I was producing too much so I froze 450ml and ive used 150ml of my frozen supply and im producing around 500ml a day by pumping and always seem to be playing catch up for his next feed. Im worried when he starts eating more I wont be producing enough and im thinking of introducing a feed of formula milk if needed during the day. Has this worked for anyone? I dont want to give up feeding him breast milk completely.

 

[NoodleSnack]

I don't, but just want to say that sometimes they latch better as they get older and their mouth gets bigger, or you could get someone to see if there's a structural problem if you haven't? If you want to keep breastfeeding, I would just continue with offering breasts more often and pumping and cross the formula bridge when you get there.

Baby struggling at the breast is not always a sign of low supply either, it could be gas, or in my case oversupply and fast let down, he also grabs and punches me, so do lots other if you check the BF forum.

There's a few ladies who combi fed at first if you check the FF forum, I'm sure they'll be happy to help you out with questions.

 

[marymoomin]

Try lactation cookies to up your supply. I had a similar problem and that got us back on track. X

 

[cat_reversing]

the more you feed/pump, the more you make so if your worried about supply just demand more from yourself and you'll make more!
I did combifeed as lo had low blood sugars at birth and needed formula for a few days. we carried on combifeeding for a couple of months as oh was paranoid baby wasn't getting enough, but i wanted to exclusively breastfeed so i upped my supply by feeding more and taking fenugreek and we ditched the bottle.
It all depends on you and how you feel, for me it was really important to nourish my child but everyone is different.
as noodlesnack said, baby can start hitting for different reasons, lo maybe uncomfortable in some way ie gas, too fast flow, impatient.
At 3 weeks they go through a growth spurt so will demand more, so get on the sofa and feed,feed,feed!

 

[AC1987]

The more bottles you give the less your supply will be, so I've learned. But also I see nothing wrong with combi feeding. So do what works for you

 

[AngelofTroy]

I combi feed Micah struggled to gain weight when he was younger and exclusively breastfed. We later found out that he has tongue and lip ties which prevented him from transferring milk effectively and in turn damaged my supply. Has your LO been checked for tongue tie? Have you seen a lactation consultant? If you really want to exclusively breastfeed then they are both worth checking out, my HV referred me to a Lactation consultant for free and it was definitely worth it.

However, if you are happy to combi feed then don't feel guilty about it. Formula is great stuff, and introducing it does not have to mean the end of breastfeeding, despite what some people will tell you! We introduced a bottle of formula around 8 weeks (ideally if you hold off till about 6 weeks your supply should be better established) and he is still breastfeeding for one or two feeds a day now at nearly 8 months. Nobody told me that it was okay to do both, it always felt like an 'either/or' deal, but combination feeding saved our relationship really, and enabled us to breastfeed for a long time, I think if I'd kept exclusively breastfeeding for longer then I would have cracked under the stress by 3 or 4 months and quit altogether! Best of luck xxxx

 

[Jo.t]

I have just started giving 1 bottle a day but my daughter is allmost 6 months - so not much help really ! X

 

[hopingforit]

I pump 40oz of milk a day and give about 10oz to the babies (combined). It was hard in the beginning because I wanted them to exclusively have breastmilk but some is better than none. I drink 2 cups of nursing support tea and some recommend fenugreek and oatmeal to increase supply. If you do have to combi feed, it's okay. Some of your milk is better than none so don't feed bad about it.