Combi feeding

[Sharps83]

Hello
Does any one combi feed? What's your experience of it?

[*Ali*]

Sorry, I have no personal experience of this but we have a FAQ on this that you might like to read in the meantime. A bottle (or more!) a day…  Mixed breast and bottle feeding

[Shiv52]

I just posted on your other thread.

With my third I did some bottles early on as we'd a whole host of issues-thrush and mastitis which developed into an abscess, tongue tie and extremely sore cracked nippes. So I needed to use some bottles and I actually needed nipples shields too.  It worked well in so much as I was able to give my poor nipples a break but it definitely affected my supply. After a couple of weeks when I was better I gradually ditched all the bottles as I hated the faff of sterilising and I was worried about supply.  We spent a good week just working on supply and then after that I got rid of the shields.

My friend combi fed from 3 months with no issues but i guess that's because her supply was well established. 

[Martini~]

We had first bottle at 2/3 weeks I think and from then we did it occasionally once a week or so DS didn't forget how to use it. From around 4mo we used it once for 2/3 days and at DF. It never changed my supply but I was intensively pumping when not feeding and usually offering my EBF in a bottle.

[Shiv52]

Did you issue formula or BM Marta?

[Martini~]

Ahhh sorry, I haven't stated that - I used only EBM for first 4 months as was afraid of supply issue. However I also couldn't express at once more than 50-100ml being honest but I was usually expressing just after feeds throughout the day (even 10-20ml) and was summing all the BM in one portion for the baby, altogether it would be 70-160ml. Than I was expressing on the time of a missed feed so my supply wouldn't be affected and freezing for better times.

So in summary bottle introduced early didn't harm us but we used it really consequently but rarely (like 1x a week) and only with EBM. DS also had never had any issues with latching and sucking, his latch was almost perfect according to LC. I also used dummy from early on and also no issues. When at 4mo I introduced FF it was only as an addition for the BM DF. I was firstly giving DS what I have expressed through the day and than if he wanted more I was doing additional portion of formula.

[Meggyfunk]

Hi there!

We just started combination feeding and it's going really well for our 7 month old. We introduced the bottle early on, even though he was EBF just to help him get the hang of things. Every week or two we would give an expressed bottle for practice. I currently nurse him in the morning when he first wakes up. The rest of the time I bottle feed with a mixture of expressed milk and formula. When the freezer supply is finished up, he will be getting formula bottles and I'll keep the morning nursing session going for a bit longer. Sometimes we have a NW and I EBF for that also. Is there anything specifically that have questions about? I'm happy to share our experiences.

[Sharps83]

I would like to know by supplementing a breast feed does that stop the benefits of bf. We are only supplementing 1 night feed?
Will it upset her tummy, it doesn't seem to have but wondering long term?

[Meggyfunk]

Hi,

I can only share my personal experience and what we've discussed with our child's healthcare provider. I did pull this from the site and tend to agree: "Breastfeeding does not have to be all or nothing - ANY amount of breastmilk is going to be beneficial to your baby. The antibodies actually become more concentrated as a mother's supply decreases, so every little bit of breastmilk your baby receives will help strengthen their immune system and prevent infections.
For more information on mixed feeding, see Mixed feeding (breastmilk and formula)

From what I understand, every baby is different and you may find that one formula works best for your little one over others, or they may not have any tummy troubles whatsoever. We have been lucky thus far and haven't experienced any tummy troubles. I don't believe this would change long-term.

[Sharps83]

Thank you. It's hard to find good info on combi feeding. But it's definitely the right route for us. I just can't do it all.

[*Ali*]

You gotta do what you gotta do. Don't beat yourself up about it.


This FAQ has some info on the difference between EBF and not
For those who have the choice - why exclusive breastfeeding is recommended..

[Meggyfunk]

At the end of the day, what works best for your family is really what matters most. Books and websites are there as a great resource for us to pull knowledgeable and helpful information from, but having a healthy and happy family isn't going to look the same for everyone.

[*Ali*]

Indeed.

I've only posted that link as you specifically asked about the benefits that are lost through combination feeding.   I would not have posted it otherwise ☺

[Sharps83]

Thank you. If I wasn't so exhausted I would ebf but I feel so drained and under the weather at the minute.

[Meggyfunk]

I found it to be helpful, also; combination feeding is new for us and I've had a lot of emotions about it.