Combination Feeding

MrsELF · Mar 4, 2011 6:20PM

Hi Ladies,

My dd is now a month old, and is currently exclusively breastfed, however at some point i would like to introduce a bottle as well, probably just one in the evening/night so dh can share feeding - so I have a couple of questions

What's the best age to introduce a bottle? I've read after 6 weeks to avoid nipple confusion, but also that if you leave it this long they may not take a bottle at all?

What are the pros and cons of expressing or using formula? I have a manual tt pump, but am a bit confused about when in the day to express, would my supply in the evening be impacted if she is getting expressed milk? Could I just give her a couple of oz of formula? How would using formula, just now and again, impact on my supply?

It's all so confusing! Any advice very gratefully recieved!

Elf x

mrsd2006 · Mar 3, 2011 2:17PM

Hi,

For long and complicated reasons we've been mix feeding since ds was 2 weeks old and he has no problem going from nipple to boob to dummy. We might just be lucky, but I do think it's because we're using the tommee tippee closer to nature bottles and dummies which mimic the natural flex of boob and nipple

Hope that helps! X

MrsELF · Mar 3, 2011 2:31PM

That's good to hear mrsd2006 - I have stocked up on tt bottles already! She won't take the tt dummies, but think it might be because it does feed her.

Another question! how much milk should I be looking to express for each feed? The same as formula?

mrsd2006 · Mar 3, 2011 3:45PM

I was expressing to make up to one bottle. Your lo is only 2 days younger than mine, so guidelines say they should be on 150ml formula, but he would struggle on that, so if he's having more than one bottle a day, I give him 120ml. So, if I was giving him a bottle of expressed, It would be the full 120ml as well. X

Moomin-mama · Mar 4, 2011 7:36AM

Just to say dont leave it too late, i tried to do this at 10 weeks as i only wanted to ebf for 3 months, now at 17 weeks she still wont take a bottle and i have had to start early weaning.

jovictoria · Mar 4, 2011 3:23PM

I would suggest you try a bottle as soon as possible as well, if breastfeeding has gone well so far I don't think it will do any harm to introduce a bottle before 6 weeks.

I didn't give a bottle to my son regularly enough and he refused to take them for a long time, so this time round my 12 week old had a bottle of formula a couple of times a week since she was about 2 weeks, and every day from 6 weeks onwards and she's coped absolutely fine.

Best of luck!

Gail1977 · Mar 4, 2011 4:52PM

Be aware if you use expressed milk you may not get as much rest as you want as breast milk is absorbed in one hour so your baby may want another feed after one hour even if you give a decent amount.Formula will mean you get a bit extra rest because it takes longer to digest your baby wont need feeding for a while. If you are good at expressing (I never was) you may get enough for a couple of feeds each time meaning you still get a break. Giving formula will mean you make less but if you are intending on doing this permanently but feeding constantly through the day your body will adjust to the amount she needs through the day. I wouldnt wait too much longer to introduce a bottle as I could not get my child to accept one at 7 weeks. Good luck x

MrsELF · Mar 4, 2011 6:20PM

Thanks everyone, Esme has just taken a whole bottle of formula with no problems, in fact she seemed to really enjoy it once she got the hang of it, and is now dozing off on daddy. So fingers crossed, it seems to have been fairly successful!

Gail1977 - I attempted to express this morning, and i know it gets easier the more you do it, it seemed such a lot of hassle, so we decided to go with one bottle of formula each evening

Thanks again for all the advice

Combination Feeding

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