Is it safe to breastfeed and bottlefeed within the first few days ?

Question

I just had a baby girl on the 2nd of Nov and I was breastfeeding for the 1st two days. Now my nipples have been REALLY sore and sometimes I breastfeed her but when the pain gets too tough for me to handle I switch to formula. Is this bad? I'm really engoreged as well and i was thinking of pumping some out and breastfeed her but I don't know. I put Lansinoh and it kind of helps but my nipples stay sore. ONE more thing before my nipple would stick out and now they are flat. Is that because i'm engoreged or something else. PLEASE HELP !!!!!!!

Answer 1

When I gave birth to my son I had trouble breast feeding so I would give him a bottle of my own milk. I would pump the milk so that I would not get so engorged and he would benefit from my milk. Formula can be a bit harsh on the babies tummy. I would breastfeed as often as I could and when my nipples would be sore I would give him my breast milk. I hope you feel better. Good luck and congrats.

Answer 2

Some tenderness is normal as your body learns it's new job, but PAIN is not normal. Look at it this way.....when your body is learning a new physical task, like starting an exercise routine, you have some soreness and discomfort as you get used to the new task. The first time you shovel the driveway in the winter, it's hard! But as the winter goes along, your body learns the task and it's easier on you. Breastfeeding is the same way. Some discomfort is normal but PAIN is NOT normal and means you need HELP!

I'd suggest you call the Lactation Consultant at your hospital of a La Leche League Leader. A LLL Leader will help you for free and may even come to your home since you have a newborn. Get her to check your positioning and latch and make sure all is OK.

Keep using the Lansinoh. If you are feeling tender, start the nursing session on the side that is less sore. Baby will nurse more vigorously at the start of the nursing session, so your least sore side will take that vigorous nursing better than the side that is tenderest. Then change to the other side when baby comes off the first side. You can also take a pain reliever like Tylenol, Aleve or Advil for your discomfort. Cold packs (bags of frozen peas work well) can help with the discomfort from any swelling from engorgement. Warmth can help to soften things up and get the milk flowing at the start of a feeding.

If you had your baby on Nov 2, your milk is probably just coming in today. That's why you're getting engorged. The engorgement is why your nipples seem flat now. Engorgement will make latching more difficult. If you have trouble getting baby on because you are engorged, you can try pumping for just a minute until your nipple is drawn out.

Also, if you are giving formula and not pumping in place of that feeding, that can mess with your supply so that you get engorged between feedings. Not removing the milk from the breast will tell your body to make less milk. If you do choose to supplement, try a bottle of pumped milk or better yet use a medicine syringe or dropper at this age to help avoid nipple confusion. If you DO already have a latch problem (which could be causing the soreness) offering artificial nipples can make it worse.

The formula is really not a good idea. It will mess with your milk supply AND going back and forth between breast and bottle could confuse baby this early on. They are two completely different ways of eating.....totally different mechanics of how it works.

Answer 3

First of all, congratulations and good for your for deciding to breastfeed.

It is normal to have some discomfort when you start to breastfeed as your nipples 'toughen up' and get used to the repeated action of sucking. Extreme pain means that the baby may not be latched properly and may be only sucking on th nipple, and not the breast tissue. The nipple is like the Bullseye, it guides the baby to the breast, but they need to suck on the nipple and areola to be latched well. If you have had some bad latches, sometimes the nipple can become cracked and blistered. Lansinoh or Pure Lanolin cream will help with the healing, but you will have to work on the latch to get the baby to feed well and stop the problem from getting worse.

Sharp stabbing pains that make you want to scream and curl your toes may be a sign of candida, or yeast in the baby's mouth and on the nipple. This will require treatment by a Doctor or Lactation Nurse.

It is safe to both breastfeed and bottle feed with expressed breast milk in the first few days if you have no other options. I would hesitate adding formula, unless that is your personal educated choice.

The reason people tell you not to give a bottle at first is because some babies will prefer feeding from a bottle because it is easier and milk will flow freely into their mouths with out them having to do a lot of work. Also, the tongue is working differently with a bottle then it does at the breast, and this can cause confusion when you offer the breast again later. With a bottle, the baby uses it's tongue to stop the flow by blocking the opening on the bottle. During breastfeeding, the baby's tongue pulls at the breast from beneath, the tongue is down and over the bottom gums. Babies are like everyone else, they want it Easy.

If your nipples are appearing flattish, you are likely very engorged. You can reduce this my manually expressing some milk into a bowl or cup, or by taking a warm shower and expressing a little till the nipple can be molded (shaped) and able to fit in the infants mouth.

If you have access to a pump, and are engorged, pump for few minutes (like 5) prior to the feed so that you will soften the breast and draw out the nipple so the baby can acheive a latch. DO NOT pump to empty unless exclusively bottle feeding with breast milk or else you will end up producing more milk that you need. Your body will think it is feeding twins if you breastfeed and pump at the same time. This will only make the engorgement worse.

Day 2 is often difficult, as milk really starts to come in and some women will feel like they are carrying around torpedoes instead of breasts. That will get better. Yor body is just playing catch up to all the stimulation it recieved in the first feeds where there was only thick colostrum for the baby.

Hope that helps.

Stick with it, it is so worth it when things all finally come together. It is never easy or perfect at first, and every baby is different. Call your public health department for a nurse that can come to visit and assess your latch properly, or see a Lactation Consultant if problems persist.

Never feel guilty about your choices, even if you do decide to use formula, becuase every single ounce of breastmilk has helped to make your baby healthier and allowed you to bond with him/her in a unique way.

Answer 4

Yes, it is safe to do both but what some may say is that it might cause " nipple confusion" with the baby. Nipple confusion is when the baby doesn't know which nipple to take yours or the bottle. I pumped and nursed almost right away and it did not happen with any of my children. The soreness of your nipples sounds like to me that the baby is not latching on completely. I breastfed all four of my children and had this same problem with my first. To avoid further hurting your nipples when the baby latches on try to make sure that their mouth is around as much of the areola as you can. you will be able to tell when you've got it by the feel of the pull. the pull will be on the wole aerola and not just the nipple, MUCH more comfortable. As for the engorgement, machine.pumping can be uncomfortable with cracked nipples so take a very warm towel and wrap it around your breast to promote letdown and hand express the milk. Work gently from the top of the breast and the sides to relieve any clogged ducts. This will be uncomfortable for the first couple of minutes but after that RELIEF!!! Engorgement can make your nippples go flat. Don't worry the things that you are facing are very normal and things should level out in the next few days. You can go to the La Leche League website for more breastfeeding info but take it for what it is, information and make the choices that are best for you. Good luck

Answer 5

Breastfeeding is definitely better for your baby than formula...if your nipples are killing you (mine were for a few weeks!) you're better off pumping and giving her breastmilk in a bottle (pumping does not hurt as much as nursing, so don't worry!) However, if you do this before she's 4 weeks old, sometimes they can get confused between the bottle and your nipple, as the flow is different and she might reject either your breast or the bottle...ideally you should wait til between 4-6 weeks to give her a bottle. Not sure why your nipples are now flat--is she still able to latch on properly when you do nurse her? All I can tell you is breastfeeding was EXTREMELY painful for me--everyone told me it would get better within a week, but it took me about 3 weeks, but it TOTALLY got better--I never imagined it could, the pain was so intense! Also, you can log onto laleche website--they can answer ALL questions re: breastfeeding.Good luck, congrats, and try to keep nursing your new little girl!

Answer 6

There is nothing wrong with switching between breast and bottle. If you are giving formula between breast feedings, your baby may become constipated some, until he gets used to formula. If you are worried about giving formula, I would recommend pumping and feeding that in a bottle. If you are missing breast feedings and not pumping, you may start to produce less milk. Pumping is definitely less painful than breastfeeding. It is not true that you are doing something wrong because it is painful. If you have tender nipples anyway, then it could still be painful. However you could try to see a lactation expert if you have doubts as to how do do it properly. Make sure he is latched on to more than just your nipple, he should also get quite a bit of surrounding skin. This might help some, but it will probably still be somewhat painful.

Answer 7

First off this is the hardest thing you will ever do.....GOOD FOR YOU FOR TRYING....

Secondly it isn't "bad" to use formula, but it has a negative impact on nursing...the less breast milk your baby drinks, the less you will produce, the harder the cycle is.....it will eventually defeat you.

Your nipples will toughen and it will get easier...you are engorged because your milk is coming in (GOOD THING...painful but good). Your nipples are flat from that.

Also, bottle feeding is easier for the baby than breast.....you will be defeating yourself by giving the bottle.

One suggestion, use the cream after every breast feeding and if you can, let your breasts get some air.

You should pump a little to relieve the engorgement (just a bit and save the milk for the baby) this will make your nipples come back. The keep offering the breast often.

It will get easier.....I personally would avoid the use of bottles and a pacifier for the first three weeks.

YOU CAN DO THIS....IT WILL GET EASIER EVERY WEEK I PROMISE

Answer 8

Bless your heart - this sounds just miserable. I think the short answer is that it's best for your kid to be breastfed, but you have to do whatever is necessary to survive. Having an itty bitty baby and all the health issues from just having given birth is no picnic.

Does your hospital or health coverage give you access to a lactation consultant? Sometimes they can help a lot in terms of working through problems like positioning and so forth that lead to pain.

If that doesn't work, another thing to try is renting an industrial-strength breast pump from the hospital. These are about a hundred times better than the consumer-type pumps you can buy at places like Toys-R-Us; some of them include features like dual cones (LOL, I can't remember the appropriate term.) so you can pump both breasts at once.

Pumping is a lot of work and it takes a lot of commitment to keep going at it, but it will take care of the engorgement and get that precious breastmilk in your baby. True, your baby won't get the benefit to her facial muscles that breast feeding gives, but she will get your antibodies and a mix of nutrients tailored for her stage of growth.

So that's what I'd recommend - get on the phone to your doctor or hospital ASAP and tell them you need a lactation consultant. If they can't help there and breast feeding is so miserable you dread it, find out about renting a breast pump and setting up a rigorous pumping schedule.

I had some issues with milk output, so I ended up pumping and pumping and taking a witches brew of brewer's yeast and fenugreek that was recommended by the newborn clinic. (Some believe these increase milk output and some don't, but one thing's for sure - the fenugreek made me smell like maple syrup.) If my son was still hungry after downing the milk I'd pumped, then we'd supplement with formula.

Things didn't go quite like I'd wanted or planned, but my son still got a dose of breast milk, and any is better than none. The good news is that kids are generally pretty adaptable. Is breast milk best? Yes. Is getting it straight from the mom probably best? Yes. But in the end, like so many other things with parenting, you just have to do the best you can at the time, and most of the time that works out to have been fine.

Best of luck, and congratulations on your new baby!

Answer 9

not bad persay but your baby may become gassy and or constipated. I breastfed my daughter for ten months and it hurt really bad for the first week or so, but I was unlucky cause she would not take a bottle. some things that may help if you wish to breast feed are: Always get comfortable, drink water while u are nursing and use lanolin and a warm water compresses after nursing. And don't pull your baby from the nipple always insert the tip of your finger into the conrner of the babys mouth and help her release that way, pulling can irritate and damage the nipple, and that is not fun. Good luck and congrats

Answer 10

TAKE A HOT SHOWER! LET THE MILK DRIP OUT! you don't want to get the milk ducts clogged. massage them too. If you have a breast pump, start pumping and pumping and store all milk in the fridge for up to 1 day, or freeze. I had the same thing happen to me. I didn't give my daughter formula, my nipples were cracked and bleeding and starting to clog.. which is not good. So i pumped and pumped and pumped and pumped. fed her with bottles until my nipples healed... then I nursed and everything was ok. i nursed for 11 mo. You can find these jelly things for your breast... called... soothing gel patches made by gerber or other brands... i got mine at walgreens. cut them in 4's so they last longer.. they are expensive. one gel you can use for an entire day. this feels so good an will relieve your pain.