Combined Breast & Bottle Feeding..?

Question

Does anyone have any experience on this? I've never breastfed before, but have two children, and want to try it this time. However, I want to ensure the baby gets the best, but don't want to be up all night, and I know that breastfed babies can often be hungrier...so would it be possible to breastfed & formula feed throughout the day, depending on which way makes things easier? Also, is it something I can start straight away? As I don't want the baby to get too used to one type of milk.

Answer 1

I have three young children and all have been mixed fed with no problems.I breast feed during the day and give two formula feeds at night.

There are two good reasons for this:

1.The baby sleeps longer with formula,and the formula feed becomes part of the "nighttime routine".You can change the formula type from curd to whey based powder if you have a really hungry baby.

2.I can share nighttime feeding duty with my partner.This means that you can get at least 6 hours unbroken sleep if you time it right.

If you buy good quality teats and bottles(AVENT) your baby will not get confused.Also there is no problem with maintaining your own milk flow as you can express and save it in the fridge.

Try it,it may work for you too.

Breast may be best but it's not wrong to use formula if it keeps you sane!

Answer 2

I find that breastfeeding is much easier than bottle feeding. I bottle fed my first child and am nursing my second. As noted in someone elses answer, when you bottle feed, you have to get up in the middle of the night to make the bottle, when you breastfeed, all you have to do is lean over and give the baby the boob and go back to sleep, I don't even get out of bed at night. I have the bassinett, diapers and wipes all within reach from my bed. Breastfeeding is best for baby and mom, you actually burn up to 600 calories a day by nursing which is a great way to get back to your pre pregnancy weight and it contains all the nutrients that your baby needs. You can start nursing just seconds after you give birth. Some people actually do it when the umbilical cord is still attached! the sooner the better. You also save lots of money by nursing, formula now costs well over 100 dollars a month when breastmilk is free. I went ahead and bought myself a good pump that I can use so that daddy can also feed baby as that is a way of bonding with the baby. If you do decide to nurse your baby and are feeling that you are having problems, there are people who can help. Most of the time, the hospital you give birth in will offer classes. If I only knew everything when I had my first child, I would have nursed him as well. Good luck!

Answer 3

If you are planning to do any breast feeding at all, I would recommend that you talk to a lactation consultant, or check people at the la leche league site (just google it for your country), and a good book is "So That's What They're For!" by Janet Tamaro.
If you haven't breastfed before you need to understand that it isn't just like switching between different formulas - going to support groups while still pregnant is helpful too. La Leche League does these, and you get to talk to other mums as well as a councellor.

Breastfed babies do tend to feed more often, because the breastmilk is easier for them to digest, but you can just have them in bed with you in the early nights, and just latch them on, instead of all the hassle of getting up, mixing formula, getting the right temperature etc.

Answer 4

It is possible to do both, but to be honest, you will not have enough milk to breastfeed your baby if you supplement too often with formula. Once a day before bedtime will be alright, but to maintain a good milk supply you should pump whenever your baby doesn't nurse. It's a lot of work, but worth it. My daughter started out taking a bottle every couple of days while I attended nursing school, but about 3 months decided she was "too good" for a bottle and now at 6 months has learned to wait the 2-3 hours until I get home to nurse her. Babies generally show a preference between breast and bottle around this age so be prepared in case you intend to go back to work. Also, the first few weeks your baby will want to nurse around the clock, don't worry, this is normal. They do this to ensure you have enough milk when your milk comes in. Try not to supplement in this time to get the baby used to the breast. A myth about breastfed babies that you have heard is they eat more often. This was NOT true for my daughter. The first night home she slept for 6 hours straight before I got so worried that I woke her up to nurse her. Since she was a few weeks old she only eats every 2-3 hours, and from the time she was 3 months has slept for 8 hours stretches at night. My son who was bottle fed never did that...... It really depends on the individual baby how often they need to eat. Don't worry about getting the baby used to formula too early, introducing it after your milk supply is established, around 2-4 weeks is plenty enough time. At this age they really aren't too picky! Also, if you nurse have plenty of lanolin cream and nursing pads on hand! Use the cream right away if your nipples get sore to prevent cracking. I hope this helps, good luck on the new baby!

Answer 5

The problem with mixing the two methods is that it can mean that your milk supply is insufficient. If you breast feed on demand you know you are going to produce enough milk for your baby. I breast fed for 2 months then breast fed and topped up on formula as my milk supply wasn't great. You could perhaps express milk during the day so you and your partner can share the night feeds? the current thinking is that breast milk is best for the early months as your baby gets some of your immunities to illness in the milk, but hey, go with whatever works for you! good luck!

Answer 6

Dont know if this will help i got a 6 week old who was 5 weeks early because of this he was to small to latch on when tryin to breast feed so i had to express some of my milk for him, as there was not much milk supply the peds said to combine my milk and formula. I started the feed with my milk then ended it with formula now he feeds 6 times a day so i express 3 feeds of my milk and 3 feeds of formula i am now wanting to aim to feed him by bottle with my milk for every feed but my supply of milk is low i am now using brewers yeast (suggested by midewife) and nursing tea this is slowly giving me more milk. The only problem my son seems to have is he only has a bowel movement ever other day and this distresses him and this is why i am going to try and feed him by bottle with my milk for all his feeds i dont know if his bowel movement is due to both milk. If u do express the milk in the bottle u can see how much ure baby is feeding so u will have more indication on what he/she needs to have to be full plus like the other person says u can get help with the night feeds with your partner hope this helps you good luck

Answer 7

i woluld say stick to 1 because u may cause the child to get an upset tummy, i have sucessfully fed all 3 of my children and found breastfeeding much easier as its on demand and i used to feed my baby and rest at the same time, but it is sometimes hard work but once u have got past the first couple of weeks it does get easier and the baby seems more content but this is just from my own experiance. but it may be hard work juggling two children and a new born as well as bottles to be sterilised and made, im sure ur make the right choice for u good luck hun x x

Answer 8

you can breast feed for the first three of four months, then start introducing formula, remember breast fed babies are more healthy than those taking formula they wont develop eczema , u dont have to worry about gastrointeritis,they have a more healthy looking skin. all u have to do is feed the child every two hours dont worry about staying up at nights they just feed and they are sound asleep again. yes u can also give formula throughout the day and breast during the night.

Answer 9

My son was a preemie (11 weeks early) and the nurses at Children's hospital mixed milk-based formula with the breastmilk I was pumping in order to give him more calories. He was getting extremely gassy, and when he came home from the hospital after 10 weeks he went to straight formula because I just couldn't produce enough and because he was on a feeding tube when he first came home we couldn't get him to latch properly. I found out after several bouts of projectile vomitting that he was getting gassy from the milk in the formula so he had to go to soy. This is something that you may want to keep an eye out for if you mix the two.

Answer 10

I did alternate feeding between breast and bottle and it worked ok for me. I breast feed soley for the first month and then started alternating between the two (mainly because my son didn't seem to be satisfied for very long with just breast milk.) Once he started on the bottle though he wasn't too keen to go back to the breast so i had to express milk and give it to him by bottle. I didn't mind this because it meant i had that bit more freedom and didn't have to be the one to feed him all the time! I wanted to breast feed becase of the health benefits and the bonding, but my son definitley seemed more satisfied after a formular feed so the obvious solution was to do both.