Any tips on how to feed from both bottle and breast from the start?

Question

I had a terrible time BFing my first 2 children, had to go to bottles eventually. I simply do not produce enough milk, and have tried all suggestions from both my Doctor and the lactation specialist. To skip the overwhelming disappointment of HAVING to use bottles and not solely breast feed, I plan to use both from birth with my next one. How is the best way to do this to successfully? I think I want to go 50/50 or 75 bottle/25 breast.

Itachi said 'feeding from bottle and breast isnt healthy for a child. this makes them have the runs really bad. because of your problem producing milk, you should stick to bottle feeding.'
That's simply untrue, your child care classes lied to you. Both my kids had both for months with no issue and pedi's blessings, but didn't start out that way from birth.

Answer 1

best way is to start w/ breast only... for the first month, then start pumping and trying a bottle or two a day.

This establishes your milk supply and teaches baby how to do it right. Bottles are too easy, breastfed babies need to learn how to work for their milk. Once he/she really has it down, then doing both should be a breeze.

Answer 2

Whatever guy said that doing both is bad, is an idiot. He must not understand that you are using breastmilk, IN the bottles. He may be thinking breast milk from breast/ powder form for bottles. That is the only thing, that may cause a runny diaper.

My suggestion, if you are to be successfull at breast feeding. Do NOT try the bottle at all. Reason being, your child will tell the difference in HOW MUCH comes out. Your child will not want to breast feed, if he can get milk faster and easier from a bottle. I speak from experience.

You may be able to find a bottle, that limits the amount that comes out. However, I would soley stick to the breast, and hol out on the bottle. It will only make it harder to breast feed, if you try te bottle.

Answer 3

i am very sorry you had troubles. In order to help what supply you can get, I highly recommend NEVER using bottles.

Any bottles you add to the routine will only diminsh your supply further as your body needs those suckling signals to produce more milk.

Use a SNS (supplemental feeding system) or Lact-aid. Don't start off with formula though. Let your baby have pure colostrum for at least a couple of days, then add the SNS to your routine.

Even if you must let someone else feed her, it can be done with the supplementer used on the clean finger of your DH, etc...

Even better would be an SNS full of donated milk (perhaps froma close friend or family member?)

Answer 4

Having had trouble breastfeeding my first - well, *perceived* trouble, looking back, and useless help and support from supposed experts, I am now still exclusively breastfeeding my 5 and a half month old with aboslutely no problems :-)

From my experience of finding out loads of info before my second daughter and from the success this time round, I can highly recommend breastfeeding EXCLUSIVELY for as long as you can - you need to nurse, nurse, nurse as much as you can for the first 3 months to build up your supply, for your boobs to settle down and for your baby to adapt to it and bottle feeding REALLY messes this up - even if you feed expressed milk, the pump can never get as much milk as your baby can and the drinking from a teat can affect how they feed from you. Whilst I know some babies do do it, it seems it works less often than it succeeds....

From everything I have read, I seriously doubt your inability to rpoduce enough milk - this just only truly happens to such a tiny percentage of women. I wonder what leads you to believe this, or who has told you this. But without further information, it's hard to comment further.

Good luck with your third baby and with the feeding, whatever you decide.

Answer 5

Start with breast only for as long as possible. Their bellies are pea-sized at first, and it doesn't take a lot to fil it!

When you get to a point that your baby isn't satisfied with the breast, then offer a bottle AFTER breastfeeding.

OR - get a supplementer. It's a "bag" for formula and a tube that you put by your nipple. So baby nurses and gets breastmilk and formula at the same time, plus the sucking might help stimulate more milk production.

Good luck!

Answer 6

feeding from bottle and breast isnt healthy for a child. this makes them have the runs really bad. because of your problem producing milk, you should stick to bottle feeding.

Answer 7

Since its recommended to not introduce a bottle til week 4, could you try something like a finger feeder until then. Your lac specialist should know what this is. Medela makes them.

Answer 8

There are lots of ways to do it. Find a bottle your child likes. Have someone else offer it. Pump often and nurse often- you CAN DO IT!!! I promise. We do this as I work full-time and it does work.