Breast & bottle advice?!

[MummyMel]

Hi Mummies, I'm planning on breastfeeding but was thinking of topping up with bottles. My reason why is mainly due to the fact that I was so run down when my youngest was 10 weeks old that my boobs completely turned to dust and she was starving so we started bottles. By the time I was better and my boobs came back, she wouldn't latch onto me, only a bottle. My train of thought is, breastfeed 80% of the time, use formula for maybe a night time feed, so only one bottle a day, that way my body wont get too run down again and I can keep my milk flow going. Does this sound like something that will work? Will baby take to the boob after a bottle if it's only one bottle a day? If anyone has any advice/experience I'd love to hear it. Tia x

[Seb9]

I've been exclusively breastfeeding for 9 months, we've given some formula or an expressed bottle occasionally when I've wanted a break or night out (so not much at the moment 😂)

I've been on the facebook UK breastfeeding page which is amazing and very supportive and some of the best information I've got has been:

You have to think of you boobs as rivers not lakes, there is always milk there as it comes from your blood, but as baby feeds it gets harder to access. The more you feed from them and baby is at boob the more your body will produce until they regulate and your boobs produce the amount baby needs. So although baby may appear hungry, the fussing and crying at boob is stimulating your supply so introducing a bottle when you're supply is regulating can lower your supply. So if you're going to give a bottle I would hold off on giving a bottle for at least 6/8 weeks and work on doing lots of skin to skin and feeding on demand. Those first few weeks were tough and I felt like I had more boobs out more than they were away 😂. I would highly recommend lanisoh or weleda nipple cream applied a lot!

If I did want a break those first few weeks we would give a bit of expressed milk and I would go to bed early while dad stayed with baby downstairs and then bring her up when she wanted the next feed (Pumping is not recommended for storing up feeds in the first few weeks as you can end up with an over supply). I found that getting a few hours sleep before the night time feed made me feel so much better, we also Co slept so I could just latch on baby without getting up which was a game changer for us.

When you bottle feed make sure you pace feed the bottle. Babies don't need to work hard to get the milk out of the bottle so they will very quickly decide that bottles are much easier and not want to work hard to get milk from the breast. Pace feeding makes it harder for them to down the milk and slows them down so they avoid getting a bottle preference. You can Google how to do this.

Night time feeding is important for your supply, it is when your baby puts in their order for the next day so if you want to give a bottle it might be better to give it during the day so it doesn't affect your supply or do it as a top up after you have breast fed if baby still seems hungry.

People often think their supply is low because baby is fussing or they can't express a lot or baby will guzzle a bottle but really the best method of working out if they are getting enough milk is output, lots of wet dirty nappies and weight gain. So if baby is having those supply is probably OK.

Lastly that producing milk needs the love hormone, if you are getting stressed out about it then it's not going to do anything for your supply. When my baby wouldn't latch or was crying and it stressed me out my hubby or mum would take baby and give me a few minutes to chill out and get in a better place to start again, then bring back baby to try again, if I was less stressed out it made it so much easier. Also I think I was trying to put her to boob too much and not waiting for her hungry cues so if she wasn't ready to eat she was getting upset and wouldn't latch.

Also to have a drinks and snacks station so that you always have something to eat and drink when you're feeding, I've never been as thirsty as when baby first latches on for a feed and I lived on chocolate hob nobs for the first few weeks.

I think they are my main things, there's lots of great info at la lache league, Kelley mom and the Facebook UK breastfeeding group.

Hope it all goes well for you 😊

[MummyMel in reply to Seb9]

That's a lot of advice, thank you so much for taking the time to write all that. I'll def take a look on facebook, and maybe hold off on the bottle for the first few months. And keep my fingers crossed it works out this time 🤣🤞🏼

[Seb9 in reply to MummyMel]

Goodness I just re-read what I wrote what an essay 😂😂😂 hope some of it might help xx

[MummyMel in reply to Seb9]

Haha it's fine, i have plenty of time to read atm 🤣🤣 thanks again x

[Annalieseonline in reply to Seb9]

You literally said everything I came here to post lol.

I’ve been breastfeeding for 11 months now.

At the beginning I was doing combination so I would breastfeed some feeds and then offer formula for other feeds, I did this for 2 months then I only gave breastmilk in the bootle as well as breastfeeding till 3 months then we exclusively breastfed.

This is my first baby and I was told to give formula as my baby was still hungry a few hours after birth. It wasn’t until I joined a Facebook breastfeeding group (facebook.com/groups/TheOffi...

that I learned that my baby wasn’t hungry as there were no problems with my supply and baby fussing at the boobs or going onto the boobs often was just to regulate my supply hence why I stopped giving formula after 2 months.

Also my output when I pumped was that great, I got more milk out using a hakka then I did using an electric pump. So like Seb9 said pumping is not always a good indication of what your making, as baby is better at getting out the milk than a pump.

I also co-slept after 3 weeks and it was the best for us to get more sleep as my little one wouldn’t fully wake up he would just move his head around looking for the breast and I would take my nipple to his mouth, he latched and we both fall right back asleep and he latched off when he is full.

I have a health condition which makes breastfeeding very taxing on me and I found that daddy having baby whilst I got some sleep really helped me to get some rest and stay healthy so that I didn’t get sick.

Literally the two weeks he was off he did everything with baby (burb him, change nappies, give him a bath, skin to skin, baby massage, play with him) all I did was give the occasional breastfeed but then when I decided no more formula dad would always bring lo to feed and then take him back once he was finished and then he would bring him into the room to sleep and pick him up once awake.

He even did all the chores around the housing including cooking, the first two weeks all I did was rest and get my strength back.

If you and your partner can do something similar or if he can take baby every day for a few hours whilst you nap I think it would really be great to not get you run down.

All the best on your journey x

[MummyMel in reply to Annalieseonline]

Can I borrow your husband???!!!! 🤣🤣🤣 I have 3 other children and consider my partner an extra large one. He doesnt do much around the house and my older two daughters aren't his so he doesnt do much for them either. I'm also self employed so have only planned to take 2 weeks off. I'll stick it out for as long as I can, but if i can exclusively bf for the first few months I'll be happy. Such useful advice on here so its great to have so many answers right at my fingertips!! I'm currently trying to save for an elvie pump, they look amazing and would be so handy for a mum who needs a million hands hahahahah!!!

I also have a next to me crib which I didn't have last time, so I'm hoping I wont have to physically get up all night to feed, I can do it half asleep like you lol. We shall see how it goes...one part of me is longing for a very large gin so I may not bf at all 🤣🤣🤣 (joke!)

[Seb9 in reply to MummyMel]

My husband is the same, does everything round the house and currently he's furloughed and I work from home and he's nailing being a stay at home Dad. Baby is currently asleep in her crib and he's hanging the washing out. Currently I'm just a pair of boobs that appears at meal times 😂 I'm not sure I could cope with an adult child, although my husband might argue that I'm the childlike one in our relationship!

Next to me crib was ideal, I used to drape boob into the crib and feed her without either of us getting up 😂😂

[MummyMel in reply to Seb9]

Drape boob into the crib 🤣🤣🤣 well you ladies are very lucky!! I definitely got myself a man child rather than a man 🤣🙈 thankfully hes still.able to work all week, otherwise I'd possibly have murdered him by now 🤣

[Lovemylion in reply to Seb9]

I could have written this myself. Agree agree agree! People often think their baby is hungry but they soon get the milk going when fed on demand. I exclusively breast fed for the first year and at times I thought am I producing enough but if u keep at it u will!! Good luck!!! X

[MissSaoPaulo]

We did bottle and breast for a while and she took both but she didn't like taking the bottle from me - she was trying to feed off it like a breast and got frustrated. What worked for us was me breastfeeding and my husband giving the bottle.

I'd just see how you go, this time around might be completely different but you know you've got bottle there if you need it xxx

[Tugsgirl]

We’ve been breastfeeding for 9 months. To give me a break, we supplemented my LG’s bottle before bed with formula. It works for us. It means I’m able to use that time to pump and have a backup in the freezer. Whenever my freezer starts to get full we switch the last feed to thawed milk instead of formula xx

[Wishingfortheday]

From the time my LG was about 2 weeks old we've given the last feed as formula, after I've breastfed her all day. It works for us, and hasn't affected my milk supply negatively. My daughter accepts the bottle easily but does seem to prefer the breast slightly more. Doing it this way I get a rest in the evening before doing the night feed around 4am, and my hubby gets a chance to do some feeding too. Everyone is different though, so just go with what you're comfortable with and look after your own wellbeing - I think the most important bit is that you and your baby are relaxed and things will just start to go into a natural flow and you'll find what works for you x

[DAM2020]

My first baby boy is 13 days old today and we have been supplementing his feeds with formula where needed so far. He was born quite small at 6lb 6oz and has been a very hungry baby! He also cluster feeds so he can go 4 hours without a feed and then wants to be permanently on the breast for several hours! We also had a traumatic birth and I had a blood transfusion and very low iron for the first 7-10 days, so I was slow to make enough milk for him. I always planned to exclusively breastfeed and not being able to do so right away was really frustrating and depressing for me. But by supplementing, initially with donor milk in the hospital and then with formula when we came home, he has been gaining weight very well and thriving so I have come to accept it.

Now that my milk supply is more abundant (I took fenugreek supplements to help with this and would highly recommend them), I feel I have enough milk for him and have been expressing between feeds to have an emergency backup if needed. We arent 100% out of the woods yet and my husband gave him formula last night so I could get some rest, but most days we are managing with exclusively breastfeeding. My advice to you is to do what works for you, keeps you sane, allows you to enjoy your time with your baby, and allows your baby to gain weight and thrive. If you have a good supply and expressing works for you, it is a good method of supplementing the breast. If you need a little more help or prefer to supplement with formula then do that. As long as your baby gets what they need thats all that matters. Good luck to you and your new arrival! X

[Camellia90]

We breastfeed and bottle fed with expressed milk from day one as LO was premature and could only do 5 minutes on the boob before getting tired for the first week. We then continued with one bottle feed a day which Dad did before bed so I could get some sleep which really helped. We got to 3.5 months doing this then LO got very fussy with the bottle and by 4 months he unfortunately rejected the bottle completely so now we just breastfeed but my body has adjusted to mum life and im in the swung of it now (most days!) So I'm OK with that But doing combination feeding at the beginning really helped / saved me. If I'm lucky enough to have another baby i will do this again but probably start the bottle around 2weeks of age to help baby get used to latching on etc.

You of course can do formula for the bottle but we opted to express so taste etc was still the same but it was hard to fit in the pumping but I managed to do it as I got an Elvie pump which is hands free so I often pumped when driving / walking around etc. Don't think I would have kept up with pumping if I had a non-handsfree pump. If you are planning to top up with formula then just be aware that your body won't know there is a feed needed so will only make enough for the breastfeeds and if you had trouble with supply before thats something to think about but pumping... it is a pain and another thing to fit in!

Good luck with everything x

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[CC2018]

I bottle and breast fed for the first 6 weeks before moving to bottles completely. Daughter was an emergency c section and had suspected infection so we didn't get any skin to skin contact and she was whisked away for hours after she was born. In the end she had no infection but severe jaundice and was constantly asleep and we really struggled to breastfeed. The midwife told me to bottle feed as it was the only way to help break down the build up in her liver. My milk supply was very low despite me trying everything to stimulate it. In the end my HV said as I had breast surgery to remove a large cyst several years ago it was likely they removed the tissue needed for milk production. I'll be honest I felt like an absolute failure but my LG is now 15 months, perfectly happy and healthy and nearly all of my friends who breast feed pretty much tell me how miserable they are as their babies won't take anything else now they're older and want to go out more. I know this isn't the same for everyone but I feel so.much better knowing that breastfeeding isn't the be all and end all.

[Jenjen84]

My son was born 3 months premature so i expressed in order to feed through an ng tube for the first 2 months and then breast fed for 6 weeks directly through the boob. He then developed a rare skin deficiency which meant he completely stopped feeding from the breast for a month and would only take the bottle (I think due to it being quite painful). I wanted to continue to give him breast milk so I ordered the Elvie and it saved our breastfeeding journey as after refusing breast for so long and taking bottle, his latch was awfully painful. We continued expressing until he was just over 7 months old. If you can afford it, the Elvie is great, i expressed everywhere, friends houses, cafes, pubs!!

Good luck with whatever you decide xx