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I breastfed and bottle formula fed, almost from the start, don't feel pressured, you just do what's best for you both. Also I used cow & gate formula from the start, and my son had this and breastmilk up until the age of 1 (along with solid food gradually when we weaned him at 6 months) x
My milk came in after 4 days of cesarean so I had no choice but to feed my baby with formula. I breastfeed all day and give him formula at night and then I pump whatever I wasn't able to give him. I find it much easier with a bottle at night as he sleeps for longer. Throughout the day he wants to be on the boob every hour, but at night he eats between 3 to 4 hours. So far it's been doing wonders for us as I am able to get some sleep too and he gets the nutrition from me.
My health visitor suggested choosing a certain time of the day to do a bottle and then just expressing a little if there was any discomfort, don't switch and change times of the day though cause that could mess with your supply. Waiting 6 weeks is advised but if you're struggling or need that bit of help and support then there is absolutely no harm of starting now (can only tell you what I've been told, others will have their own opinion or may have been advised differently)
If you want to combine feed you need to establish breastfeeding fully first, so at least 6-8 weeks of exclusive breastfeeding is needed first before trying a bottle at all. Also, I'd really recommend going to your local breastfeeding support group or ask to see your local lactation consultant as they will support you properly with combined feeding.
Can I not use a formula like hipp organic?
They recommend not introducing a bottle until after 6 weeks, to allow breastfeeding to fully establish and avoid baby developing bottle preference over boob x
You can do that at any time and you will have to use a formula that allows combine feeding like mamia
I combi fed with Kendamil and had no problems. Make sure you hold the bottle horizontally and pace feed so baby has to work the same amount as breastfeeding to prevent any bottle preference. I didn’t introduce a bottle until after 6 weeks to allow supply to establish. I didn’t regularly combi feed until 7ish months so I can’t give much advice on how much etc but for us we just started with 6 oz and saw he was wanting more after finishing the bottle so we upped it