EBF / Formula or Combination

We are combination, but my partner keeps encouraging to drop breastfeeding - it’s his go to suggestion every time I’m upset. My LO is 6weeks, and I often get overwhelmed by long cluster feeds, and sleep deprivation. I currently do bottle 1st & boob top up at night, boob 1st & bottle top up at day. I feel like he has long wake window and I struggle to keep on top of sterlinzing the bottles, feeding myself let alone a chance to catch up on sleep. So my question is - will going 100% formula give me more time? Ie quicker feeds, fuller faster & more sleeping? Or am I just going to be more overwhelmed by more bottles to sterilise? I’m also apprehensive about giving up the immunity benefits of continuing breastfeeding, I want to do the best for my LO!
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I can’t advise on formula as I’ve only ever breastfed but just wanted to say it does get easier I promise! At the moment it feels like all you do is feed but baby is still so little and it’s normal but hard. It won’t be like this forever! My husband said similar things when I was struggling with my first, it came from a place of love as he didn’t like to see me having a tough time. But i personally didn’t want to give up breastfeeding so i persevered and im so glad i did. You can find something hard but want to continue at the same time. The best advice I read was never give up breastfeeding on a bad day

Also switching to formula won’t guarantee more sleep but you have to do what’s best for you as well as baby

Combo feeding mom over here! We do both. It took my kid 13 weeks to properly latch. I wanted to quit every single day because it's so hard and exhausting. My biggest thing was that my breast was both protective with antibodies and also comfort for her. Formula takes longer to digest (4 hours) as opposed to breast milk (3 hrs) so you get slightly longer stretches sometimes. The bottles and sterilizing is frustrating especially leaving the house. I would recommend you keep up doing both...the first 3 months is the hardest. It will 100% get better i promise!!!

@Molly hey! How did you manage to get baby to latch? My LG is 19 weeks old now but never latched from the beginning. When she turned 4 months she latched on just for a couple days and that was it. If you have any tips do let me know as I would love to breastfeed

When I stopped combination feeding and went to just formula, it was an emotional few days and I wondered if I made the right choice. Once my hormones relaxed omg my life began again lol. Our baby slept better, I was happier, my head was clearer. I will never breastfeed again honestly.

@Sultana i have zero tips! I worked with 4 lactation consultants total. My baby was a preemie and too small to latch properly. I also found a pediatric chiropractor who worked with her jaw to help open up properly. Would strongly recommend if you can find one!

I have had to formula feed since my supply is crap, although I do latch him on before every feed or pump a few times a day to keep my little supply. Here’s my experience. My baby is eating every 3 hrs and now has started to have longer stretches at night, 4/5 hrs between feeds. I make a big batch of milk once a day and use that within 24hrs. As I boil the water for the milk, I wash the bottles and sanitize them in my machine. It was really overwhelming at the beginning but I got it down now. Just do everything once a day. Takes 20 minutes tops (not counting the time the machine takes to sterilize everything). Like someone said, it gets easier with time. All you need is a system. I can totally relate the frustration and overwhelm with cluster feeding. It’s not easy and it’s hard to be needed all the time. For me, formula does give me more freedom and flexibility, and my mental health is not so sucky anymore. BF was giving me a lot of stress because of my supply.

HOWEVER, you should do what is best for you and your baby. Forget pressure from everyone else. Do what you feel is best. As the end of the day, fed is best ❣️

@Stephanie personally I would give it a try again but I do agree. I am in such a better place mentally for my baby. I am still feeding him BM but I am definitely more concerned that he eats.

I used to get frustrated and upset too when my baby was under 10 weeks. My partner would say the exact same thing!! And I literally had the same thoughts but I stayed persistent and now we do 5-10 minute feeds every 3 hours and it’s sooooo easy and fast! I chose not to formula feed despite the frustration (at first) because there’s no garuntee you’re gonna have more time. You’ll end up having to continuously clean and sterilize bottles whereas breastfeeding you just pop them on. They don’t generally sleep for longer. I’ve got 1 BF baby and 1 formula baby (she’s now 11 lol) and once you get past the first 3 months it should get easier for you. It’s all a big adjustment and all trial and error xxx

If your LO is gaining weight steadily I would advise to drop the “top ups”. My health visitor made me drop mine at 6 weeks and it massively helped me mentally. I now breastfeed most of the day and just give a formula bottle at lunch time and before bed. Breastfeeding is the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I’m 4 months in now and I promise it gets easier.

Ask your partner to do the bottles? Especially if he’s encouraging you to stop. We combi feed. Mainly formula. Breast is more of a snack. First child was formula from day 3 and there’s no difference in the amount of washing up.

Sounds like you’re in a similar situation to me at that stage.. my LO is 11 weeks and it does get easier with the cluster feeding, I remember constantly crying because she was feeding every 50 minutes at one point but now we’re at about every 2 hours for around 20/30 minutes. At the end of the day the decision is entirely yours, my partner said the same thing as yours as he could see how damaging it was becoming to my mental health. I 100% agree with the immunity thing, this was leading factor I had as to not giving up but also your baby needs a happy healthy mum a lot more and you also deserve to be happy. Can I ask how your baby is on the formula? We have tried to give ours a bottle once a day as there will be times I have to leave her with my partner alone but she’s having bad reactions to it, really badly sick straight after the formula and it’s thick, slimy and not every nice for her.

Do what’s best for you. No one knows how you feel, apart from you. Remember, if you’re happy, baby is happy. If you over exert yourself by bf then as yourself if you would be happier to formula feed and have more time on your hands? I combi fed for 6 months, and now just formula feed. Whatever you choose won’t be wrong. 🫶🏽

Thank you everyone for your tips and support!! Really appreciated! I think I’m going to persevere until 3 months and if it’s not better, stop. Wish me luck!

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I EBF and personally continue to do so as I don’t think you can compare bottled breast milk/formula feeding with the amazing benefits of breast feeding, like I think it’s incredible that just your baby latching can tell your milk what they need…It is worth it in my opinion 😊

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