Combi feeding

I combi fed my first 2 children as I couldn't produce enough milk for them and successfully done it til they were 14 months when I transitioned to cows milk

What a thing for a midwife to say 😂. We're just over 5 months into combi feeding and we've been doing it since our son was 3 days old. It's worked like an absolute dream. He doesn't seem to mind what he has (breast or formula) and it gives me all the freedom in the world. The only downside is that the past few weeks he's gone off boob (I think because bottle is easier and he's a lazy baby 😂) so he only feeds off me twice a day and the rest I just pump and give it to him every other day once the amount has built up (my supply wasn't great from the get go). I'm now working to reduce my supply so he'll be fully on formula at 6 months for when we wean. Absolute no reason why you can't combi feed in my opinion and it gives you (and baby) the best of both worlds.

We have combi fed since day 1 with my little boy, he is now almost 5 months, he only had from the bottle now as he never latched well and my milk supply struggled to keep up with him until i started exclusively expressing, it works well for us and means anyone can feed him, i will probably continue to combi feed until he is really used to solids

I’ve done it since my little one was born (had issues with latching/tongue tie so I expressed and gave formula top ups as breasts produced small amounts to start with). I preserved with breast feeding and 8 months I still combi feed. Baby doesn’t mind breast or bottle just as long as he gets milk! When I started weaning, we have carried on - it’s great for my husband who can also feed during the night and gives me a break. I believe the midwife is saying it doesn’t really work long term as there is a risk that your little one may get a preference to breast or bottle. I know a couple of breast feeding mum’s whose baby hated bottles and spent soooo much money on finding one they would drink from. The advice I would give is make sure breast milk has come in and got a good routine/technique with latching and breast feeding first and don’t introduce bottle too early as some babies find bottle easier to suck and may ‘go off’ breast due to the latch. This almost happened to me.

I honestly have seen many people doing it, including my own aunt, and I was really surprised how amazingly it worked with her kid. He used to give him a bottle at night before putting him to bed, and honestly, he was just a 10 month old baby and would sleep by himself after drinking it. All my aunt needed to do was burp him, and he would sleep the whole night. And sometimes, if he woke up, then she would breastfeed. I never really tried with the bottle since I had enough for my boy. But if combined feeding is done properly, then it's actually more helpful. I don't know why the midwife said that.

If you're breastfeeding, formula feeding and expressing, this is known as triple feeding and it's really really hard! My lactation councillor says triple feeding should only ever be a short term measure as it's just not sustainable in the long term. Combi feeding breast and bottle does work well for lots of people. But you have to make sure you're maintaining your supply too. The early days are so important for establishing a supply, you have to switch on the milk making cells, and so breastfeeding alone in the early days is the best bet for establishing a supply that will be sufficient enough as baby gets older. If you miss those key moments and chances to turn on those cells, you will likely struggle to build a supply later on. I would really recommend going to a breastfeeding peer support group whilst still pregnant and then once baby is here, they can help with combi feeding and making sure you're doing all the right things for your supply.

I combi fed my son for 5 months. Breast whenever I felt like it , pacifying and first thing/last thing in the day for bonding. He had the recommended bottles for formula feeds and finished as much as he wanted. I hated pumping after the first few days so gave up but lucky I never experienced engorgement,mastitis, low supply! My milk was still there 1 year PP. With CMPA it ended being the perfect balance for my son. Your milk will adjust to when you need it and finds a pattern in your feeds. Do what makes you comfortable, good luck x

We combi fed for a long time, it's fine! We didn't start until about 6 weeks old though once my milk was properly established! X

I combi fed my first until he naturally weaned from me at 6 months old due to my supply dropping because I got pregnant again. My 2nd I exclusively breastfed for over 2 years and it broke me and I was a shell of a person as a result. I’m refusing to lose myself this time so planning to breast and pump but if the pumping doesn’t work I will 100% introduce formula because I cannot mentally exclusively nurse

I combi fed my first 2 and now doing the same with my 3rd (3 weeks old). I try and breastfeed as much as I can, but find a bottle fills them up better, especially the night feeds.