combination feeding

[beccaharrison89]

i have been breastfeeding for four weeks and really struggling now, my baby girl is constant feeding all time n nt slerping well in night.
las night she was constant fed from 10 til 4 and then we gave her bottle of expressed milk cz she wdnt settle and she,had 5 oz n still didnt settle.i have had an hour sleep,all night n completely drained of energy.
i have heard if combination feeding,but nt sure exactly how it works.
is anyone else doing this?and if so explain to me,bout it and give me some advice would be great

 

[xxxjessiexxx]

Hey becca I'm not sure on bf but can u give a bottle of 3-4 oz b4 bed and a bottle in the morning and stick to boob in the day it must be so hard not sleeping I never experienced bf b4 do they feed all time as its slow flow ? Sorry for silly question I use cow and gate milk and I find it's brill for Amelia they say aptimal is good too but never tried that but I know ppl who use it with breast milk x hope this helps x

 

[beccaharrison89]

ye she seems to feed constantly,we wer giving her a bottle of expressed milk of a night bt even thats nt settling her.also coz she feeding all time its trying to find time to express.
i just feel like ive failed if i go onto formula as i was adament to bf

 

[xxxjessiexxx]

No no no u haven't failed bec u have bf for a month given her best start just introduce formula and still give boob u will find u will have so much more energy and u can get her in a routine x

 

[beccaharrison89]

do u jus think she will go longer inbetween feeds?
would u just do her last feed before midnight as bottle of formula then bf rest of night?
i finding the bf hard toi,if i want to go anywer through day

 

[xxxjessiexxx]

I deffo think she will go longer inbetweeb feeds still give boob too u will b more energised for sure !!! X

 

[raspberrycupcake]

You definitely aren't a failure! All you want is to do the best for you and your baby, that makes you a success!

My sister had her first baby 8 weeks ago, and has been combination feeding from the start. She originally wanted to completely breast feed but the midwives in the hospital weren't very helpful and the baby was sleepy and wouldn't feed and ended up jaundiced.

She uses the bottles with the teats that are supposed to be most similar to breasts so he doesn't get confused. What she tends to do is to breast feed him for a while, then when it seems like he isn't gettin much anymore, she then continues the feed with formula. That way he is full up from a feed, gets into a routine and she gets a bit of time to herself - which probably is a benefit to the quality and quantity of her milk! She also expresses in between.

I think she views it as he is getting all the extra benefits of breast milk - eg antibodies to protect him from germs etc, she also gets to have the close bond of breast feeding, but without feeling like she is constantly feeding or awake all night.

Everyone is different, and thee are always going to be arguments either way, but it works for her and the baby is gorgeously chubby and partially sleeps through the night a lot of the time!

Just don't see yourself as a failure, whatever you decide to do. It's your baby and your life!

 

[beccaharrison89]

amelia had a feed off the breast half hour ago and is settled,when she next wakes i going to give her a bottle of aptimil and see if she settles for any longer than norm.i going to formula feed her all night and try and get some sleep and gt my energy bk up.
i going to take each day as it comes as in if she having bad day and nt settling ill add bottle of formula into the day.
will this be at all bad for baby if i do this, were one day she i mite jus bf, nwxt ,day mite bf and bottle with expressed milk n another day bf n bottle with formula?

 

[xxxjessiexxx]

That sounds good to me hun u need ur energy back I promise u will feel bright as rain in next few days I bet she settles with formula I just fed Amelia she prob wake 130 or 2 I'm so tired eyes r stinging me x

 

[beccaharrison89]

ye i would be happy with that cz it a gd few hours sleep isnt it. i jus fed amelia,too.she took 2n half oz n settled so,put her down she was unsettled so she has jus,had another oz so shes had 3 n half oz, tried to gt as much wind up as can and put her down in moses but she makin noises like she still full of it and is still unsettled
jus going to gt in bed and hopefully she will sleep for bit
must be something im doing rong cz she,stayed,at mums other,day n when mum gave her the,bottles she sed she was fully settled n went straight fast,asleep

 

[RetailChick]

Hi Becca,

Hope you dont mind me throwing my 2 cents in! I've been following all you girls over the past while, just havent posted in ages I'm due my second baby in 20 days!!

I'm not sure it you have heard of it but there's a book called "The contented baby book" By Gina Ford. I cannot recommend this enough to support you with BF. I used it with my son 5 years ago and it truly was a god send. She gives excellent advice on how to successfully exclusivley bf and how to combine bf with formula.

I know there are a lot of books etc out there but honestly this just works because its sensible! Hope this helps somewhat and congrats on your baby girl xx

 

[beccaharrison89]

ok that soungs gud ill have a look on internet for it thanks hun

 

[beccaharrison89]

well gave amelia 3n half oz aptimil at 10.30 n she slept 11-2,then gave her 5oz n she woke at,4.30 n nw feeding her at 5.
the first stretch was gud but hour n half after 5 oz nt long is it?

 

[newstarter]

Hi,

Hope you don't mind - this is my 2 cents worth. My baby is now 6 months old and believe me I feel your pain. I struggled with him feeding all night too. He would constantly feed or if I took him off the breast he would constantly cry. Midwife said it wasn't possible that he was hungry and suggested a few things.

One was to gv him formula as a last feed at night to keep him fuller for longer as formula takes longer to digest than breast milk. I wasn't too keen to do this either. She then suggested he may be colicky and told me to get something called infacol. That really did the trick. I used to gv him infacol just before each feed starting from his 6pm feed and he used to be fine and feed every 3 hours instead of feeding for a continuous 3-4 hours. I used it until he was 3 months and it made all the difference.

Believe me it gets better. All the best.

 

[xxxjessiexxx]

This is exactly what I do infacol from 6 x