Can you mix bottle and breast

Hi Fifi101...firstly congrats on your new bubba! What a lovely name!

I thought I would share my story with you - I had a terrible time with b/f Oli from the very beginning. My milk didnt come in until day 5, and even in all that time I hadnt been able to get Oli to latch on properly. We saw a paediatrician in hospital who told us our darling wee bubba was dehydrated and to give him a formula top up. So from very early on we were doing both...I would b/f as best I could, then if needed we would top him up with formula or ebm if I had been able to express anything. We tried really hard to just b/f but he wasnt get enough (he was a lazy sucker, not latching properly) and I wasnt producing enough. I was besides myself and found it incredibly hard - but after about 5 weeks of doing both, we decided to go fulltime onto formula.

I am NOT in any way trying to push that decision onto you, what I am trying to share is that you need to make the decisions that are best for you and bubba. It may be worth looking at getting a ChuChu teat - you can get these from your local Plunket Family Centre (I am not sure where you are located), but I would also be tempted to ask them for some advice. These teats are apparently the closest thing to a nipple and they encourage bubba to suckle the same way.  I guess if you are worried about then experiment for a couple of days, drop the bottle out and see if he improves, then if not you can go back to what works for you.

I think its important to realise that you are only 2 weeks into this......its a long road ahead and you need to find what works for you all (a happy mummy and daddy = a happy bubba and vice versa!)

I am sure that there are lots of other ladies that can offer more practical advise, but I just wanted to offer my support.

 

Simsam your story sounds really similar - latching was a nightmare and took days and he still finds it hard.

I have a huge graze on one nipple now because of it, which is very painful.

I think I am just finding it hard deciding what to do for the best.

You are doign a great job, and no doubt doing it on next to no sleep, so go easy on yourself! As long as baby has plenty of wet nappies, and gaining some, dosen't have to be piles ,of weight, he is fine.

Your midwife is absolutely correct!

I agree with the above, about giving the bottle away till a wee bit later on. It does mess with your supply, and teats "give" milk faster than breast does so they get lazy.

Chu Chu teats are great, tho, as they have to suck to get the milk out in the same way as they do the breast.

If he falls asleep, while feeding, undress him a little to wake him and rub you thumb in circles in the palm of his hand to generate the sucking reflex (strange but true) or rub you finger almost in a tickle on his cheek/jaw under/beside his ear, does the same thing.

Also, nipple sheilds are great for helping the latch and letting your nipples heal a bit. Just sqyeeze a bit your milk into the end to help latch him on, and hey presto, you are away.

Also, with new bubbas, the one hour (or lessish) turnaround is a good rule of thumb, an hour to be up, fed, changed and down again.

I also had a lazy sucker who took 6 weeks before he latched onto my breast and fed from, he had been drinking EBM till then. I managed to BF him for 10 months. The first 6 weeks ish are the hardest, hugs to you. xxx

Edited by fattartsrock

cat007 wrote: Also remember - do whatever suits you and your family best. You are doing really well - keep up the good work!

ditto to this.

My twins were 1.6kgs and 2.2kgs at birth and we spent the first 8 weeks topping each feed up with EBM. Our typical feeding routine was BF, wake/burp, nappy change, BF, wake/burp, EBM. The EBM stopped at 6 weeks and the second BF stopped 2 weeks later.

About a month after this we started giving them a bottle of EBM at the 10pm feed and I would express after this. I continued to BF until 7 months and never found them to have any confusion.

There could be a number of reasons why he wakes or doesn't settle. Maybe he has wind or needs a dummy to suck in order to settle.

The advise I was given from the midwife running our antenatal classes was to introduce one bottle a day from four weeks if you wanted to be able to combine breast and bottle. This worked for us and I gave it to Caleb about 6-7pm when he was usually cluster feeding. I had very sore cracked nipples and it gave them a break.

It can take six weeks to get breast feeding well established so I'd just give it time.

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