Question for those who combi feed or express as well as BF.

We did it at two weeks as she wasn’t gaining weight. It’s been okay. We use the mam bottles and extra slow flow teats and pace feed. I would say wait until you’re happy with the breastfeeding

I think you do whats best for you and baby I went on formula because she wouldnt latch (my nipples were like cadbury buttons lol) and wanted her to have food but kept trying breast every feeding now she does at least 10mins on breast then formula nipples have changed now...some babies refuse bottle and just want boob and some the other way luckly I was gifted mine loves my boobs and bottle but she doesnt get full on boob she falls asleep deeply on bottle but on boob she wakes up so she get nutrients from boob from what I eat which helps with immune system and gets more carbs from bottle I have tried pumping but barely milk comes out. When I manually express more milk comes out so I know she is drinking a lot . Her poops and wee tells me as well. She has gained 1kg in 2.5weeks which is a lot...I have a little fatty at heart 🤣🤣 she will be easier to ween as she already on bottlw without issues 😊😊 goodluck and keep trying anything....if you wanna do breast do skin to skin feeding you get more milk xx

Sorry for the long read ahahha xx

I’ve combifed my LG pretty much since day #1. 70% of her feed is via breastfeed and 30% via mam bottle (Aptamil formula) so I can get some sleep while my partner feeds her. She takes both no problem and I sleep well and feel energetic so far (she is 16 days old). Being rested is a game changer and makes the newborn phase much more enjoyable! While I can’t guaranteed all babies are as flexible as that, it did work no problem for me.

@Diane we are lucky mummies 🥹😍 my baby is almost 5 weeks in 2 days she is an angel she drinks breast and I give her bottle and she sleep for 3hrs minimum im single mummy atm so yhh its fun when u have energy ahahaha 😊🤣

I was told to wait a few weeks before expressing because it can lead to oversupply if you start before you’ve established feeding them but my midwife told me at our 2 week appointment I would be ok starting then. There also isn’t any actual evidence for nipple/teat confusion either. If combi feeding with formula I’d just start whenever because your body will only produce the supply you need but if expressing id try and wait a few weeks to avoid the problems with over supply x

I combi feed as I struggle with my milk supply (family history of issues, so it's amazing i get anything). We feed on breast for as long as possible first to establish a good latch etc, then wait 20-30mins before giving bottle if he is still indicating being really hungry. We have noted over time that he takes less and less milk from the bottle, so my supply is obviously increasing slowly :)

Have you tried a haakaa pump? I put it on one side whilst i feed from the other snd it doesnt affect your supply at all My LB is 3 weeks and been having 1 expressed bottle a day since 1 week x

I breast feed and pump so that I can do bottles in the night. He’s tongue tied and takes ages to feed and tires himself out so he gets much more in him faster with a bottle. The midwife did encourage me to just breast feed as if you don’t do bottle right you can get an oversupply but his weight then dropped so I started pumping more. I’d rather have more and bin it than not enough.

I BF during the day and have Expressed milk as a top up if he's really hungry or were going out somewhere then during the night he gets formula. Working great for us and ive been doing it this way since day one

I started expressing from day 5 when my milk came in as I was too swollen and engorged for my boy to latch on and have continued expressing every day ever since! I think they mainly tell you to hold off because of causing nipple confusion and admittedly if my boy has had a couple of bottles he does struggle to latch onto me but we persevere until he does manage and he still has more boob than bottles! Once he’s had boob a couple of times he is able to latch fine first time it’s only after he’s had a couple of bottles in a row that he struggles xx

I mainly did formula and then went on to breast - so unusual - but babies are hard wired to want the boob and I’m guessing it tastes better so I’m sure you’ll be fine xx

For my first we tried to introduce the bottle at 6/7 weeks but he wouldn’t take the bottle! He wouldn’t latch on he would just move it around in his mouth. Was an absolute nightmare. Even expressed milk he wouldn’t really take. All the advice we were reading was that we should have introduced it within the first 6 weeks not after! As they have a strong sucking reflex at that age. I introduced it too late because I didn’t want him to have bottle preference but he ended up having the opposite x

I used a bottle pretty much since day one. My little one was born with tongue tie and the hospital wouldn't cut it for 2 weeks so to save my nipples and my sanity I'd feed on the boob when I could and express and bottle feed the rest of the time. Do what's best for you and baby xx

@GemS just be careful with the haakaa as I was using one and started getting an oversupply with baby struggling with the force of it. Looked it up and it’s quite common to get an oversupply if using the haakaa to catch let down as it stimulates it more x