Formula and breastfeeding

I do. I’ve been combi feeding since baby was 4 months. Started off with one bottle right before bedtime and every other time i would breastfeed on demand. Even if it’s 30 minutes after the bottle or 2-3 hours later. Baby is now 8 months and she takes 2 formula bottles at night and breastfeeds on demand + solids of course. Breastfeeding has always been on demand. Combi feeding never caused an issue for me. In fact it helped me alot.

@Hansa I'm doing it with a newborn is that fine?

I was set on exclusively breastfeeding my daughter, but I had a long week of induction and a very traumatic birth. I was on the postnatal ward, and a really kind midwife passed me a sealed bottle of formula and said, “Please don’t put so much pressure on yourself”. I opened the bottle and fed it to her, I felt so good that I could do that as well as breastfeeding, she was two days old at this point. The health visitor wasn’t / isn’t too impressed with my feeding choice, I was told that it would cause nipple confusion etc, however it has not for us personally. Lottie is as happy to take the breast as she is the bottle, sometimes she demands the breast, sometimes she demands the bottle and the balance has been really beneficial for us as a family, as it allowed Dad to feed her which was important for him. Lottie is thriving. I trailed a few bottles, we have chosen MAM as apparently they’re very breast like, she took to them instantly and they’re great to prevent air bubbles with x

Lottie is breast fed throughout the day predominantly, I give a bottle if we are out and about or if she is fussing heavily (The bottle obviously allows her to feed quicker and results in her being less stressed). Throughout the night, she has two bottles. It all depends though, I couldn’t tell you how many bottles of formula she has, it just literally depends on the day, her mood, what we’re doing etc but she always has at least 1 per day / night, breastfed too or fed expressed milk and she has always been totally fine Xx

@Molly thank you that helped me sooo much because my health visitor isn't happy about it to and I was getting scared that I'm doing something wrong because I am still breastfeeding my toddler x

@Maria My HV wasn’t happy either, but at the end of the day… We know our children the best, they see them for half an hour every month. When I first told the HV my choice, she wasn’t happy but now she just doesn’t say anything at all because Lottie is gaining perfectly according to their charts😂 It’s the best thing that I have ever done, I felt so defeated at the start but I feel like personally, I’ll breastfeed her for longer now that I have flexibility. She’s just over 12 weeks now and I’ve been doing this since 2 days old, it is totally fine and you’re definitely not doing anything wrong. How amazing that you’re still breastfeeding your toddler, that’s a lovely achievement in itself ❤️

Hello, we have a WhatsApp group, message me if any of you mums want to join. We are definitely a mixed bunch so there is always someone who has got advice. Definitely the best group I’ve found x