How do you feed your baby?

Question

I'm just curious if it's alright to combine breastfeeding and formula feeding? I try to give my LO my breast first but offer formula when he's still hungry and I haven't produced enough milk. Is this ok?

Answer

Fed is best.  But be careful supplementing with formula because you might not build your supply.  Breast milk is supply and demand based; the more your baby wants/needs,  the more you produce.  If you want to increase your supply,  you either nurse or pump more often and your supply will increase in a day or two.   You sound like you want to breastfeed,  so you don't want to use formula as a crutch and have it hurt you in the end.

Very early on,  I did supplement with formula for a few days.  That was 3-4 days postpartum when my milk didn't come in and my baby screamed bloody murder. There is nothing wrong with formula.  Just make sure that it doesn't interfere with what you want for your baby.

My baby doesn't latch,  so I'm stuck pumping exclusively and feeding it to him in a bottle.  It's a lot of work.  I have to pump whenever baby feeds,  then deal with all the bottles afterwards.  It pretty much combines the worse part of both worlds, without the sweet bonding of breastfeeding.  I wouldn't suggest anyone exclusively pump unless they don't have a choice.

Answer

Sure it's ok. If your lo is under 2 mos you can try to pump between nhrsings to get your supply up if you have a goal to use just bm and no formula.

Keep in mind a baby will very often take a bottle after nursing. This doesn't mean they need it or aren't getting enough, it's just easy or they like to suck.

Answer

Yes it's ok but ultimately you won't build your supply that way. If you want to breastfeed long term you should just keep offering the breast, frequent small feedings will fill her up too and will tell your body to make more milk. When I was breastfeeding we did supplement with formula but only when someone else was watching her if I didn't have enough pumped milk or was reserving it for something.

Answer

You will always continue to produce. Your milk is like a constantly flowing river, not a lake.

Answer

I'll pump her 3oz and add a half scoop of formula to keep her a bit more full at night. Once she wakes up at night she breastfeeds then sleeps the rest of the morning.

Answer

I give breast milk (through pumping) and formula. Baby wouldn't latch. So not breast feeding :(

Answer

I breastfeed but I also pump and bottle feed so my husband can take a shift while I sleep.

How do you feed your baby?

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