Forum Feeding

combining breastfeeding with bottle feeding

2 replies

chaimae
Hi everyone!
I'm currently 32 weeks and 3 days pregnant.
I'm thinking about breastfeeding the little one later on. I already have a 5-year-old daughter. Five years ago, things went wrong with breastfeeding. She wouldn't stop drinking, I had terrible pain, and eventually, there was blood in the milk. Not a good idea to continue, so I stopped. I was 18 then. Now, at almost 24, could it be that my body wasn't ready yet? Anyway, I want to try now, but start right from the beginning of the birth, combined with occasional bottles. Has any of you had experience with this?

Replies

  1. Anonymous Guest #2

    I have no experience with it, only with BV, not with the combination of BV and FV.
    My advice: find a good lactation consultant! You can ask her this question, but you can also call her in during the postpartum period if the BV doesn't go as you'd like. Sometimes maternity care agencies even have a lactation consultant on staff. Sometimes a consultation is also reimbursed by your health insurance.
    Good luck!
  2. Edith #3

    No breastfeeding journey is the same, so things might be very different now compared to when you had your first baby. That said, one downside of introducing bottle feeding early on is that it can make getting your milk supply established more difficult and may also cause it to drop off more easily. It does take a little while for your milk production to stabilize.

    The postpartum week and the period afterward are crucial here: if you can put your baby to the breast very frequently during those first few weeks, your milk supply will kick in well, and you'll have much less chance of it decreasing after a few weeks or months. If you're already supplementing with bottles, the baby won't feel as hungry and will want to breastfeed less often. This can also lead to nipple confusion, since the breast and the bottle nipple require quite different feeding techniques.

    Having (too) little milk can lead to impatient behavior in the baby, which in turn can make feeding sessions less pleasant. So it's definitely worth focusing from day one (even from the first hour) on establishing a good milk supply, possibly with the help of a lactation consultant. You'll likely find that the bottle isn't needed at all to feed comfortably (and continue to do so)—and if it turns out you want to supplement with bottles later, you can always decide that then. You don't necessarily have to decide this before the birth.

    Good luck

Add your reply

Share what helped you, or ask a question.

Sign in to join the conversation.

Continue with Google

Takes a moment. You’ll come straight back here to reply.