Did anyone alternate between bottle and breast and if so how frequently?

Question

I always hear that you cant do both and i would very much like my boyfriend to be able to feed the baby as well as me breast feeding when its born, i have seen some lovely bottles that have a teet that is as close as you can get to the nipple, did anyone try doing this and have success?

Answer 1

my son has just turned 6 months old and a few weeks ago I decided to do half and half also with the bottle that have the breast like nipple.. we had success for the first 2 weeks but then he started to refuse the breast and now he is exclusively on formula. He really loved the boob but i think the bottle is easier and the milk is usually a lot more plentiful, now I am a little bit regretful of giving up the breastfeeding.. however, if you express the milk then your milk supply will be constant and you won't have to worry about losing your milk..

Answer 2

I do this. I currently have a 2 month old and i alternate at least 2 boddles into his feedings because i want him to get extra vitamins that my body absorbs. I also do it because i like having the freedom to play with my almost 2 year old while my husband feeds him. I also have had trouble with my nipple tearing because he is such an avid sucker, that he tears the nipple.. so when this happens i will feed him 2 oz before i give him the boob so he won't suck so hard. I love involving my husband in the feedings and allows me to get some much extra needed rest!

I say go for it!

Just make sure that your milk supply is good before doing so and that you are able to nurse well.

Congrats!!

Answer 3

If you intend to bottle feed as well wait until your baby is at least three months as I tried to do this with my first baby (I have 5 children who where all breastfed for over a year) When I introduced the bottle too early she went on a nursing strike which is where the baby will not latch on as it gets the milk too easy from the bottle therefore refuses to feed from you.  When you do decide to give a bottle make sure it is your milk you use by expressing during the time of the feed to ensure you keep producing the right amount of milk for your baby at the right time.  Good luck with the breast feeding I felt it helped me to bond quicker with all of my babies and the convenience of milk always being ready when the baby needs it is great.  Not to mention the health benefits.

Answer 4

Okay stop thinking about bottle feeding just for a moment.

Concentrate on breastfeeding first as it is actually not as easy as it looks.

Once you have got the breastfeeding organized then you can try pumping milk with a breast pump and see if you baby will take a bottle with breast milk in  it.

If breastfeeding doesn't work out for you then there will be plenty of opportunities for you boyfriend to use a bottle with formula in it.

Now here is something that has worked for me.

I have two children and a 5 month old baby.

When the baby was 3 weeks old my milk supply dropped off and I had to try and pump milk and I wasn't getting very much so then I had to give my baby formula to top her up.

I think the stress and lack of sleep and having a c-section for the first time after two natural births really knocked me around so my milk supply was all over the place.

Now what I do is breastfeed baby first thing in the morning and then the next feed I give her a bottle of formula and alternate like this all day.

If I am out and about and don't have a bottle handy I will breastfeed and then give her a bottle later.

The baby has no problem switching back and forward but I have slow flow teats on her bottles so she doesn't guzzle the formula down to fast. But beware some babies won't be happy switching back and forward and you have to be careful not to overfeed them too.

Breastmilk only takes about 2 hours to digest so

you will have to give a bottle when they are hungry again but they may not take the whole bottle... or you can skip the bottle and breastfeed again...whatever works best.

It is hard to plan exactly what you are going to do before the baby is born and it might be easier to wait and see what happens.,,and discuss your thoughts with the midwives so they can advise you too.

Good luck

Answer 5

Both my sons would accept a bottle of breast milk from their daddy and both switched happily between the two.

But I do know that some of my friends children would accept a bottle but it then made their breast feeding really difficult as the babys soon realised that they have to work far harder with breast feeding than with the bottle.

Have some bottles to hand anyway and just see how you feel once the baby is born.

Answer 6

its okaii to switch off between the to as often as you like... but it would be best that if/when you use the bottle you use breast milk and not the formula...

Answer 7

like he above answerer said about the breastfeeding - obviously best.

My health visitor told me, that giving formula milk will take away the benfits of breast milk, so deff express your own milk, I have with my 2 babies, and will do with our third one on its way! It also helps you, so if you ever need to go down the shops etc, you can express quickly, and not worry about your baby being hungry, as he/she wil be used to both ways.

Good luck

And keep up the good work

:-)

um why the thumbs down? some people.