When to start combi feeding a baby
The WHO and UNICEF recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and before introducing formula feeds into your baby's routine you should speak to your health visitor for advice.
Babies should develop a good breastfeeding latch before they're fed using a bottle. Not sure how to do this? Our latching guide can help.
Some parents decide to combi feed their newborn baby from birth. This is safe to do, but may make switching between breast and bottle more challenging.
It's recommended that parents wait until their baby is comfortable with breastfeeding before bringing a bottle of breast milk or formula into the mix. You should speak to your health visitor before starting combi feeding.
When you first introduce a bottle:
- Make sure that your baby is happy, relaxed, and not too hungry
- Ask someone else to give them the bottle - your baby might not feed from a bottle at first if they can sense that your breasts (and breast milk) are close by
- Try different feeding positions
- Use a bottle with a breast-like teat
- Stay patient and calm - it's normal for a baby to not accept a bottle right away.
How to combination feed
Although there're lots of benefits that come with combi feeding, using a combination of different feeding methods may be tricky for both a baby and their parents to get used to at first. Let's run through some advice to help you introduce bottle feeding into your feeding journey - whether that's expressed breast milk or formula.
Combi feeding with a bottle and expressed breast milk
If you'd like to combine breastfeeding with expressed breast milk feeds, you'll need a breast pump to collect your breast milk to give to your baby in a bottle.
Parents often find that when they express breast milk in the morning, they're able to collect more in a shorter amount of time. But it's also worth noting that expressing at night helps to maintain your long-term milk supply, so try to do both if you can.
It's also important that you carry on breastfeeding or expressing regularly from each breast. If you don't, there's a chance that your boobs can become painful and engorged.
Combi feeding with a bottle and formula
If you'd like to feed formula in a bottle alongside direct breastfeeding, it's recommended that you introduce them to formula gradually. Not only does this give time for your body time to reduce the volume of breast milk it produces, but it also allows your baby's digestive system plenty of time to adjust.
If you're introducing formula feeds because you're going back to work, it can help to start combination feeding a few weeks in advance. Establishing a good combination feeding schedule can help you get into the swing of your new routine.
Combination feeding using formula can reduce the quantity of breast milk you produce. For this reason, you should carry on breastfeeding your baby and expressing using a pump regularly to keep your supply going.
When you're substituting breast milk with formula, it can take up to seven days for the amount of breast milk your body makes to adjust to missing just one feed. So, it's important to gradually reduce breastfeeds and top up breast milk feeds with formula at first to reduce the gaps between breastfeeds.
Additionally, expressing between feeds can help to increase your breast milk supply if you want to return to breastfeeding.
