Combination Feeding
There are many reasons people combine breastfeeding with formula feeding, like I have done. Some women worry that introducing formula will interfere with breastfeeding, but that is not necessarily the case. There are ways you can ensure that you are successfully combining both forms of feeding. These are a few things that I have come across and things that's have helped me.
Keeping up Your Milk Supply
During the time your milk supply is still getting established it is important to either breastfeed or express every time your baby is due to be fed. If you skip a feed it may interfere with your supply.
To keep up your milk supply you will need to express when you would otherwise have given a breast feed, this helps your body know to keep making milk.
Keep Hydrated! Nipple Confusion A very young baby can get used to a bottle quickly – the formula comes out of the bottle faster than it does the breast, with less work required by them on the bottle compared to breast. They could eventually reject the breast, this is called nipple confusion. Ways to avoid this is by expressing until you feel the "let down" or can see milk dripping from your nipple, that way your baby won’t need to work as hard at the breast. At the next feed, try to feed a little earlier so s/he is hungry enough to take a feed, but not so starving that they dont want to latch on.
