There are as many breastfeeding programs as there are mothers, so the important thing is to be able to offer each mother and her baby the best solution for her case. Therefore, if your decision is to do mixed breastfeeding, Happymami midwives have prepared the following post for you. Mixed breastfeeding, how to start, to clear all the doubts you may have.
The best food for your baby is breastfeeding, but there are many occasions when a mother needs or wants to offer breastfeeding combined with bottle-feeding to her baby. That’s why we want to give you the best information to make it perfect, and also, without losing your
Learn more about our bottle for mixed breastfeeding.
What if I am mixed breastfeeding with formula?
Mixed breastfeeding can be done with breast milk (delayed breastfeeding) or formula milk. The important thing is to follow proper guidelines to protect your breastfeeding, mainly based on avoiding generic bottles and using a Happymami mixed breastfeeding bottle.
On the one hand, you prevent your body from stopping producing breast milk, and on the other hand, with the Happymami custom-made bottle, you prevent your baby from the confounding factor, protecting your breastfeeding.
Mixed breastfeeding from the beginning, how does it work?
Since pregnancy, your body prepares to breastfeed your baby. And after delivery, putting your baby to the breast triggers a whole process in your body that will provide your baby with all the milk he or she needs during the breastfeeding stage.
We will call this process the breastfeeding engine, and its main stimulus will be your baby’s sucking, among others. Thus we obtain the famous rule of “the more suckling at the breast, the greater the production”. Whether it is the baby’s own suction or a breast pump, this information is important in cases of babies who have required incubator admission and separation of the mother-baby pair.
Factors in mixed breastfeeding
Your breastfeeding is formed by two fundamental pillars, your body and your baby, and taking care that both are not confused will be of the utmost importance to be able to do mixed breastfeeding without losing your breastfeeding.
What is newborn nipple confusion during mixed breastfeeding?
It is about the confusion we generate in your baby by using a different nipple than your breast when we do mixed breastfeeding, after which your baby will get confused and reject your breastfeeding. Therefore, we need to avoid generic bottles and use a custom-designed Happymami bottle to prevent the confusion factor for your baby and protect your breastfeeding when combining breastfeeding and bottle feeding.
What should be done to avoid confusion in mixed breastfeeding?
To avoid confusion when it comes to mixed breastfeeding. You can use alternative feeding methods such as finger-syringe, spoon, or relactation. If you use a bottle, definitely use a bottle that is as close to your breast as possible, and the closest will be a custom-designed Happymami.
Why is it important to use a bottle similar to your breast for mixed breastfeeding?
Your baby, at birth, has some reflexes, called archaic reflexes. These reflexes are normal and will disappear with the passage of time, and serve them to “survive” in this first stage. Of all the archaic reflexes of the newborn, we focus on two, the search reflex and the sucking reflex.
The search reflex occurs when your baby is stimulated in the peri-oral area (around the mouth), he will turn his mouth in search of that stimulus. And the second super important reflex is the sucking reflex, a reflex that consists in the fact that when your baby touches something on the roof of his mouth, he sucks.
But your baby doesn’t know what a nipple is, or a pacifier, or what mom’s breast is like and must learn how much stimulation mom will provide to his palate. Because for example, if mom has a large breast with a short nipple.
In this case, as the days go by, the baby will learn that mom has a very large breast, so when you bring the breast close to him during feedings and touch the corner of his lips, the baby has already learned that it is a large breast and will open his mouth wide.
As well, he will have learned how much stimulation he will have from mom’s nipple on his palate, being perfect for the baby, feeling very comfortable with that stimulation and performing a perfect breastfeeding. That is why all breasts with their nipples are perfect for breastfeeding, the only thing we need is for the baby to learn what mom’s breast is like and it will take days or weeks to establish.
Mixed breastfeeding with formula milk
For mixed breastfeeding with formula milk, the most important thing to keep in mind is not to confuse your breast. As mentioned above, do not confuse your baby by using a custom-designed bottle for mixed breastfeeding. Now it’s time to think about not confusing your body, if we do mixed breastfeeding.
Therefore, if you combine breastfeeding and bottle-feeding, keep in mind that your baby will need more and more food. Then we must make sure that the breast also produces more. Maintaining correct breast stimulation, either with the baby or with a breast pump. And so you can do mixed breastfeeding without losing your breastfeeding.
Mixed breastfeeding without decreasing your milk production
Your body, after the birth or caesarean section and especially after skin-to-skin contact with your baby and breastfeeding, understands that there is a baby, and will start up all the machinery to offer your baby the nourishment he or she needs.
The first few days your body says: “OK, baby, let’s start breastfeeding”. As we stimulate the baby with feedings, or with the breast pump if the baby is in an incubator, your body will increase the amount of breast milk after a few days. Every mother is unique and it may be sooner or later, but with proper stimulation we will have that breast milk surge.
What this milk surge indicates is that your body understands “Ok, ok, there’s a baby or babies, I’m going to give it my all to make sure.” and it produces maybe 3 litres for example, your breasts will be super swollen and what you have to do is to put your baby to breastfeed.
Days go by and your baby consumes maybe half a litre of the 3 litres your body had produced, to give an example. Then your body says “Perfect, it’s not 4 babies, it’s 1 baby” and adjusts its production to your baby’s needs. Because it is perfectly prepared to do so.
How to do mixed breastfeeding?
In order to breastfeed mixed breastfeeding without affecting your breastfeeding, there are some guidelines to follow. The first thing is to avoid using a generic bottle, by using a Happymami custom designed bottle, you will prevent your baby from the confusion factor and protect your breastfeeding.
How to do mixed breastfeeding for newborns?
For the first ten days, we need to focus on getting breastfeeding established, so we recommend exclusive breastfeeding only. These days are crucial for your breastfeeding, and we need both your baby and your body to understand that we are going to start the breastfeeding engine, so for the first 10 days, breastfeed only.
From day ten of breastfeeding, we can start mixed breastfeeding by introducing a bottle a day. Our advice is to give your baby one bottle a day, if possible, and it is strongly recommended that you do so with your breast milk, so that your breast will continue to produce everything that your baby consumes.
It can be interesting to do this feeding at night, because some babies will sleep a little longer after bottle-feeding, and those 2 or 3 hours can be very beneficial for your rest. Continue this pattern until the newborn is twenty days old.
Mixed breastfeeding baby 1 month
From the twentieth day of the newborn, continuing with our mixed breastfeeding, we can introduce a second bottle a day, the one at night and if you want another one in the afternoon or evening as well. It is not so relevant when, what is important is that we maintain adequate breast stimulation to continue to maintain and increase the production machinery.
And of course, don’t forget to use a Happymami bottle designed to fit so as not to confuse your baby. From one month of age onwards, we can give bottles more freely, always prioritising the feeds that you can give at the breast, and use the bottle for those feeds that you need or want.
Also, if you are mixed breastfeeding because your baby needs supplementation. First breastfeed until empty and then supplement with the amount prescribed by the paediatrician. If you continue to give bottles with your milk, it will be perfect. If you decide to introduce breastfeeding now, that’s fine too.
Mixed breastfeeding baby 2 months
It is very important to keep in mind that as your baby gets older, he or she will need more milk at a feeding. This means that if we offer your baby the breast, and then he/she drinks 30 ml of formula, it would be advisable to express the same amount of breastmilk until at least 2 months of age. This way your body will produce everything your baby needs even if we are mixed breastfeeding.
Maintaining this consistency of expression up to 3 months would be essential for mixed-ideal breastfeeding. But obviously we must adapt this information to your case.
How many ml to give in mixed breastfeeding?
The amount of bottle per feeding will be determined by your paediatrician if it consists of supplementation. Or according to your baby’s needs, as a guideline, the quantities of each bottle to be taken by the newborn according to the stage of mixed breastfeeding are as follows:
- Two-day-old infant, 19 to 20 ml per bottle
- Three-day-old baby, 30 to 40 ml per bottle
- Infant four to five days old, 50 ml per bottle
- Infant six to seven days old, 60-70 ml per bottle
- 8-day-old baby, 70 ml per bottle
- Infant nine to fifteen days, 80 to 90 ml per bottle
- Infant fifteen days to one month, 110 to 120 ml per bottle
- Two-month-old baby, 120 ml to 150 ml per bottle
- Three-month-old baby, 150-180 ml per bottle
- Four-month-old infant, 180-210 ml per bottle
- Five-month-old baby, 210 ml per bottle
- Infant over six months, 210-250 ml per bottle
How should mixed breastfeeding be carried out?
To offer mixed breastfeeding to your baby, you can do it as a supplement. Offering first the breast until emptying and after emptying give the supplement with your Happymami bottle. Another option is to do full bottle feeds, for example if mum has to go back to work and needs to give dad’s bottle at home to the baby.
Risks of mixed breastfeeding
If you are mixed breastfeeding, the main risk is that you may lose your breastfeeding, so it is important not to confuse your body and your baby. We need to keep your body stimulated to produce everything your baby consumes, and use a custom-designed Happymami bottle to prevent the confusion factor for your baby by protecting your breastfeeding.
Conclusion Mixed breastfeeding How to start? Happymami Baby Bottle
The basis of mixed breastfeeding as such is not to confuse your body and your baby. And for this, the early stages of breastfeeding are extremely important. These guidelines are ideal, and will obviously have to be adapted to your case.
Always use a custom-designed Happymami bottle to prevent your baby from the confusion factor, and keep your body stimulated to avoid confusing your baby as well. Be patient, because it will take a while to learn, but then it will be very easy.
Bibliography Mixed breastfeeding How to start? Happymami Baby Bottle
Materna L, Guillen AM, Dalmau Serra J, De Neonatología S, De Nutrición S, Fe L, et al. Healthy newborn feeding [Internet]. Aeped.es. [citado el 4 de noviembre de 2022].
Fabm AKMI. Initiation of breastfeeding [Internet]. Uptodate.com. 2022 [citado el 4 de noviembre de 2022]. Available in: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/initiation-of-breastfeeding
