What is Combination Feeding?

Combination feeding, sometimes called mixed feeding, means offering your baby milk from both breast and bottle. The bottle can be filled with expressed breast milk or infant formula. Just be aware that once you decide to move away from exclusive breastfeeding, your body will slow down the production of its milk and this is difficult to reverse. So the best advice is to be patient and take it slow — both you and your baby will need time to adjust.

Some reasons for combination feeding are:

• Going back to work
• Allowing other people to feed your baby, such as your partner or babysitter
• Your baby’s weight is of concern and you need to see how much expressed milk they are drinking

How to combine breastfeeding and bottle feeding

When to introduce a bottle while breastfeeding

Once breastfeeding is firmly established, your baby is latching on nicely and your breast milk supply is plentiful, you can consider combination feeding (combining breast and baby formula feeding or breast and expressed milk feeding). This is usually any time after 4 to 6 weeks. If you plan to introduce infant formula milk exclusively and stop breastfeeding altogether, you can do this at any time.

Dropping feeds gradually

By dropping just one breastfeed a week you’ll be able to give your body time to adjust as you introduce formula feeds. Your breasts need to learn to produce less milk. Otherwise your breasts may leak or become engorged, which is painful (expressing milk manually or with a breast pump is a good way to relieve the pressure).

Choosing which of your baby’s feeds to offer from bottle and breast totally depends on you and your baby. Your breasts are most full in the mornings, so you could consider bottle feeding your baby at night. This way your partner and baby can have some bonding time while you can catch up on some sleep. Whatever you choose, make sure you are consistent. Over time, your breasts will adjust and produce less milk for the feeds you have dropped.

Expressing and storing your breast milk

When starting combination feeding, schedule some time during the day to express your milk; this way you can be prepared for when your baby might need a bottle. Expressing your breast milk regularly also helps keep your supply steady. One of the handy things about breast milk is that you can freeze it for up to 6 months.

Helping a breastfed baby take to the bottle

It may take some time for your baby to adjust because the teat will feel very different to your nipple, so don’t worry if they don’t take to it straight away.

Here are some tips to help:

• Offer the first few bottles with expressed breast milk
• Warm the bottle up in some hot water
• If someone else is feeding your baby, move away so they can’t smell your breast milk
• Try different teats
• Distract them with some toys or music

When to seek further support

If you couldn’t breastfeed earlier on but want to try combination feeding your baby, it may still be possible if you focus on breastfeeding and pumping — the more milk you extract, the more you make.

Combination feeding breastmilk and formula, or breast and expressed milk, looks different for every family, and it can take time to find what works for you and your baby. If you have questions, a healthcare professional, midwife or health visitor can offer advice and support.

For more guidance and tips, explore the Capricare® Parents Support Hub.