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Breast
milk is always the doctor recommended and best way to feed your baby. However,
there may be certain circumstances that you will want to mix breast milk and
formula. While it is possible to combine breast milk and the bottle, it is best
to wait until breastfeeding is well established about 3 or 4 weeks before
introducing the bottle. Since breast milk is so perfect and valuable to your
baby, if you mix the two in one bottle and your baby doesn’t take the entire
bottle, then you lose some of your most valuable milk, the breast milk. By
keeping the two separate, you can give the breast milk priority and use formula
only as needed. If you are sure you will need to supplement with formula more
than one feeding a day, you could alternate the feedings. Because formula is
more difficult for your baby to digest, by interspersing them with the
easier-to-digest breast milk, it will put less stress on your baby's system.
Bottle-feeding is very different from
breastfeeding. Breastfeeding requires a completely different mouth and tongue
movement than sucking from a bottle. By waiting 3 or 4 weeks before introducing
the bottle you will help your baby learn one skill at a time. You can always
switch from breastfeeding to bottle-feeding, but it’s difficult to switch back
the other direction. With all the benefits of breastfeeding and breast milk, for
both your baby and you, it’s worth trying your best to make it work.
Another
thing to consider is when you give your baby formula, you are telling your body
to make less breast milk. Many mothers have unknowingly jeopardized their
breastfeeding relationship with their babies by giving formula, not knowing that
this will reduce their milk supplies. It is a vicious cycle: baby gets some
formula, so mom's breasts make less milk....so baby gets more formula, so mom's
breasts make even less milk, and so on and so on, until baby is weaned
prematurely! If you find yourself needing to give formula, be sure to pump your
breasts to make up for the formula the baby receives. Any time you must miss a
feeding, pumping is essential to keep up your milk supply.
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