Hellobee Boards

I combo fed for most of 8 weeks due to low supply. (And am actually still combo feeding but the combo is pumped breastmilk and formula-- I am no longer breastfeeding). When I was still breastfeeding I would usually BF for every meal then top her off with formula as needed. Although I didn't stress at all if we were out or I had a doc appt and we had to just give her formula for a whole meal. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to it beyond convenience. Now that I do pumped milk and formula, she gets formula for her first feed of the day (so I don't have to take the time to warm milk from the night before, which is in the fridge). Then she gets breastmilk as it is available, which generally means I have milk for her for her 2nd and 3rd feeds, then give her formula for her 4th feed, then milk again for her 5th one.

I don't know about engorgement since I have a low supply. But I'd imagine if you just dropped 1 meal/day you probably wouldn't have much if any problem and your boy would just adjust to making less.

I combo fed pumped milk and breast fed so not completely what you requested, but if I didn't pump, my boobs hurt. It might take a week for your body to get the message and not produce as much.

I combo fed because I went back to work at 10 weeks. I pumped for a few months at work but your supply will even out eventually. When I stopped pumping at work I was incredibly uncomfortable for a few days until my body got the memo. DD was, at one point, breast fed, breast milk in a bottle fed, and formula fed. Do what makes you happy and sane!

I would say you will definitely need a pump in order to help avoid engorgement. It doesn't need to be an electric pump; you can just use a manual hand pump. Or get good at hand expressing. But my guess would be that you will definitely be uncomfortable if you just stop dropping feeds. I know if I went more than 2-3 hours without nursing the first 2 months, I was in pain and swollen.

I combo fed, but formula and pumped milk. I know it's not the same thing, but at 4weeks she was STTN (8-10 hours) so I did go that long between pumps - there was no way I was getting up to pump in the middle of the night if she wasn't.

My supply adjusted very quickly, and by 2.5 months I was only pumping 4x a day and making almost enough to cover all her feedings. I didn't really have much pain if I skipped one or went too long between, but I know that's not the norm. If I would have done more pumps/day I'm sure I could have done 100% BM but formula kept my sanity in tact

When I was a SAHM with Wagon Jr. I nursed him full time but he got a bottle of pumped milk each night at bedtime. I wanted anyone to be able to put him to bed, not just me and the breast. Eventually we made every nighttime feeding by bottle. When we introduced formula at 7 months when we weaned, we switched to formula during the day and one bottle of pumped milk each night at bedtime. This made my frozen supply last until he was a year old. He was getting 1 bottle each day until he was 1.

I have a low supply so I nurse but then supplement w pumped milk or formula when she is still hungry. I'm paranoid about wasting pumped milk so I I usually offer 1-2 oz of milk first then formula if she's still crying for more. I should pump after every nursing session but it's too hard when she needs my attention so I usually pump only 2x-- after the first and last nursing sessions of day

@mrs. wagon: I've never heard of the bottle instead of breast before bedtime approach but it makes perfect sense to me! How old was you LO when you started bottle feeding before bed time? Thank you for this suggestion.

@Mrs tartan: Got it! No judgment. Just thinking that your reason will affect your method if that makes sense.

I have low supply so it's a little different for me, but I have always just adjusted to the feedings my baby is doing at the time. So when we night weaned, I was very uncomfortable (I don't get truly engorged though) for a few nights but not anymore. I say nurse your baby as much as you want for as long as you want. Don't not nurse while you are on maternity leave because of something in the future!

You also don't know the supply you'll have. I never really considered the possibility of having low supply. Some moms have oversupply & they just can't go more than a couple hours without nursing or pumping. So you'll have to be ready to roll with the punches

I EBF but gave bottles of breastmilk out of convenience when we were out when he was little (I was uncomfortable BFing in public). Sometimes I didn't bother or have a place to pump and til about 2 months the engorgement was killer if I missed one feeding.
Yesterday T couldn't eat from 8:30am til almost 5pm because he had to be put under for an MRI. I got engorged but it wasn't very noticeable or uncomfortable.

TLDR: It takes a while for your supply to adjust so you don't get engorged.