Hellobee Boards

We did a mix for both boys. Our first DW nursed til 12 months and we did primarily BF but bottles of formula and pumped milk from literally day 1. He was a preemie so we had to supplement but it ended up working really easily for us compared to those we knew who BF exclusively. Never an issue taking bottles or DW leaving overnight. We always did a formula bottle before bed until 18 months.
For our second, he was an extremely distracted nurser which DW weaned him around 6 months and we did exclusive FF until now (1 year old today!) Same thing though: formula every night before bed and on and off whenever needed. I was off all Friday’s this year and would do bottles so she could go out on Fridays and do her own thing. Right now he still gets 8oz when he wakes and 8oz before bed plus 3 meals and 2 snacks. He’s a crazy eater too and I swear he eats all day long. Personally, I’m a huge fan of combo feeding and it worked extremely well for us with both kids. It allowed me and others to help.

As for pumping, DW pumped before bed for a while so I would be able to do a bottle in the night when they were infants. She usually took a week to cut out a feeding when weaning from nursing or pumping.

IMO combo feeding is no big deal, and definitely do it if it will make life easier or reduce worries. My supply was short, nothing the IBCLC suggested was really bringing it up and DS is a BIG kid (above 99% for height) with a big appetite, who did not take to solids until after a year; like would not touch them. I was working/pumping so it mostly consisted of topping up daycare bottles as needed, but I'd also give him some formula before bed after he BF, as my supply was lousy in the evenings. We're still BF at almost 20 months (and 6 months pregnant for me), with no sign of LO losing interest in sight. If your LO has been on the breast for awhile, perhaps gone back and forth to both sides for a couple of times, and is losing interest (presumably b/c milk has dwindled) but still seems hungry, I wouldn't hesitate to offer him some formula if your instinct is that he needs it...

@pachamama: I know power pumping works great for some people, I tried and it didn't seem to help much for me. But my supply may just be crap. Definitely be kind to yourself. Your supply is not going to dry up as long as your LO is still spending time on the boob, so if you do have supply issues and don't feel like using your precious little free time to (maybe) get it back up, giving more solids or supplementing a bit can be a win-win.