{This post is my opinion and experience only, please don't shoot me if you feel differently}
Personally I think there is so much pressure on new mummies to breastfeed that it scares a lot of women off even trying, not to mention the thought of cracked sore nipples, mastitis and permanently having a small person hanging off your boobs! I was always of the mind set that I would give it a go and got some great advice from a friend who said to give myself little milestones of 3days, 3weeks, 3months and completing any of these would be beneficial for baby. I was also lucky to have the support of my mum who breastfeed myself and my two brothers for quite some time.
The moment Seve came into the world I had asked for him to be placed on my chest and to try feeding, because of the c-section this was a little delayed and in recovery my little man was showing all signs of wanting to feed so my midwife helped me get him latched on which was a success.
The next day after being manhandled by another midwife my mum helped me and I found a great position with a pillow and breastfeeding was going great, I also added in a dummy (naughty mummy) but this really helped soothe him once asleep. I reached 3days and was really loving the bond it was creating between me and Seve, looking at the little person I had made and grown was a special feeling.
Over the next few weeks I had really established breastfeeding even feeding when out and about. I also started expressing and added in a bottle, we had been invited to a wedding where we couldn't take Seve and needed him to take a bottle for my parents to look after him. It was 3weeks and adding a bottle was successful, we are using MAM anti colic bottles and dummies and there was no nipple confusion at all, I chose to let Grant feed him the bottle at 7pm whilst I expressed for the following night.
Daddy feeding
Things changed for me when I was starting to get out and about due to my section healing, I like just going out and not relaxing wasn't helping my milk supply it also didn't help that Seve was wanting larger feeds. I made the decision to add a formula feed in at 11pm to help my supply have a rest and try to help Seve go longer through the night, it actually didn't change the length of time he slept but did mean by the next feed I had lots of milk.
Having the two bottle feeds was making Seve lazy on the breast and I was contemplating making the switch to formula but spent the whole day in tears as I didn't feel ready. I went a spoke with a breastfeeding specialist and from that moment have been combination feeding. He is now having up to three formula feeds a day (sometimes more sometimes less) and breastfeeding the rest of the time which is a lot less hassle in my opinion. He has gained roughly 8oz a week and now weighs 10lb 1oz little piggy.
I think breastfeeding is really convenient and really special but it's also a huge tie and when baby has a growth spurt it can be constant feeding. Bottle is good for other people to be able to feed baby and also to gauge how much food baby is having but it's more time consuming having to get the temperature right (Seve takes mainly room temperature bottles) and sterilising (the MAM bottles are so easy to sterilise). I think for me combination feeding has been the best thing for us and happy baby means happy mummy.
I think I will continue with what I'm doing for a little while longer but I'm not going to pressurise myself if anything changes. My advice is to go with what feels best for you and your little one. X
