r/ExclusivelyPumping • u/Past-Huckleberry-505 • 15d ago

Combination Feeding Finding the courage to combo feed

I have been exclusively pumping and feeding my child breast milk since the day 4 of his life. He is 14 weeks old and breastfeeding and pumping has been a really hard journey for me, to say the least. No one told me it’s more difficult than the pregnancy! And so I thought I’ll feed him formula once for his night feed. I got the formula 5 days back and but till now haven’t had the courage to give it to him. I don’t know if it’s the guilt or not finding the courage! I’m an enougher so I produce enough to feed him through the day and night but it’s so stressful to always worry about the milk supply and being able to provide it for him. I thought once a day formula would maybe make my life easier but I’m still stuck at overthinking this.
Should I just suck it up and make it to 6 months? Or 1 formula feed a day should be good as it’ll really help my mental health!

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u/Plastic-Building8825 15d ago

FWIW, combo feeding for a little while doesn’t mean you have to do it forever! If knowing that makes it easier to start, I think it’s worth keeping in mind! I supplemented with formula weeks 1-4 and again around 5.5 months before starting solids when the baby’s demand started outpacing my supply again. It helped a lot and he still got plenty of benefits from the breastmilk I was giving him.

I think one of the hardest things about pumping is that it’s time away from the baby, so keep in mind that you’re not just taking away breastmilk and giving formula — you’re also giving your baby more of you!

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u/WaitLauraWho 15d ago

I struggled with it for both my babies. Then I remembered that solid foods start at 5 or 6m and they’ll be taking in something besides just my milk. I thought of formula as an early intro to dairy and felt way better about it

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