Lack of milk is a common phenomenon. Even though it is recommended to feed a kid only breastmilk during the first months of life, there are cases when you have to supply the kid’s diet with adapted formula. It is not necessary to do this in turn.
It’s much more useful for a child to receive both these substances simultaneously. The only requirement is that infant formula should be less than breastmilk. Please also note that even if you combine them both it doesn’t mean that you can use any formula. Adapted baby food should be selected correctly in any case.
So you have to understand which ingredients in the content are good for the health and which ones should be avoided. To be sure that such food won’t hurt a child, you can rely on such a world-known brand as Holle which is made from organic animal milk following the strictest EU rules of baby food production.
To avoid dangerous consequences for a kid when you mix formula and breastmilk, you may follow a few rules:
- do not use formula immediately after birth. It recommends waiting up to 2-3 weeks after birth to establish the feeding procedure
- add formula to the bottle with breastmilk, not vice versa, otherwise, lumps will appear
- consult a pediatrician in advance
- closely monitor the kid’s health because suspicious symptoms should be the reason for immediate refusal to combine.
While mixing these two elements, select the adapted baby food with a low percentage of fat. The abundance of nutrients contained both in breastmilk and formula can cause rapid weight gaining.
When Can You Mix Breastmilk with Baby Formula?
The most common reason for using this type of baby feeding is the insufficient production of mother’s milk. The second reason for combining breastmilk and adapted baby food is when a mother goes to work. A pediatrician recommends a mixed diet when a kid is not gaining enough weight or is born prematurely. In this case, it is a temporary measure.
Another important reason to supplement a child’s diet with formula is the mother’s disease. Pediatricians advise starting with a small amount of mixed liquid. Add a little formula to the mother’s milk, give it to an infant and check the reaction. If nothing suspicious is noticed, the next day it is recommended to increase the amount of product. Even if a kid is happy to absorb the liquid, be sure to observe the reaction after each feeding.
The undoubted advantage of combining breastmilk and adapted feeding is that it is easier for a child to eat such food because sucking from a bottle does not require effort, the jet flows out by itself and is regulated by the number of holes in the nipple. Furthermore, the time between feeding is increased because such adapted baby food saturates a kid a bit longer.
Is It Possible to Dilute Formula With Breast Milk?
Experts answer unequivocally – it is forbidden to dilute powder formula with breastmilk. Such adapted baby food has to be diluted according to the instruction on the package. However, you can supply a kid with formula if the mother’s milk is not enough for one feeding process.
It’s recommended if a mother has a slight shortage of milk. In this case, the feeding regimen remains unchanged, namely, at the request of a kid. The only difference is that after breastfeeding a bit of formula is given to a child until it is saturated. Another caveat is that you need to remember that milk production depends on the amount of milk a newborn consumes. If a lot of formula is added during feeding, the lactation period will end quickly.
