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Info Centre - Mixed-feeding your baby

If you breastfeed your baby at some feeds and give formula milk at one or more feeds, this is known as mixed feeding. Parents do this for all sorts of reasons but it is important to think through why you are considering doing this as it can make breastfeeding work less well and it reduces the health benefits for you and your baby.

Studies on babies show that those who only have breastmilk for the first six months of life are much less likely to catch common illnesses such as colds and tummy bugs than babies who are formula or mixed fed. Babies who only have breastmilk are also much less likely to develop certain conditions such as diabetes and heart disease in later life than formula or mixed fed babies. However, research also shows that any amount of breastmilk is better than none, so continuing to breastfeed as much as possible is helpful for your baby. The important thing is to work out what is best for your family, taking all these factors into account.

Introducing a bottle of formula once a day can seem like a good idea if you are tired at the end of a busy day and your baby seems to want to feed a lot in the evenings. If you are considering this then it is important to be aware that the more a baby feeds, the more milk your body will make, so giving formula feeds, particularly in the first six weeks, is likely to mean your body will make less milk. Some babies take more formula than they need, making them less hungry at the next breastfeed so they take less breastmilk and the breasts then respond by making less milk. This can mean that you give more formula feeds and this cycle continues until the baby is not breastfeeding at all. If you are considering introducing a bottle of formula milk because you don’t believe you have enough breastmilk then you might find it helps to talk it over with a breastfeeding counsellor or health professional. There are ways to increase your breastmilk supply but starting to use formula may make the situation worse.

Some parents are told that giving a bottle of formula makes the baby sleep better at night. There is no evidence that this is true and those night breastfeeds are important to tell the woman’s body to keep making milk – especially in the early weeks. Looking at how family and friends can give practical help so that mum can rest during the day may be a way of helping you through those first weeks until your baby naturally wakes less to feed.

Sometimes mothers decide to use a bottle of formula so that partner or another family member can be involved with the feeding of the baby. Whilst this is a lovely idea, you need to think about whether the advantages of this are more important to you than the possible problems with the breastmilk supply and the greater risk to the baby of infections and illness. Many parents prefer to either wait until the baby is taking solid foods before partners get involved with feeding or for the mother to express her breastmilk to be given to the baby. For more information, see “Expressing and storing your milk when away from your baby or returning to work”. It is usually a good idea to get breastfeeding working well over a few weeks before a bottle is introduced, so that the milk supply is well-established and the baby knows how to breastfeed well.

Returning to work can be another reason why parents consider mixed feeding. Many employers do not know that mothers and babies have a right to have their breastfeeding protected. They should provide a suitable place to express milk or to breastfeed, if your baby can be taken to you at work. See “Expressing and storing your milk when away from your baby or returning to work” for more information.

If a mother plans to return after the baby is six months old, then some women find that expressing milk to leave for baby alongside his solid foods is something that they can do either in the morning or evening , without necessarily having to express during the day whilst she is at work. This often works if women are working shorter hours. See “Expressing and storing your milk” for more information.

However, if you are going back to work earlier or would get uncomfortably full during the day, you are entitled to ask your employer to give you a break and facilities in which to express.

If you cannot make this work for you, then remember that you can give formula during the day and continue to breastfeed after work and at the weekends. The breastfeeds you continue to give before and after work are still really important for your baby’s health.

If you have been mixed feeding and want to return to only breastfeeding, it is usually possible to do this and you might find it helps to talk it through with a local breastfeeding counsellor, your midwife or health visitor, or you can call the NCT breastfeeding line (0300 330 0771). Whatever your decision, you can take pride in continuing to breastfeed your baby.

Page last updated 2009.