Supplementing breastfeeding

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You’ve just breastfed your baby, but he seems to want more. So what’s the harm in giving extra feeds – or supplementary feeds - on top of breastmilk? It’s the most common reason for parents to consider supplementary feeds: your baby seems to still be hungry at the end of a breastfeed.

Regular supplementary feeding can interfere with successful breastfeeding. If a baby can’t always feed directly from the breast, expressed breastmilk will maintain your supply and provide the benefits of breastfeeding. It is also often possible to increase your milk supply so that you won’t need to supplement.

While supplementary feeds might seem like a good idea, they can interfere with breastfeeding. When your baby has a feed from a bottle and not from your breast, you might notice:

• a reduction in your supply of milk
• your breasts getting overfull, which can be painful and can cause your body to stop producing milk
• your baby preferring the bottle to the breast and ultimately refusing the breast.

In short, supplementary feeding might make it more difficult for you to keep breastfeeding.

If your milk supply has been run down because of supplementary feeds (or for any other reason) and you want to increase it, you can try some of the following suggestions:

• Increase the frequency of breastfeeds.
• Express after breastfeeding.
• Gradually reduce the amount of supplementary feeding.

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