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I had breastfed my baby about 90-95% of the time and then expressed milk for my husband to feed baby too when I needed a break, there wasn’t a schedule or anything, but just as and when I needed it (sometimes at night/morning and other days it might have not at all/ once through the day. As my baby started weaning on solids I found it harder to express so around 9months i stopped and I used the odd Kendamil ready to feed bottles (prob used once a week/every other week)
Something my sister did was she breastfeeds directly from boob majority but her husband gave a bottle of formula once a day to her so that she took to bottle. She was able to leave baby with our mum etc fine becsuse she takes bottle well and not pumping Combo feeding but I believe you cant introduce bottle for 6 weeks or there is a way to do it. So if you want to do that, speak to midwife about the way to do it!
if you have any maternity leave i would maybe try just breastfeeding to start. my husband and i tried doing breast milk bottles in the beginning but I would wake up anyway when baby woke and you should pump when baby feeds to keep your supply up. it turned out to be wayyy easier for me to just feed baby from the source rather than deal with waking up anyway, baby not wanting dad yet, wanting to comfort nurse, dirty bottles, sanitizing pump parts, etc. yes, you will be tiered, but your body has been preparing for this your whole pregnancy. it adapts and it gets slightly easier to be tiered. we are days away from being a year in and i wouldn’t change breastfeeding for anything. yes, it can be challenging but it can also feel like an absolute superpower. (also literally typing this as i breastfeed baby to sleep)
also, i pump regularly now and babe has been taking a bottle great since around 3 months. it was just those early newborn days that it was overwhelming to deal with pumping on top of healing, learning, bonding, and everything else that comes along with your little one .
In a lot of way breastfeeding is easier than bottle feeding, baby can be fed as soon as they're hungry (no preparing a bottle or warming up milk or whatever), and no washing or sterilising either. Having said that, there are obviously downsides too and I completely get wanting help with night feeds, etc. My advice would be to establish breastfeeding first, for at least the first few weeks, then start pumping maybe once a day so someone else can give baby a bottle. Ime, the extra stretch of sleep makes a huge difference (4hrs feels so much better than 2 x 2hrs), and pumping that feed means your supply will stay up whereas if baby gets formula there's a much higher chance your supply will drop meaning you eventually need to switch to formula exclusively. Also, people can help out in so many different ways, whether that's changing and burping baby, making food for you, helping with housework or whatever.
Thanks so much everyone - I really appreciate your messages and help xx
I did and I hated my life. I worked hard to get baby back to the boob 100% and honestly it’s just made my life so much easier. Pumping is such a pain in the ass I hated it.