Combination feeding: how to keep track of breast and formula feeds in one log

The NHS Best Start in Life pages describe mixed feeding as combining breastfeeding with bottle feeding, where the bottle holds either expressed breast milk or infant formula. They advise that, if you can, you and your baby are comfortable with breastfeeding before you add bottles, because breastfeeding itself stimulates your milk production. They also say that introducing formula feeds will probably reduce the amount of breast milk you make.

Those are the main reasons a record helps: it shows how many feeds were at the breast and how many were bottles, and what was in the bottles. Check the NHS page itself for the current wording and ask your midwife or health visitor for advice that fits your baby, for example when to start, or how to keep up your supply. The National Breastfeeding Helpline in the UK and local breastfeeding supporters elsewhere can help too.

A breastfeed is measured in time, and you cannot see how much milk came out. A bottle is measured in volume, and the bottle can hold breast milk, formula or both. If you write all of it as “fed 3 times”, you lose the two things you most often need later: how many feeds were bottles, and how much of the bottle volume was formula.

A simple page therefore has two kinds of line:

• Breastfeed: the time, the side, and the minutes on each side.
• Bottle: the time, the amount (ml or oz), and what was in it: breast milk, formula or a mix.
• If you pump, a separate line for the pumped amount, so it is not mistaken for a feed. Our guide on the pumping log covers that.

Write the amount your baby actually drank, not the amount you offered. Our guide on how much milk a baby drinks per feed explains why.

On the Today screen, tap Breastfeed for a feed at the breast. Baton keeps a timer with a minutes count for each side, and the timer also runs on the Lock Screen. Tap Bottle for a bottle: set the amount with the plus and minus buttons or a quick amount, then choose what was in it: Breast milk, Formula or Mixed. Check the time and save.

Baton starts the Bottle sheet from the amount and content of your last bottle, so check both before you save. That matters here, because if you alternate breast milk and formula bottles, the sheet will offer you the previous one's content. The amount is shown in ml or oz, as you choose in Settings, under Units.

Both parents log into the same history through their own iCloud, so a bottle your partner gave at night is already there when you wake up. History lists every feed with its time and who logged it, and CSV export is free, with a column for what was in each bottle.

In Charts, the daily totals count every breastfeed and every bottle as a feed, show the minutes on each side for breastfeeds, and show the bottle volume split into breast milk and formula. In that daily summary, a bottle you marked Mixed is counted with formula. The bottles-per-day chart draws breast milk, formula and mixed in separate colours.

The 7-day charts are free and the 30- and 90-day views are in Baton Plus. Pumped milk is shown separately and is not added to the bottle totals.

Look at the week as a whole rather than at one day. How many feeds were at the breast? How many bottles, and of what? Did the pattern change after you added a bottle? Baton does not say what the right balance is or whether it is good for your supply or your baby. It shows what you entered, so you can talk it through with your midwife, health visitor or pediatrician.

Speak to your midwife, health visitor, pediatrician or a breastfeeding supporter if you want to start mixed feeding, if your milk supply is worrying you, if your baby refuses the breast or the bottle, has fewer wet diapers than expected or is not gaining weight as expected, or if you are unsure which formula or how much to use (follow the tin when you make it up). Bring your log. In an emergency, call your local emergency number. Our guide on whether your baby is getting enough milk explains the other signs care teams look at.