After trying hard to build up my milk supply so that I could exclusively BF, thinking we were doing well and then finding that Zac had actually lost weight, I am now reconciled to combined feeding. Hopefully when he starts solids we can cut out the formula, but he's only 8 weeks old, so that's a way off still!

However, the whole experience has left me feeling quite confused about how to tell when he's hungry and when he's just generally unhappy/tired/bored. So we have feeds that seem to stretch into eternity - we might have a really good BF (20-30 mins each side) and then a while of reasonably happy behaviour before he completely cracks it. Sometimes I think he's telling me he's hungry but he just yells at the breast and refuses to attach - of course, he will then guts down a bottle. He doesn't sleep much during the day - can be awake for up to five hours, by which stage of course he is completely beside himself (as am I). I don't live in an area where I can easily take him for walks, and the car is out of commission at the moment, so we're also a bit house-bound, which is definitely not helping...

Apart from help with understanding his cues, I was wondering how other people manage combined feeding. Do you feed on demand or have a bit of a routine in place? Do you find that you use more formula at certain times of the day? Do you top up each feed or just give a certain number of bottles a day?

I would really appreciate any pointers that people have - just as I think I have it worked out he goes and changes all the rules on me ;-)

Thanks in advance :-)