Milk source
What your baby drinks in the first months: breast milk (from the breast or a bottle), formula, or a mix. It affects who can feed the baby and how nights are shared.
Should we breastfeed, formula feed or do both?
In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: Exclusive breastfeeding; Breast milk by breast and bottle; Combination with formula; Exclusive formula. Evidence: experts disagree. Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh. Best settled: during pregnancy.
- Evidence
- Experts disagree
- Best settled
- During pregnancy
- Part of
- Pregnancy to first birthday
Milk source: what are the options?
Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.
1. Exclusive breastfeeding
The baby has only breast milk, fed at the breast.
2. Breast milk by breast and bottle
The baby has only breast milk, sometimes from a bottle of pumped milk.
3. Combination with formula
The baby has both breast milk and formula.
4. Exclusive formula
The baby has only formula.
Milk source: what does the evidence say?
Experts disagree. Credible bodies or researchers disagree — decide whose guidance you'll weigh. (Contested on magnitude)
Guidance is clear; the size of the long-term benefit is disputed
Sources
What else is worth knowing?
Breast milk and formula both feed a baby well. The choice affects who can feed the baby, how nights are shared, cost and convenience, and it is shaped by health, work and how feeding goes in the first weeks. Many families end up somewhere between the plans they made.
Questions to ask each other
- What do we each hope for, and what would we do if it does not go the way we planned?
- If breastfeeding is hard, how would we decide when to add formula?
- How do we make sure no one feels judged for whatever works?
More in Feeding the baby
First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.