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 Groups: Joined: 11/8/2009 Posts: 382
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hi there,
i am so tired during the night that i need a break, i have tried to express with my pump but i cannot get enough to cover the feeds. i am so desparate that i'm thinking about giving her a formula bottle at night so my OH can do the night feeds.
my question is, can you give your baby a formula bottle when she has been exclusively been BF and how do you do it?
the thing is i really want to BF and i am afraid that it will interfere with my supply, but i have heard of women doing something like this.
i'll be grateful foe any advice
bun oven
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Groups: Joined: 1/29/2010 Posts: 206
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Have no experience yet of feeding ..another 7 weeks..but my niece said she gave a bottle about 10 pm in the evening to boost what she was able to give b/f. Said it didnt confuse the baby despite what the midwives said. sorry i cant be of more help
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 Groups: Joined: 2/23/2008 Posts: 1,088
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Hey Bun,
Yes, you can give a formula bottle. I have done it a few tmes already for the same reason as you, as I have just been exhausted. My dh has done the middle of the night feed (3amish) a few times now if Im too tired. People might say Im wrong, but I really think if your that tired, its a good idea as otherwise you might end up being so tired and fed up that you might chuck in bf altogether ! We didnt do anything special, just SMA Gold in a Tommee Tippee bottle with the number 1 nipple/teet, just 3oz and dh just very gently played with her lips with the nipple and slipped it in and she did take it no problem, just make sure to burp half way.
Lots of people combined feed. Initally I thought I would do that too, but now Im going to wait and sort out my other problems that you have read about (the full boobs, windy in the evening etc). Oh in relation to that, I pumped last nights feed and gave it in a bottle, I think it helped a little, she didnt seem as upset for as long, maybe an hour or so, as opposed to 3-4 hrs the previous nights !
HTH
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 Groups: Joined: 8/18/2009 Posts: 508
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Most babies don't get nipple confusion but a small percentage do so chances are you should be fine. DS was about 5 weeks old when we started to give him the odd bottle of expressed milk. You could try to give your lo a mixture of expressed milk and formula milk if your not able to pump enough and the more often you pump the more you will be able to.
I would sometimes pump 5 oz of milk for ds and he would only ever take 3 oz. So even if you cant express much it might be enough for her.
Beware from my experience if you get your dh do do the night feed you could find yourself with getting engorged. Plus during the night you hear baby before he does so you still end up waking up so I used to pump and then go to bed early and dp would give ds his last night feed allowing me to get some sleep. Didn't last long for me though as ds decided that he didn't want bottles anymore.
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Groups: Joined: 11/8/2009 Posts: 382
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thank you for your replies  i've to go to blanchardstown shopping centre today so i'll get some formula. i am going to try to ix some of my milk with formula so at least she has some breast milk in her feeds.
with expressing, i think i need to start pumping at the same time every day and go from there. i'm really feeling guilty about having to give her a bottle but if it needs be, it needs be.
hubby came home the other day and told me about a girl he knows that is pumping no problem and her little one is only 2 weeks old! plus my cousin is doing the same as her. so i snapped at him telling him i don't want to hear about other women. i apologised later as he was dumb struck at my reaction .
but at least i know i am not the only girl who had to give the odd bottle
i'll let you know how she takes to it.
thanks again.
bun oven.
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Groups: Joined: 6/13/2009 Posts: 235
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hi bun oven, I'm reading Gina Ford's 'the contented little baby' and she gives really good tips on combining breast with bottle. and she does recommend expressing at the same time every day, so hope this works for you...let us know! I'm already preparing myself to combine fed after two months...I hope I can breastfeed exclusively, but I'm just no that confident.
anyhoo, still loving all your questions. I now have a small notebook where I'm writing all the tips I got from them.
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Groups: Joined: 1/29/2010 Posts: 206
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I was going to say the same as langalang :) We are reading Gina Ford as well. She says to express in the morning when you have more milk and to do it at the same time each day. My reading of her was that you can start very early on in BF.
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Groups: Joined: 8/18/2009 Posts: 508
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Girls just be a little wary of following gina ford for a breastfed baby. Its one of the worst for breastfeeders. One reason most breastfeeding experts recommend you wait unti the 6 week mark to express is that alot of newborns find breastfeeding very tiring and if you give them a bottle they find it much easier causing many to refuse the breast. Sometimes its beyond your control to introduce a bottle but thats life.
Lanalang the early days are breastfeeding are the hardest by the time the two month mark comes along your milk supply will be well established. By the time ds was 2 months old he was a little expert and bf was easy
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Groups: Joined: 11/8/2009 Posts: 382
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hi girls,
I got a good rest this weekend (and hopefully tomorrow too) hubby took Rose away after the 6:30am feed and just brought her to me for feeds until i could not sleep anymore which was 11:30/12pm. i feel great again. yesterday i just could not bring myself to buy formula. because i felt better i just couldn't. i felt guilty, because i have given her the best start and to take that away from her i felt would be a sin as i know i can do this. it was just a couple of bad nights of sheer tiredness that got to me.
my mum reckons i also got a touch of the baby blues and that they get really bad when you are tired. mum said she is so proud of me BF (as she didn't) and not to give up.
but what i will say is, i will never judge a girl who goes for the bottle, as i know how hard it is just from a couple of bad nights. and you never know i probably could end up giving her a bottle for whatever reason.
but girls what i would say is remember, take a day at a time and don't think "oh no, there is tomorrow as well"
you'll get through it :)
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 Groups: Joined: 3/9/2009 Posts: 4,496
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Hey Bun Oven. Well done. Glad you figured out how to get through it for the moment. Are you co sleeping with Rose? In the beginning I found it good, then after a few weeks I felt I wasnt sleeping deeply with her in the bed and stopped but now that she is 5 months when I bring her in in the morning I conk out.
DD was a grand sleeper at first but after starting to sleep through the night, suddenly she started waking every couple of hours. Until a few days ago, I hadn't had more than 2 hours sleep together for 2 months. I did feel like I was losing my mind a week or so ago. Dh taking her in the mornings saved me, I honestly don't know what I would have done otherwise.
They are very demanding in the beginning as they are feeding so regularly around the clock but it does get a lot easier after the first couple of months.
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Groups: Joined: 11/8/2009 Posts: 382
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last night and the one before she only had one night feed, and then one at 6.30/7am. which is great.
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Groups: Joined: 3/7/2008 Posts: 4,708
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Bun Oven, so glad to hear things are looking up on the feeding and sleeping front. When you miss out on your sleep you can feel very low.
I have 5 children and exclusively BF them all. When i had #5 my PHN told me its not a failure to have a carton of formula in the back of the "press just incase" and you know what she was right, its not a failure. I was lucky enough to be able to express so always had a freezer full of milk for when i needed a break or a nights sleep.
What i will say is when you are feeling good and positive about the feeding, then buy a carton of formula and even knowing its their gives you peace of mind.
best of luck with teh feeding
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Groups:
Joined: 10/24/2009
Posts: 2
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Hi Ladies,
Can I just say that anyone breastfeeding exclusively or not is WONDERFUL. Some of my friends did combined feeding and the health nurses really didn't like that. Yet, those who just bottle fed were never given any grief. I have been exclusively breastfeeding for almost 12 weeks now and it has taken me this long to have enough of a supply to have a bottle or two spare within a week. I've given my little man formula twice or three times since but I think both times it made his cross. I know some people combine both breast & bottle which does interfere with your supply but it is better than not BF at all. My baby was waking every 2 to 3 hours at night to be fed so it was extremely difficult in the first few weeks. Now I express every morning for the night feeds. My husband does one & I do the other. You should have more milk in the morning. You can try giving your baby formula for one or two mornings but express at that time, then let your husband use the expressed milk for the night feed. Then each morning express one boob and let the baby feed one the other. Your body should allow you skip a night feed but still produce enough to express for the night feed. It could take longer than a couple of days though. My supply never seems to be high. I have to drinks litres & litres of water... and eat porridge! I read somewhere that it's good for the supply & it seems to have worked.
Anyway, do your best and don't stress yourself out too much if you give your baby one bottle of formula a night. It's not poison. Giving formula can also help make the weaning process easier when the time comes too.
Good luck,
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Groups: Joined: 11/8/2009 Posts: 382
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thanks for your replies girls, i still haven't bought the formula, but i do need 2 bottles for next wednesday as i have to go on a course and my mum is minding our baby. so i am going to pump every day at the same time and hopefully i will have enough. and if i don't then i suppose there is always formula.
if i have to bu a formula what one is the most gentle on there tummies?
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Groups: Joined: 11/8/2009 Posts: 382
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heldephium,
i have always put Rose into her crib, i'm to scared to co-sleep with her, as when i do go asleep i can fall into a very deep sleep and i'm afraid i'd fall on to her :(
but thats not to say i don't enjoy lots of cuddles in the morning with her in bed. :)
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Groups: Joined: 8/18/2009 Posts: 508
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bunoven I was scared too. I am a very deep sleeper but never once rolled over a squished ds. You maternal instincts are still there when you are asleep. you know the baby is in bed with you so you don't move around in your sleep like you normally do. TBH you can wake you a bit stiff sometimes from sleeping in the same position without moving.
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Groups: Joined: 3/9/2009 Posts: 4,496
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Was just asking bunoven cause it can make life a lot easier. DD slept longer when in the bed with me plus we used to both fall asleep during a feed as well. So I found it easy enough doing the night feeds. Anyway sounds like she has the hang of sleeping now.
When Rose wakes for the night feed, try not to change her unless she has a dirty nappy and keep the lights low also. When I stopped putting the light on at all, dd used to settle straight back into her basket after the feed, can't remember how old she was when that started though, probably a few weeks old. It's amazing how quickly you forget these things.
I think a lot of people say Aptimil is quite light. It won't kill her if you have to give her formula! So dont worry if you cant express enough.
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Groups: Joined: 11/8/2009 Posts: 382
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hiya girls,
i just can't sleep with her in the bed, but i do snooze with her feeding while i lie down. she is such a noisy eater that she has even woke hubby :)
believe it or not, but the time for her dirty nappies are at night and if they are not dirty they are full with pee. so i can't get away with not changing her :( but she settles quick enough at night because my milk still makes her sleepy - thank god ;)
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Groups: Joined: 2/23/2008 Posts: 1,088
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Hi There,
Bunoven,, hows it going ?
I had an awful week, so just trying to catch up on here now. DD was in hospital with suspected meningitis, very scary, but all ok now thank god, turned out to be a viral infection.
Anyway, I have started to express for the bedtime feed too. I just could find any other way to settle her at night and even at that, I sometimes have to top her up with formula. Last night, I fed her at about 7pm, then expresses at about 9.30pm from both breats and only got 3oz, which she finished at about 10pm, so dh gave her some formula (SMA) which she had another 2oz of ! I couldnt beleive it ! Im beginning to think I havent enough milk by the time night times comes. I doesnt bother be giving her SMA if it settles her, as she had been getting so upset before at night time, maybe because I hadnt enough milk.
Re the night time feeds, my dd is a clever clogs already ! when she wakes around 2.30/3AM, i feed her (breast feed) and she usually falls asleep on top of my breast, I wait a few mins to make sure she is in a deep sleep and then when I put her down in her moses basket, she wakes 10mins later and sort of wimpers until i pick her up again. Any suggestions ? Surely I shouldnt let a 5 week old cry ???
Bunoven, Im like you, i can doze with dd in the bed but Im too afraid to go asleep properly myself.
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Groups: Joined: 3/9/2009 Posts: 4,496
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When dd was that age I think I used to have to bring her into the bed after her first long sleep of the night, otherwise she took ages to settle. I can't remember what age she was when she started spending all night in her basket. I started leaving the lights off completely while feeding her and found she went back down so quickly as she never fully woke up then. Do you have something that smells like you in her bed? I found that this worked also.
On settling for the night, my dd used to be on and off the breast between 6pm and 9pm, then would have a nap, wake and have another feed around 11 and then go down for the night. The cluster feeding in the evening is really common I think. The milk is there in your breasts for her as they are never empty really. In the evening it does feel sometimes like they are empty but if you can relax, the hind milk lets down. I found that worrying if I had enough milk actually stopped it iykwim.
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