# How different is baby after switching to formula!



## KittyVentura

Right ladies... lets keep this clean. We'd all have to live in caves to not know the merits of BF and that in an ideal world this is best for baby and mums. Don't let this turn into a judgemental BF over FF thread.

For those that started BF but for whatever reason had to stop and switch to FF... wondered what changes you saw in baby? Positive and negative!

I am BF and plan to stick at it... even though it is bloody hard. This is just one of those "I wonder" threads. Knowledge is power etc etc xx


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## kerrie24

I havent switched but I did ff my eldest son and by 12 weeks he slept 12 hours at night BUT he also had colic and I often forgot his bottles and once even melted my sterilizer!!


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## kerry1981

Hey,

I stared out bf but we had issues (just found out bubs has tongue tie) and had to move to formula. To be honest the only difference I found was in her no 2's. Apart from that, there was no difference other differences. She is still as grumpy in the afternoon ;-) and is more than capable of sleeping through on both bm and formula :thumbup:

x


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## kc1980

My LO is BF but we stArted giving 1 bottle of formula before bed and I know it makes her sleep longer. Also her poos are very different - much more of it and super smelly.


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## Lilicat

I ended up having to switch from breast feeding before I left the hospital (I was in several days), he was miserable, wouldn't sleep and cried constantly. Even the midwife couldn't settle him. As soon as he had his first bottle he stopped crying and slept. 

I read my notes a few weeks later and is was written over and over, baby distressed and hungry :cry: I wish I had swapped sooner. I just kept being told breastfeeding would work if we just kept going and I just needed some other person who was going to come in and help me. I saw every person in that hospital who dealt with breastfeeding and it just did not work out. Now I don't trust any of them because all the time they were telling me he was fine and to keep going they were writing he was distressed and hungry in my notes :nope:


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## Missy86

I bf for a week, after all the problems I had with bfeeding I just found I had a happier household we were all more relaxed

O and smellier poos lol


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## Missy86

Lilicat said:


> I ended up having to switch from breast feeding before I left the hospital (I was in several days), he was miserable, wouldn't sleep and cried constantly. Even the midwife couldn't settle him. As soon as he had his first bottle he stopped crying and slept.
> 
> I read my notes a few weeks later and is was written over and over, baby distressed and hungry :cry: I wish I had swapped sooner. I just kept being told breastfeeding would work if we just kept going and I just needed some other person who was going to come in and help me. I saw every person in that hospital who dealt with breastfeeding and it just did not work out. Now I don't trust any of them because all the time they were telling me he was fine and to keep going they were writing he was distressed and hungry in my notes :nope:

:hugs:


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## Szaffi

I was breastfeeding exclusively until 8 months. Now as my milk supply is diminishing I'm supplementing with a little bit of formula. The poos smell terrible - I haven't noticed many other changes (though she's been on a mixed diet with solids since 6 months anyway).

On the plus side, I don't worry so much if she gets all the vitamins she needs.


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## rwhite

I haven't seen a hell of a lot of changes per se, he is still feeding a lot. Granted it's not as often as it was (every 30 minutes sometimes when breastfed!) but it's every two hours so that's still quite often. He's a growing boy, obviously!

Also, he was quite a spilly baby from birth up until about 5 months old. Well, he had stopped vomiting for the most part so that was great, but now he has started vomiting again :dohh: Bought him a special reflux formula today so hoping to see changes soon *fingers crossed*!!

And that's it, I think :flower: Has always been a good sleeper (while breastfed would always give at LEAST 8 hours, if not 12) but now gives me that little bit of extra sleep and sleeps in until 8/8.30 (sometimes 9 :shock:) as opposed to 7/7.30.


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## rihanna

i switched from BF to FF prooperly at 12 weeks but started from 8 weeks.

I noticed the poo smells (which i prefer so i can change him quick rather than before it went up his back and soaked thru before i noticed!) 

He sleeps 10-12 hrs at night

He is more content in the day and not always sucking his fist like he was before.


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## special_kala

Once i stopped trying to BF River was much happier and settled. She had tongue tie and all she did was get upset when i tried to BF. Her first night she spent up and crying which i now realise was because she was tired, hungry and frustrated.


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## lkb21

With ds, I only breastfed for a little over a week, once i switched he slept through and life was much more organised. On the negative, he CONSTANTLY had a cold, which i dont think would have happened if breastfeeding, but i could be wrong. Also, I found feeding out and about much more stressful with formula. Im breastfeeding dd now and outings are much easier... I've fed on a park bench before now. It's too soon for me to compare the health benefits though as she's only 6 weeks.


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## Justagirlxx

I switched to formula at 2 weeks old so I think my story will be highly applicable to your situation.

The first time I gave him a bottle he finally passed out for 4 hours. He wasnt sleeping prior to using formula, was fussy constantly and wouldnt sleep anywhere but on top of me. After switching to formula he didnt need to eat every hour, he started only needing to eat every 3 hours. He slept in his bassinet by himself instead of needing to sleep on me. He was much less fussy and only cried when he was hungry. (He used to just cry all the time, seemingly for no reason) He also started sleeping mostly through the night, only waking twice a night at first down to once a night and now to sleeping through at 9 weeks. 

Anyways I gave my son formula because at 2 weeks old he was down to 1lb less than his birthweight, after exclusively bfing on demand for 2 weeks. So I was told to suppliment. I have realised that ALL of the problems I was having in the beginning were down to him being starving. I had 2 lactation consultants come and access my latch, etc and both of them couldnt figure out why he wasnt gaining weight. (One was a LLL, one was a LC from the hospital) Anyways my experience was very positive but like I said I think it was due to true hunger that my son was awake and crying constantly. If you have any other questions let me know, like I said I stopped right around the exact age your baby is. Good luck hun. xx


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## Mum2b_Claire

We had horrendous latching problems (got a decent latch 3 times ever) but I expressed for a few weeks. She seemed to settle to sleep better after the BFs and bottles of EBM but was hungry more quickly which is obviously going to be the case. She also appeared to have tummy pains for the first few weeks of formula.


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## KittyVentura

Thanks guys! Some great info here xx


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## Seity

I EBF for the first 3 months and then had to switch to combo feeding because he was starving. The most obvious change was that he stopped needing to eat constantly and he gained almost a full pound in one week. Because he'd been starving he'd started to poo green poop multiple times a day and night. Once on the formula his poop became more normal because he had enough food to digest, only it had that horrid formula poop smell instead of the sweet BF poo smell. Formula poop is also this gross thick grey poo instead of the yellow seedy poo of BF. His sleep didn't change he still woke every 2 hours at night. A lot of the changes (except the poo) I saw were simply from getting more to eat and not specifically from the food being formula.


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## Jody R

He was instantly a happier baby.

We struggled so hard to keep BFing but he had problems latching to one breast, I was hardly producing milk and what we did manage to get out of me and into him was almost instantly brought straight back up because of his reflux and colic problems.

He was losing weight to the point that we were almost sent back to hospital and he was upset and unhappy all the time. We stopped BFing at that point, in part because we'd had a horrible time while were there and in part because I realised while I was feeding him that what was coming out of me was blood and not milk :nope:

After switching he was happier, he was finally feeling satisfied for the first time and getting enough to eat. He put weight on, he slept better although not longer at first, just better and without the whimpering noises he had been making. 

He put his weight back on and thrived on formula and although I am sorry BFing didn't work out for us I know that we did the right thing by changing.


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## loverguts

I personally didnt notice that much of a change. I combi fed from about 6 weeks and cut out BF at 12. I think maybe because the change over was dragged out so slowly thats maybe why i didnt notice much of an effect. I do remember thinking that my LO was constantly on my boob when i was exclusively BF though, at least now i get 2/3 hours inbetween! Sleep habits didnt change at all either.
It does make me chuckle when people think all FF babies will suddenly sleep through... i was looking forward to better sleeps but at 6 months my LO still wakes up at 3.30am most nights for a feed!


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## bubbles123

Um, hard to say as LO never really latched onto me because of his tongue tie which took an age to get sorted so I had to express and mix feed from day 1.. Just the usual really - he would sleep better after formula rather than BM so I gave formula at night (still pumped though!)... When he was on bottles of EBM and formula (Aptamil) he took them exactly the same and his poo was similar - yellow like peanut butter but I think that's an Aptamil thing. He would want feeding again quicker after EBM but again that's to be expected. Even on just formula though he never went more than 3 hours between feeds in the daytime until he was 6 months.


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## Odd Socks

I tried to bf for 2 weeks, & was then readdmitted to hospital because i couldn't cope. bella would scream _constantly_ & wouldn't feed (though no-one could establish why, she cold suck, she was latching on fine, but she'd pull off & start screaming, over & over again).

a midwife asked my permission to feed her formula, & bella took it & settled right away. oh & i cried, we'd _never_ seen her settled, he'd never even held her without her screaming.

it made such a difference. before that, we were thinking we'd have to give her away, that we'd created this demon baby that hated us. now, well, we couldn't possibly enjoy her more.

xx


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## Deli

Odd Socks said:


> I tried to bf for 2 weeks, & was then readdmitted to hospital because i couldn't cope. bella would scream _constantly_ & wouldn't feed (though no-one could establish why, she cold suck, she was latching on fine, but she'd pull off & start screaming, over & over again).
> 
> a midwife asked my permission to feed her formula, & bella took it & settled right away. oh & i cried, we'd _never_ seen her settled, he'd never even held her without her screaming.
> 
> it made such a difference. before that, we were thinking we'd have to give her away, that we'd created this demon baby that hated us. now, well, we couldn't possibly enjoy her more.
> 
> xx

Aaw, that's a lovely positive story.

I've breastfed all of my babies but before I had my first one, my mum told me about her experience with me as a baby and you are pretty much re-telling her experience! So pleased your baby is settled now.


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## New Mrs W

My baby was admitted to hospital at 10 days old whilst being BF. He was losing too much weight and hadn't done a poo for 6 days. When at the hospital he was checked over and didn't even have any poo ready to come out, he literally wasn't getting enough food to make any waste product. I gave him a bottle of formula while I was there as I was advised it is denser than breast milk and might make him poo, which it did within half an hour!!!! After a tearful night, I decided to switch to FF and since then he has gained lots of weight and poos at least twice a day. Although I hate that I couldn't stick to my plan of BF for 6 months, my baby is happy and healthy on FF and no longer in hospital, so that is the biggest change I have noticed in him!!


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## Deli

lkb21 said:


> With ds, I only breastfed for a little over a week, once i switched he slept through and life was much more organised. On the negative, he CONSTANTLY had a cold, which i dont think would have happened if breastfeeding, but i could be wrong. Also, I found feeding out and about much more stressful with formula. Im breastfeeding dd now and outings are much easier... I've fed on a park bench before now. It's too soon for me to compare the health benefits though as she's only 6 weeks.

My ten week old baby is exclusively breastfed and seems to have had a permanent cold (manflu lol) since birth!

Mind you, he is the youngest of six so his immune system is taking a constant battering I suppose!


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## Mynx

I breastfed Evie for just over 2 weeks and had issues with her constantly falling asleep while feeding, nothing would wake her up so at each feed, she'd take less and less. She still had jaundice too. I started to combine feed with formula and noticed that she'd be more settled after a formula feed. I was constantly worrying that she wasnt taking enough milk from me because she'd drain a formula bottle. In the end my supply started dwindling, so I made the very hard decision to switch to formula completely. 
I havent looked back since. Her jaundice cleared up, she seemed more alert and was much more settled overall. It also meant that OH could share in the feeding and watching him feed her for the first time was proper heart melting :cloud9: 
Making the switch was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make but it was also what was best for all of us at the time :thumbup: 
As for her poos, she's always had Aptamil and it's notorious for causing poos very similar to breastfed poos, so we've never had an issue with constipation.


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## aliss

It made him a lot gassier and he has a ton more tummy aches.

I couldn't nurse LO from the breast so I exclusively expressed for a while until my supply dwindled down to nothing even with the help of drugs/supplements and lactation nurses.

I did not have a choice except to combo feed and then exclusive FF. I don't know about his behaviour on either one as he was just too young and had colic anyways and was starving hungry.... he was injured during the birth and was traumatized from feeding


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## Brockie

Kitty has just started having a bottle of formula at bedtime this last month, only difference was the consistancy of her poo it was thicker!

she latched on within minutes of being born and has been a fantastic feeder so it really has been the best option for both of us! she gained weight at a super fast rate and is a little porker.

it made no differnce to her sleeping, she has always been a good sleeper, she was a windy baby but by the time she started having a bottle of formula she had grown out of that anyway so no difference there.

xxx


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## bky

I do about half/half due to low milk. I'd say the main issues since swapping to formula use is constipation ( I now give her sugar water every 3 days so she can go :(). Other than that at first she was really smelly (poo, farts etc) but that changed with a change in formula. Since she's still BF'd first at every feed she's at the boob every 1-3 hours so formula didn't change that. Sleeps only 5-7 hours, hardly naps so no change there.


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## Sugarmuppet

I expressed for 6 months and just couldn't carry on past that. I was so worried about how Gaby would get on with formula...

it didn't make one bit of difference to her! Not sure what I was expecting, but was a tiny bit disapointed that she drank it just the same as the milk I had spent hours expressing for her!

No difference to how much she ate/when she ate/poos/sleeping habits, not one thing!


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## MrsVenn

When I was BF, LO was feeding every 1 1/2 hours. When we switched to forumla, she slept through the night instantly and fed every 4 hours, this was definitely a positive! Others were also able to feed her when I was seriously ill, again another positive.

For us, we only had positives come out of FF as LO and myself were extremely unwell so it was what kept her alive as far as I'm concerned. 

BF - she got 5 days worth of a boost to her basic immunity. A lot less hassle - whip the old boobie out and bobs your uncle. With FF, you have bottles to wash, sterilise, make up etc.


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## xprincessx

My baby is combo fed (he has 1-2 breastfeeds a day - expressed) and since giving him formula i havent noticed any difference in his behaviour. He still feeds just as often as he did when he was breastfed exclusively and his poo's are the same etc. He's been having formula since he was 6 days old, he's not 16 days old x


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## MommyKC

Hey Momma!

I only BFd my first daughter for 3 weeks before switching to formula. My nipples were just too raw and sore, and they wouldn't heal. I couldn't continue, I was in massive pain every time I had to feed her. I am still sad that I switched but I have no regrets. :nope: I did what was best for her and I, and my sanity. ;)

So this is what I found from switching to formula:

*Benefits*
-She slept longer and could go longer between feeds
-She would guzzle a bottle within minutes as oppose to 20-40 minutes of fiddling on the breast, made feeds much easier and less stressful
-I knew exactly what she was getting rather than guessing
-Her weight gain was amazing
-My breasts were MINE again and not in severe pain anymore
-I could easily leave her with someone for an hour or so if I needed to run errands on my own, rather than bringing her everywhere

*Drawbacks*
-EXPENSIVE!!!
-She was much fussier due to colic, gas, etc until she was about 3 months old
-Smellier Poop
-HUGE pain having to sterilize bottles, mix them, etc every day :dohh:
-She spit up alot more often
-Formula itself smells awful :sick:

I just wanted to add, you will hear all these stories of how babies are healthier on breastmilk, they get less sick, more intelligent, etc. But keep in mind this is not always the case. My daughter never even caught a cold until she was 10 months old, and she is very smart. ;) It really depends on the CHILD, not what they are fed... in my opinion anyway. :shrug: Breastmilk is amazing, but formula is a great substitute as well for those of us who cannot keep at it. ;)

Hope this helps hun! Good luck with whatever you decide! :flower:


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## snugglebot

:cry: so many of your stories of your babies being hungry and the crying remind me of our newborn days. It was terrible. He cried soooo much. 4-5 hours at a time, many times a day and never went longer than 2 hrs before demanding to feed again until he was 5 months old!! He dropped from the 97th percentile at birth down to the 16th by the time he was 9 months old. BF became extremely painful and we cried all the time, both of us hating it. He always cried after nursings. There was no "nursing to sleep" in our repetoire.

Finally at 9months I switched after losing my milk and feeling beyond frustrated. He gained a whole pound in a week. Has been gaining percentiles since. He fell asleep on the bottle the first time and now looks forward to his bottle more than he EVER looked forward to nursings. 

I am happier. 

Would I have stopped BF sooner had I know. Maybe not but I would have considered combi feeding for sure!


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## littleemma

Hi! 

I BF for about a month, the biggest changes after switching where that she started going longer between feeds, and even sleeping through the night, on the bad side she is really constipated she went from having about 5/6 poops a day to only one.


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## bky

I was actually testing out how many bottles to send with Lucy to nursery when she starts in a few weeks so was having OH give her all daytime feeds in a bottle today (she gets fussy at the boob when I give her bottles). She was insistent on eating every 2 hours, 100ml or so each feed (but no more), went between dopey and unsettled very rapidly, and didn't sleep as much as she normally does in the day. 
Normally in the day I give her 2 100ml or less top ups and let her have boobsnacks (as I call them, they take 5-15 minutes) whenever she likes. She usually has 2-3 snacks (10am, and 3pm, maybe another one) and 2 feeds during the day, one around noon and one around 4-5pm. 
Was really hard since she kept pawing at my shirt and reaching down there trying to get at my boobs when she was getting hungry. She loves her boob! Glad I wont have to deprive her again.


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## lvh05

I EBF, but I noticed you're only at 2 weeks. I just wanted to add- I had mastitis (on my birthday, no less!), thrush in my boobs, and my nipples were so sensitive for some reason. I dreaded him breastfeeding, and had a tough time, despite lactation consultants, and reading books trying to solve the problem.

However, I told myself that there was no alternative (I had a healthy supply, and he was thriving), and I pretended that formula didn't exist. I had free cans in my cabinet I got from all the big companies, and DH would see me suffering and say, 'I'm going to make him a bottle.'

I didn't let him, though. And despite the exhaustion, bruising from bad pumps, and illnesses in my boobies, I FINALLY found relieft at about 6.5 weeks. Now, it doesn't hurt, I actually enjoy breastfeeding, and we're in a good routine. I bought myself an expensive pump which was the best thing I ever did. I used it a couple times a day for relief during the early weeks.

Every day, I told myself, "Just get through today, and tomorrow will be better." Even if it wasn't better the next day, I told myself again that it would get better. Because, it couldn't hurt like that forever, and it didn't.

That said, I definitely see why people give up, and I think you have to really, really want it more than anything in the world to be extremely successful with it (assuming there aren't medical issues involved.)

Good luck in whatever you choose! Just know, if you're having a tough time, that it does get better.


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## snugglebot

*sigh* I see the last post isn't really on topic. Personally I feel it would have been better if you had PM'd the member rather than post off topic because it risks turning it into a debate about switching and that wasn't the reason for the discussion.


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## sb786

I went back to work when lo was 5 months so we started to introduce 1 bottle of formula. she started bringing up a lot more milk after a feed and we also found that she was getting wind and having hard uncomfortable poos. With breast milk we found LO had no colic whatsoever and had soft runny poos.
As for sleeping through the night she was doing that anyway at about 12 weeks whilst just on breast milk.


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## redpoppy

I introduced formula at 10 weeks and stopped BFing at 12. My baby was underfed and HUNGRY. There was no different other than she started guzzling it down and gained too much weight. I felt so guilty about it all but she's doing a lot better than she was in the early days just BFing. I wish I could have BFd for a year but it wasn't meant to be. :nope:

P.S. We went with the stupidly overpriced Aptamil but it meant she's not had any constipation issues until solids and even then minor ones. :thumbup:


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## I_AM_LIVID

I BF for nearly three weeks but finally had to throw my hands in the air, swallow my pride and switch to FF. The main problem for me was that my supply was very low mainly because I was eating poorly (I had a huge cyst which caused terrible stomach cramps when I ate, and I was recovering poorly from my c-section) and because my baby girl had trouble latching I simply didn&#8217;t produce enough milk for both babies. So, both twins were getting half the supply they needed and were constantly hungry. Also, they were lazy suckers and slept while feeding (they sucked and slept continuously, but when you pulled off boobie hoping they were fast asleep, they would cry, so they slept on my boobie and were ALWAYS hungry). As a result, it seemed all I did all day long was breastfeed (keep in mind I had two babies who didn&#8217;t always have the same feeding hours) two very hungry babies who only slept 30-40 minutes before they were demanding more milk.

When I switched to FF, I noticed they slept more (finally, I could get 3-4 hours in between feeds to run errands, cook for myself and actually EAT) and cried less. Their poop also sometimes goes green and stinks really bad. I finally have my sanity back and everyone is happy and less tired. They have also picked up weight beautifully. That said, preparing and sterilizing bottles does consume time as well and our outings have to be better prepared and timed unlike before.


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## ouchwithNo.2

I only breastfed for 3 weeks BUT, LO started sleeping longer stretches on the bottle, stopped falling asleep on me and stopped the comfort sucking. 
I am personally glad I switched, I was a milking machine for 5 solid hours every evening when she was colic-ky and it was truly wearing me down. 
Most of my friends breastfed up until 6mths and they never got their LO's to sleep all night without waking until they introduced a night top-up of formula....


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## bloodbinds

Well done for breastfeeding this far - it's very common to give up within the first two weeks when it is ridiculously painful and very hard work. Usually by 6 weeks (though usually sooner) it gets a hell of a lot easier!

Personally i dont think they're would be many differences in baby between using formula and breastmilk, they do pretty much the same thing - fill your baby up with what it needs! Lol.

Though i've heard rumours that baby sleeps longer on formula - though i have no idea how true this is as i've only ever breastfed and my baby has always slept really well. My sister gave up within the first two weeks and her boys have always been really bad sleeper from day one, on breastmilk and on formula. So i really do think it's all on the baby, they switch their routines a lot anyway during the first year, so dont think it's what you are feeding them that makes a difference in their sleeping habits.

Well done again, i'm sure you are doing a great job :thumbup: xx


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## Red Rose

I've had to top my LO with formula over the last day as I had a low milk supply. :cry: I found LO is much more content and will sleep after a feed rather than crying for more and becoming very restless (due to not being able to get a lot of milk from me). That is the only difference, but what a relief it has been!


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## kelly1

I stopped with all four of mine after 2 or 3 weeks due to low milk supply (which every one says is impossible) and they would then go longer between feeds and slept much better. They were generally more content and happy as their bellys were full :haha:


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## snugglebot

bloodbinds said:


> Well done for breastfeeding this far - it's very common to give up within the first two weeks when it is ridiculously painful and very hard work. Usually by 6 weeks (though usually sooner) it gets a hell of a lot easier!
> 
> Though i've heard rumours that baby sleeps longer on formula - though i have no idea how true this is as i've only ever breastfed and my baby has always slept really well. My sister gave up within the first two weeks and her boys have always been really bad sleeper from day one, on breastmilk and on formula. So i really do think it's all on the baby, they switch their routines a lot anyway during the first year, so dont think it's what you are feeding them that makes a difference in their sleeping habits.
> 
> Well done again, i'm sure you are doing a great job :thumbup: xx

Yeah, in my case my boy definitely did NOT sleep longer. I continued to BF him at night until my milk was completely gone and he didn't want to nurse .

ps. I am pretty sure the poster isn't thinking of giving up on BF. Just a sharing thread she has said.


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