anyone bf by day and ff or expressed bottle at night?

[justkitty]

Hi ladies

I'm hoping you can help.

I am expecting baby no.2 in September and planning ahead. My main plan involves being more prepared for bf this time as ds was combi fed for 6 weeks then eff.


Anyway I really needed dh to help with night feeds because I am not one of these people who copes well on no sleep. Before ds I was a 10 hours a night girl.

I worry how I'll manage with a 19m age gap when super tired.

I want to establish bf and then introduce a night time bottle. It's not about getting baby to sttn as ss didn't do that for ages and they do it when they are ready. It's about dh being able to help me get some rest.

When is it ok to introduce expressing and a bottle? expressed is preferred but I'm jot averse to formula if expressing is too much for me with 2 to look after.

Any advice?

 

[LPF]

I did this.

I had a big baby that cluster fed round the clock and after a bad delivery I was on my knees by day 9 (and a 14hr cluster feed - oh how I can look back and laugh now!!!)

Anyway, I struggled to keep the pace up and needed some rest. So we decided to give a nighttime bottle of formula (I couldn't and never have been able to express a drop)

Our routine was I cluster fed ds through the evening, we had dinner then ds had a bath and bottle from daddy while I went to bed - usually about 8pm! Then he wouldn't wake for a feed until midnight or later so I got a block of at least 4 hrs and then a few blocks later on in the night. I bf him at every other feed. If I bf him at bedtime, he'd wake every 2hrs.

It worked well for us and ds was a huge feeder - he put a pound a week on for the first 6 weeks. My milk supply was plentiful and never suffered and I only substituted the one feed.

Sometimes I would add the occasional bottle in if he was really going for it in a growth spurt. I've never been that fussed about bf vs. ff, I just do what feels right to me!

 

[justkitty]

Thanks LPF! I know some people can do every 2 hours 24/7 & I will give it a go but I also know my own limits. Glad someone else has done it and not had a problem with supply.

 

[Helen76]

I'm doing that too. I have a premature baby and the FF is to help bulk up his weight. We give him formula on an evening and I'll express to keep the supply up but I generally miss at least one feed during the night, DH helps out so I can get some sleep.

So far it hasn't interfered with BF but I do worry that it will.

H xx

 

[kissesandhugs]

I haven't but have you considered safe co sleeping? It seriously does wonders. You barely have to wake up. Just latch baby on and drift back into dream land! And once they get older they can just latch on themselves without even waking you up. Will OH be feeding formula every night or just a couple nights here and there? If it's every night your supply will diminish for that time being. If he's doing it a few nights here and there then it's also possible your supply won't stay up, and in that case you'll have to deal with waking up, making bottles etc etc. Hope it all works out

 

[Springflower]

I do the same as LBF. My daughter is 9ws and so far I don't think it's affected my supply. I've tried pumping bit with two young ones I really don't get the chance.

xxx

 

[mrssunshine78]

i did this straight away as my lo didn't latch until day 10, so she was given ebm and formula, i combi fed until she was 6 weeks old when DH went back to work, I'm still bf now, so i don't think it can have affected my supply. I agree you have to do what's right for you

 

[lunawaffles]

I do! I was sick most of my first 6 weeks postpartum so I couldn't keep my strength up enough to eat and drink very much, so I wasn't really making any milk. Once I got better, I was still able to breastfeed during the day, but for some reason at night my production goes down? It's kind of bizarre, but I started FFing at night and BFing during the day. I have just enough milk for the entire day usually, and my son doesn't seem to mind. He even started sleeping better when I did this. My son is still only 7 weeks old though so this is from a young baby perspective. Good luck!

 

[feedindy]

I have a 19 month age gap with mine, and I am a SAHM. I must admit, I have found it is completely impossible to find a free minute for pumping, so I have never pumped. From day 1, I always gave 1 bottle of formula per day just so I could have a rest, and not get so tired from cluster feeding. Both of my kids had no trouble with nipple confusion. Dh loved having a chance to snuggle with the baby and do a bottle feeding, and I loved getting the extra rest during that time.

We gave the baby his bottle in the afternoons during cluster feeding, and I preferred to wake up during night feedings when my supply was just coming in. By the time the baby was a month old he was sleeping 8 hour stretches at night, and by the time he was 2 months old, he was sleeping 12 hour nights. Even though he goes 12 hour nights, there is no problem with my milk supply.

I think it's a great idea to combi feed personally. I see no cons about it!

 

[justkitty]

Feedindy, hope you don't mind me asking but how was your first born with the new baby? we really wanted a close age gap and I'm excited but no idea how ds will react!

 

[feedindy]

Feedindy, hope you don't mind me asking but how was your first born with the new baby? we really wanted a close age gap and I'm excited but no idea how ds will react!

Well she didn't really understand what was happening beforehand, but we showed her a lot of books about new babies. But I know she didn't understand there was a baby in my bump. But I think because she was so young there was no jealousy. She was excited to hold the baby for a few seconds, and then the newness wore off and she just acted like her usual self.
But she has been great because she is just at the age where she can take directions from me for help like "get baby a bib". Now that he is 5 months and is getting more active, she is soooo excited about any time he reaches out to touch her. It's like she finally realized he has the possibility of being a fun little person. Just last week, she started entertaining him on her own, without any prompting from me. I love this age gap, for us it's perfect!

Also, I stayed at home with my daughter full time, and before going to the hospital to have my son, I never left her with anyone except DH before, not even for an hour. So I was sure that on top of a new baby, she would be freaking out since I was gone from home for 3 days. I had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night so I was nervous because when she woke up it would be MIL and she has never had her. But my daughter didn't even cry and was excited the whole time to play with her grandmom all that time. So I think it shows how at this age, they pretty much roll with all the punches.

 

[justkitty]

Awww that's brilliant. My son is so chilled out most of the time I can't see him acting jealous etc. That has given me hope as lots of people are scare mongering. How did your daughter react to you bfing baby? Ds wasnt bf very long. Perhaps he will just ignore it and build a tower!

 

[feedindy]

Awww that's brilliant. My son is so chilled out most of the time I can't see him acting jealous etc. That has given me hope as lots of people are scare mongering. How did your daughter react to you bfing baby? Ds wasnt bf very long. Perhaps he will just ignore it and build a tower!

She didn't even really care. She was curious at first, but then got over it. She did call me "boobies" for a week instead of mom. haha

I know some people don't like to let little ones watch tv, but when I bf I turn on Sesame Street for my daughter. That way, she is entertained and not climbing over me while I BF. No toy can hold her attention as long as Sesame Street. But my son was always a quick feeder, so it would never be for more than 15 min each feeding every few hours.

 

[jinglebear]

hi, my lo is 3 weeks now. i have a 21 month age gap between my oldest and my youngest. i have been giving my little girl a bottle of expressed milk at her 7pm feed and 10pm feed for the past week.

I express after her 7pm feed, usually about 8pm when both babies are in bed and use this bottle for the 10pm feed. i then breastfeed during the night if she wakes to keep up my supply, and also to stop my boobs becoming too engorged!! if she dosent wake then i feed her in the morning and express after. I always have two bottles of 4oz expressed milk in the fridge for her two night feeds and i also have some expressed milk in the fridge that i expressed in the first to weeks when she wasnt having a bottle. i started her on bottles because that way she is used to both methods of feeding and is not solely reliant on me feeding her. i def think its a good thing to introduce a bottle at an early age if u are breast feeding, just to give u a rest if anything x

 

[justkitty]

How old was your lo when you first gave her a bottle? How is your 21m old with the bfing and new baby etc?