Anyone introduced a bottle of formula before bed?

[Eleanor ace]

And did it help your baby sleep better?
I'm getting kind of desperate . DD is almost 6 months old and her sleep has never been great. Until recently she was waking hourly wanting to be fed (I BF). I could handle that, I was getting sleep between feeds. But for the last couple of weeks she's been waking every 15-20 minutes. Nothing will console her, bar a feed. I was wondering whether giving her a bottle of formula would fill her up a bit and settle her for longer?

DS was a very bad sleeper too, until he was 1 and switched to cows milk. He saw a paediatrician as he dropped from the 98th centile to the 2nd and woke to feed all the time. The paediatrician said that my milk isn't as filling as it could be so to persevere with demand feeding as long as I could, as he was still getting the benefits of breast milk. DD hasn't seen the paediatrician but I'm guessing the advice would be the same. I don't want to give up breastfeeding but I just want a bit more sleep .

Hope someone can advise whether a formula top up helped for them??

 

[marina294]

no experience other than a bad sleeper too but there is a huge growth spurt at 6 months which may not be helping x

 

[bananaz]

It's very unlikely that waking every 15-20 minutes has anything to do with what she's eating. That's not even a complete sleep cycle. Is it possible there's something bothering her, like teething or an ear infection?

 

[Eleanor ace]

It's very unlikely that waking every 15-20 minutes has anything to do with what she's eating. That's not even a complete sleep cycle. Is it possible there's something bothering her, like teething or an ear infection?

I'm not sure, I took her to the doctor and he said she's fine, and she doesn't seem to be teething. When I feed her she guzzles away like she's starving but falls asleep after 5-10 minutes. I've tried everything else I can think of to placate her but she just cries and gets upset .

 

[Eleanor ace]

I gave DD formula before bed, after a breastfeed, she drank 10oz formula and then settled awake in her cot, she was so content . She's been asleep for 3.5 hours now, I can't believe it!!

 

[Babybear85]

Flipping heck 10oz greedy little monkey hehe

 

[Irish Eyes]

Yes, it worked for a couple of days, made my supply drop massively & I still have an awful sleeper at 16 months

 

[Eleanor ace]

Yes, it worked for a couple of days, made my supply drop massively & I still have an awful sleeper at 16 months

Oh no! I really hope that doesn't happen with us. DD slept for that 3.5 hours, snacked on and off for a couple of hours and then went back to sleep for FIVE hours (!!!!), then had a really good feed from 5.30am-7am, emptied both sides and then had one side again a little bit later, my breasts feel a lot better for it! I really hope this wasn't a one off as the sleep was amazing and she's been BFing better all day too, she even had a nap today!

 

[alicecooper]

We did it with DD and I wish we hadn't. My supply went down, plus she started refusing breastmilk, plus it did nothing to help her sleep.
Course that was 8 years ago now so que sera sera, but it was the wrong decision for us personally.

 

[lanaross]

I did the same with DD, it definitely wasn't a growth spurt as it lasted for weeks exactly as you described 15-20 minutes of content time starting at 5 and ending sometimes even at midnight, turned out my supply dropped because of thyroid issues. I started giving her a top off after BF and she started sleeping through the night. I am going to BF my son until he starts the same drama and then planning to combi feed again. Do watch your supply though, if you give formula, try to pump right after so you don't lose your milk xxx

 

[Eleanor ace]

Thanks for the replies ladies! DD is still feeding as much as before, just more in the day instead of more in the night, but I will pump in the evening too to hopefully ward off supply issues. I'm not sure whether last night was a fluke, tonight she wouldn't take the bottle at all. Hey ho, one nights sleep in 6 months, it's better than I had with my son

 

[Celesse]

Worked well for my DS between 4 and 10 months. It didn't get him sleeping through, but it did give me an evening back and a period of 5-6 hours without nursing someone (I was tandem nursing at the time). He's go to bed at 7pm and then get up anywhere from 11pm-2am and co-sleep the rest of the night.