baby will not bf at night

[cupcake.girl]

I hope someone can give me a bit of advice on this. I am having a hard time dealing with this and am worried that I will end up giving my baby formula. For about the past month my 4 month old has not been feeding well towards the end of the day. Now he is not feeding at all when I try to feed him before he goes to bed. He will latch on suck once or twice then pull of. He then latches back on again and continues doing the same thing. He is obviously hungry and will not settle at all. I have tried feeding him a bit earlier and the same thing keeps happening. I end up giving him a bottle of expressed milk and he drinks about 5 ounces then settles to bed.
Any ideas why this is happening?

 

[misspriss]

I don't know, I have heard of cluster feeding in the evenings. Perhaps he has learned to expect the easier fast flow of a bottle? Have you tried not giving the bottle and seeing if he will come around and nurse after a bit?

 

[cupcake.girl]

I was wondering if maybe he is just impatient and wants the bottle. I don't think this is the case though because I haven't given him that many bottles. I have tried holding out and trying to get him to feed again after a little bit but it just doesn't seem to be working

 

[purplecupcake]

Yeah, I would just not offer a bottle at night. He will eventually take the breast, it just might be a bit of a rough night.

I read that the best time to give bottles is in the afternoon as in the morning and night babies look for comfort. Maybe he now associates the bottle with his night time routine.

 

[noon_child]

Might he have some wind built up throughout the day?

 

[Mummafrog]

My guess is when he is tired he struggles to breastfeed and the milk is not coming out fast enough, the bottle solves this. I am definitely one for going through some tough nights to get him back to the breast completely by not giving a bottle. If he is hungry enough he will eventually latch and the letdown will come. If he gets very upset just give him a bit from the bottle to wet his appitite and keep trying with the breast.
My girl does a lot of popping on and off and getting frustrated at night, it is a way to stimulate letdown, she settles eventually.

Wishing you lots of luck and hugs, this is a tough one xx