Does formula really help a baby sleep longer??

Discussion in 'Formula Feeding' started by kwills55, Oct 11, 2013.

  1. kwills55

    kwills55 Well-Known Member

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    I need help. Has anyone swapped from bf to ff at an older age (2 months+)?
    My LO is such a good baby, doesn't cry unless there is a reason and is generally a really happy little thing, but I am exclusively bf her (and my oh gives her a bottle of my expressed milk in the evening) and I just can't do it anymore.
    She is 3 months old and still feeds 2-3 hourly day and night. Most of the time it is 2 hourly in the day and 2.5-3 at night. I am just so exhausted.
    I know babies feed often to start with but we're 3 months in and I feel like I still have a newborn!

    I have plenty of milk and can express 125ml from one side no problem, she takes about 110ml at her bedtime bottle which isn't bad for her weight as she is 4.8kg (10lb 12) so I just don't know why she feeds so often!

    Just wondered if anyone else has done this and whether it worked... I really really don't want to give up bf but if I can ff her overnight just to get more sleep I feel like I have no other option right now. Just want to cry with exhaustion :-(
     
    #1 kwills55, Oct 11, 2013
  2. Rachel_C

    Rachel_C Well-Known Member

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    In my experience, no, it doesn't make any difference when you include the fact that you have to make the formula! Any time gained by formula being harder to digest is spent five times over with washing, sterilising, boiling, cooling and mixing.

    Your LO feeds so often because it's normal and healthy for her age. 2-3 hourly is actually pretty good. Maybe look at ways to help you deal with it rather than trying to change something she's doing right? Can you switch when she gets a bottle of expressed milk? Perhaps you could feed her at her bedtime, no idea what time you put her to bed but if it was 8pm or something, BF her then, then go to bed yourself. If she then wakes at 10.30pm, get OH to give her the bottle of expressed milk while you stay asleep, then you wake up to BF at her next feed, maybe 1am? At least then you're getting a good block of 4-6 hours sleep... which honestly, is pretty good for a parent of any child under 2-3 years old!
     
    #2 Rachel_C, Oct 11, 2013
  3. gk1701

    gk1701 Well-Known Member

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    Nope- having breast fed and formula fed, I can tell you it didn't with my kids.
     
    #3 gk1701, Oct 13, 2013
  4. babyface15

    babyface15 Well-Known Member

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    your babe is likely in the the month growth spurt, she will feed more during this time
     
    #4 babyface15, Oct 13, 2013
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