Evening fussiness and topping up with formula

[Rivet Mama]

Hi everyone,
I haven't been on these boards in ages but I have a question...
My little guy is almost 10 weeks old, about 12 lbs. Breastfeeding has been going great during the day and the night, he has no nipple confusion with his pacifier or a bottle, etc...
However, his "witching hour" lasts every single evening from about 6pm til 9 or 10pm. He screams like a banshee and is pretty inconsolable. I BF him on demand all day long without problems, and when the evening hits I go to feed him as usual but he starts to get upset, pulling off constantly and screaming. (I know he has symptoms similar to oversupply issues, but I definitely don't have an oversupply - I'm never engorged and I can't really pump anything out, as much as I try.) I will attempt to BF him for up to 2 hours before I eventually give him a top up of formula. I really prefer not to give him formula but it's sometimes the only thing that will settle him. After the formula, he's awake for a bit, I entertain him, and then I BF him again before he goes to bed.

So my question is, if I'm attempting to BF him for an hour or two before I give him the formula, will it still significantly decrease my milk supply at this time? As I mentioned, I try to pump to give him EBM instead but I never seem to get much out... it would take me a whole week to get the 3 oz of formula I give him in one evening. I've also tried taking fenugreek, blessed thistle, drinking more water, etc. to increase my supply to help in the evenings and it hasn't really helped. He eats about every two hours during the day - the problem only seems to be in the evening, but later during the night he's fine again. I know milk productions is supposed to be 'supply and demand', but I've been trying to EBF for almost a month with no change.

Sorry for the ramble! Any suggestions? TIA

 

[Bunanie]

I don't know the real answer to your question... But just want to say my lo went thru the exact same thing at that age.. From hind sight, it was probly a bit of overtiredness, coz I didn't help her to nap from around 5 (thinking then she will sleep better at night without a late nap ) then she's in pieces around 7-12!

I didn't give her formula tho, but I ended up feeding every hour, one boob at a time, giving time for the other one to fill up so it's more satisfying. If she's still unsettled, I swaddled her tight and blast white noise in a dark room and rock her to help her to settle... White noise was my life saver!

Anyway, I know friends who supplement with formula due to exact same reason, and they seem to bf fine....

Ps does ur lo take the dummy/pacifier?

Good luck! The witching hour/cluster feeding finished when she turned 3 months

 

[summer rain]

I have oversupply and am rarely engorged and don't respond well to a pump, however my son has other symptoms including way more than average wet and dirty nappies and he coughs and splutters on the milk fairly regularly, he is also big for his age not in weight but in length and head circumference and wears 6-9 month clothing at 4.5 months some of which is getting too small. Xx

 

[annio84]

Grace sometimes gets herself really worked up in the evening when she's tired and really wants to feed but it so stressed she can't latch on. I find passing her to my DH to calm her and then trying again is the best thing for my sanity and her mood. Not sure if that helps at all.

 

[babyface15]

Just a thought, but how are his naps? I discovered around then that my little girl was having more trouble just falling asleep and staying asleep than when she was a newborn. She would get sooo fussy in the evening because as it turned out she was chronically overtired from not having enough naps in the day. If your baby is really cranky he would probably respond better to a bottle because he doesn't have to work for it like the breast. in my experience, once I solved the overtiredness, the fussiness and difficulty feeding went away. she still gets really cranky in the evening when she hasn't had good enough naps!

 

[Rivet Mama]

Thanks everyone! Sorry, didn't have internet yesterday...
He does sometimes have trouble napping during the day, especially if we're just home all day (bad weather, etc)... He usually wakes up around 6am, back to sleep by 7, gets in a 1-2 hour nap before noon and then another one around 3:00 or so... But then he'll be awake from 4:00 basically until he goes to bed, which is sometimes 9 or 10pm, which I know isn't good but nothing I try at that time seems to calm him. I do try swaddling (he hates it now and screams), white noise (only the fan on my over-the-range microwave does the trick for maybe 10 minutes), walking with him, driving him around, going for a walk, wearing him,, etc. Unfortunately, my husband works out of town most of the week (stays in a hotel) so I never have anyone else to pass him off to Some days though he will have super long naps, especially if I'm doing errands with him, but then he's still the same in the evening.

Summer Rain > He does also seem to choke on the milk quite a bit, especially when he wakes up hungry and then is trying to gulp it down quickly. He is also quite long but not very chubby, but I'd say his number of diapers is normal.. Right now he still wears 0-3 clothing. If it is an oversupply problem, did you find anything that helped?

Thanks a bunch everyone! Might just be one of those things I have to wait out.

 

[summer rain]

It's possible to have overactive let down without oversupply too. I found feeding where possible lying down or leaning back in a chair helped somewhat. Also block feeding though I don't strictly time it, just use the same side for 2-3 feeds it's important to know if it's oversupply and not just overactive let down on its own-as block feeding can cut supply xx