How long for breastfeeding to become "easier" than bottle feeding

[Kmx]

I am currently 23 weeks pregnant with baby number 2. I am not for or against breastfeeding or bottle feeding but I feel I need to get more clued up on breastfeeding before baby comes.

With my son I breastfed for 4 weeks until I got so utterly tired and exhausted that I couldnt take it anymore. My son literarly fed every hour especially during th night. I would have to sleep with my boob out so he could latch and unlatch as required.

When I moved to formula he started to sleep longer and I was able to enjoy life a bit more. But I admit I was completely CLUELESS on how time consuming breastfeeding would be in the beginning.

Now I want to breastfeed long term with this baby so I want to be prepared. I know bottle feeding is a total inconvenience interms of washing and sterilising bottles and buying formula but how long before breastfeeding becomes easier than bottle feeding as baby will start to sleep the same length as a bottle fed baby and go for as long between Feds as a bottle fed baby will?

The reason i ask is that I have two friends who are pregnant and won't be breastfeeding. One of my friends said when they were in hospital with their first baby - out of 4 girls in the ward she was the only one bottle feeding and her baby slept happily in the cot where as the breastfed babies were up every half hour- hour looking for food and this was so true for me. And it really worries me how I'll cope especially with another chuld this time.

 

[noon_child]

For me the positives came later on, when I realised breastfeeding was a parenting tool not just a feeding choice. Anything and everything that might ever go wrong could be solved by breastfeeding. I never had to give my daughter rehydration solutions when she got sick (she'd refuse food and water but always take breastmilk). If she was upset or frightened breastfeeding was an immediate fix. I just used it to comfort her and loved that I could give her that special comfort than no-one else could.

However I did have difficulties and so I didn't feel bf got easy till about 16weeks. That was due to poor feeding technique, weightloss, pain and nipple damage etc. I think for the "normal" breastfeeding mum who doesn't experience an actual 'problem' this is probably closer to 8 weeks. I think the 6week growth spurt was a real low point for me and once you get past that it gets easier and easier.

Every baby is different, so your next baby might not feed every hour. However even if they do I think it can really help to know why regular feeding can be a positive rather than a negative (even though exhausting). A baby who feeds regularly is held regularly in close skin contact (you can do this when bottle feeding, in fact it is recommended, but it isn't as automatic) and this allows them to regulate their temperature, heart rate and breathing; things that newborns can't actually do very well on their own.

Educating yourself about what's normal newborn behaviour and breastfeeding behaviour and how milk supply is created and regulated, may help you to feel more confident and seek help if you need it.

 

[Eleonora]

Depends on the baby...and your support team. My little girl is 4 weeks old tomorrow and already sleeping great. I think she is in the 90th percentile and that extra chunkiness might explain it. She wakes up once or twice to nurse in the night time but has been regularly sleeping in 3-4 hour periods at night for about 10 days now. On Sunday we went to sleep at midnight, she fed at 4am, 7am and then we all woke up for real at 9am. My first baby was much needier and I feel like I never really slept for months and unfortunately you can't really know which kind of baby you are going to get. The evenings (6-10ish) can be fussy times and like a lot of cluster-feeding babies she pops on and off the breast and either seems to get too much and spits up a ton or not enough and frantically flails around. Apparently bottle-fed babies often have the same evening fussiness though so it is more a psychological development thing than a breastfeeding problem. If your partner is willing to do night feeds then that would make a huge difference with the "ease" of bottle vs breast. For me the breastfeeding thing is infinitely easier - no supplies to run out of, nothing to pack when we go out, nothing to clean or sterilize, no worries about quantity, no need to get up at night, no significant costs. On the downside, the fact that I am then the only one who can feed her means that every time she cries it is assumed that I will take care of it (means eating dinner with one hand in perpetuity) even though a lot of the time she just wants to be held.
As far as that first night in the hospital - -yep, I didn't sleep a wink. The babies that sleep great though that early on are sometimes the ones who develop jaundice. It makes them too sleepy to feed.
I'd say give bf a try. It is unlikely to be more difficult than last time and quite likely to be easier because you know what you are doing. Then if you make the decision to switch over to bottle, you will have at least given your baby that colostrum-rich early stuff that has so many beneficial properties.

 

[Natasha2605]

Freya is the only one of my three girls I breastfed (for various reasons) and I wish I'd tried with Summer and Maci.

I really think time between feelings is down to pot luck depending on what your baby is like. Freya is very relaxed and although she feeds frequently through the day (every two hours sometimes less) she goes 3-4 stretches at night. Honestly, I'm less tired with three kids and breastfeeding that I was bottle feeding the other two times!

The first ten days were hard as my nipples were so sore. After that it's like second nature and so easy.

 

[campn]

This is a little old but I thought I'd still share since you're still pregnant.

For us it took 6 weeks to even get him to latch on! Then 2 more weeks to get used to having him on the boob like that. I say 8 weeks for me was the norm. Late night feeds are exhausting but they sort of become normal once you get used to it (I've watched lots of Netflix!) then they're over before you know it and you're staring at your baby with hard rock breasts wishing he'd wake up!

My son started sleeping through the night at 4 months old. I was impatient but I reminded myself they're babies, that's their normal and it doesn't last forever. Breastfeeding got so so easy though, I'd breastfeed him in the car in the backseat while he's still in his car seat. It gets so easy I promise! I say go in hopeful and determined and know there will be battles to fight but you'll come out victorious in the end!

 

[Marumi]

One reason little ones wake more often when breastfed is because breastmilk is more easily digested. This serves the purpose of keeping them in a light sleep and reduces the risk for SIDS.

My first would sleep fairly well (we co-sleep) and wake every 4 - 3 -2 - 2 hrs. He did this until about 6 months when he began to only wake once or twice. Tbh I was never tired because I dreamfed. He skillfully jumped on the boob and I was able to go back to sleep right away
What really improved my energy level then was eating more saturated fat. I loaded up on (grassfed, natural) butter. Talk about waking refreshed after 6 hours! ��

My new baby however is a different story...the first two weeks he woke every 2 hrs which was okay. Then began waking every hour, 30 mins, 10 mins. due to reflux. I got 3 hrs of interrupted sleep at night and began halluzinating. My husband and I had to take turns napping eventually.
Now that he is older and his reflux improved with probiotics he sleeps 3 - 2 - 1 1/2 hr stretches thankfully. But he sucks at night nursing, he could not find the nipple by himself if his life depended on it . I have to stay up and make sure he latches and nurses well.

Every baby is different but it is good to know that it gets easier with every week and every month. With a breastfed baby you will always wake more but that does not mean you are tired beyond belief.

 

[noon_child]

Every baby is different but it is good to know that it gets easier with every week and every month. With a breastfed baby you will always wake more but that does not mean you are tired beyond belief.

Research suggests that, on average, the "quality" of breastfeeding mums sleep is better than bottle feeding mums. No-one is quite sure why but it might be something to do with hormones, or just not needing to completely wake-up as much in order to get a feed done.

 

[campn]

Yep I read the study that on average breastfed moms sleep 46 more minutes than formula feeding moms I think because the baby usually falls asleep while nursing cause it's warm and comforting, and like one of the PP, I also did these dream-feeds. Honestly I didn't know how many times he was waking up cause it barely took anytime.

 

[Marumi]

Every baby is different but it is good to know that it gets easier with every week and every month. With a breastfed baby you will always wake more but that does not mean you are tired beyond belief.

Research suggests that, on average, the "quality" of breastfeeding mums sleep is better than bottle feeding mums. No-one is quite sure why but it might be something to do with hormones, or just not needing to completely wake-up as much in order to get a feed done.

Yep I read the study that on average breastfed moms sleep 46 more minutes than formula feeding moms I think because the baby usually falls asleep while nursing cause it's warm and comforting, and like one of the PP, I also did these dream-feeds. Honestly I didn't know how many times he was waking up cause it barely took anytime.

Yes all those reasons and also shorter sleep cycles are natural and healthy. Before industrial times and blue light humans used to sleep shorter cycles. In a study it was determined this is healthy because one gets more REM sleep also (if I don't confuse this right now). Babies actually sleep healthy cycles

Dream feeding is instinctive and once you master it you and baby are half asleep during the latch on. It helps a ton.