One bottle at night?

[firsttime83]

I know people have very strong opinions on breastfeeding, and trust me I know it is the best option, which is why I have been bf since my lo was born.

BUT I have been thinking of introducing a bottle of formula for the late night (around midnight feed). OH could feed her while I pump for the early morning feed... so I can get up in the middle of the night and OH can do early morning.

This is something I have been thinking of introducing at 6 weeks. I have already introduced a bottle for some feeds with expressed milk and she has no problems with nipple confusion.

I am feeling guilty because I was hoping to introduce the formula to give myself a little break at night with her up every 2-3hours. At the same time I think implementing this will probably make me stuck to bf for much longer.

Just wondering if anyone else has done this or thoughts? Not looking to start an argument... Thanks!

 

[toby1331]

Can you possibly pump extra during the day so you get a bottle ahead? That way you can still get a break, but not have to use formula?

 

[fiffle]

a lot of people combi feed and you have nothing to feel bad about!

you are right, there are a lot of people that say "oh yo should exclusively breastfeed your baby for 6 months no matter what" but the fact is this is your baby your body and your life and other people really don't get a say.

i exclusively breastfed both my sons, except for on the odd occasion when i wanted to go out to the cinema or to a party and leave them with my sister. in those instances i left formula milk because i never produced enough milk to express extra to leave. it never did them any harm.

both my sisters exclusively formula fed their children as they feel breastfeeding just isnt for them and all 4 of my nieces and nephews have grown up perfectly healthy happy children.

what i am trying to say is that one formula feed at night is not going to harm your baby, and a bit of extra sleep will do you the world of good. believe me i know how awful it is to be sleep deprived!

and if anyone doesn't like it then that's their problem xx

 

[Mrs-G]

I keep thinking this bit in a hope that lo will sleep for more than he is now - selfish reasons I know but it is so hard, lo feeds every 1-2 hours through the night and my dd wakes early, I am shattered and feel sick with tiredness when I'm up in the night. I guess there's no way of knowing whether ff will allow my lo to sleep through unless I try it?

 

[xsadiex]

From my experience with my first son I'd say concentrate on breastfeeding if you want to continue. Once we introduced a bedtime bottle he preferred the faster flow and he started getting frustrated at the breast. It got stressful and I started giving more bottles. He much preferred bottles and started biting during breastfeeds. Then we quit and I've regretted it ever since! Personally I wouldn't risk it but that's because of my past experience, good luck x

 

[Babushka]

I say do whatever works for you. Another thing to consider is that formula babies do not feed as often as breast fed babes so you might get a longer break between feeds? I've considered giving formula before bed myself so I'm not waking up at 12am 2.30am and 5.00am although I have no factual information on this yet. However, I'm going to try to stick breastfeeding because it's a personal choice and also helps prevent SIDS.

 

[danielle1984]

We have been giving our LO one bottle at night of formula. To make the story short, he feeds constantly to the point of exhaustion. He would only sleep 1-2 hours during the day then feed all evening. When husband gives him a bottle around 11pm (3oz) he drinks it as if he is starving! Spoke to the nurse this morning and she recommended he gets a supplement after each feeding of 1oz. This is our last option. We tried so many things with no success.
So giving him one bottle per day is totally fine.

 

[Wellington]

My LO (now 4 months) has had a bottle of formula at bedtime (7pm) (although never actually gone to bed at this time! I just want to sow the seed!) since she was 1 month old.

The idea was that OH could do it if it was expressed or FF. expressing for that one bottle turned out to be a right pain in the rear (as baby was feeding pretty much every hour, it was tricky to know if to express or leave it for her). Anyhow, after 2 months, I gave up trying to express and it has been FF each night for one bottle.

She's a big hungry girl and has 7oz at 7pm ish,sleeps for an hour and then feeds from me again, then falls asleep for 4-6 hours.

I don't believe it has made her sleep any better, esp as the last few nights I have been using up my BF stash in the bottle, so she has been exclusive for 4 days, and last night for the first time she slept 8 hours on the trot! (Sadly, I didn't as I heard her stir at 3am, but she fell right asleep without more than a shuffle about!)


No guilt from me. My other two were FF from about 8 weeks, so this one has had the most..... And I plan to continue as we are until I go back to work.

Do what you want you

 

[feedindy]

Why feel guilty? Nothing is wrong with formula. Lots of people combifeed too. Do whatever works for your family.