One bottle of formula - will it cause problems?? Worried...

[PetiteMoi]

I EBF'd my eldest daughter until she was 11 months and have EBF'd my 4 month old up until now. I really enjoy breastfeeding and never thought I would have to introduce formula this early on so this is a bit hard for me. I have only just started giving her a bottle of formula at bedtime because she has had 2 weeks of waking up every 1.5-2 hours to breastfeed and as I've also got a 3 year old to look after I just can't take it anymore. I am also trying to space out her feeds during the day which is hard but I'm thinking that her frequent feeds during the day might be one of the reasons for her frequent night feeds... I am really worried that giving her formula might cause problems for BF as I definitely don't want to stop it yet...Any advice?

 

[missbabes]

DS has had formula as a back up once or twice and it didn't appear to do any harm. But then again I solely express on which he feeds on demand.

Have you been expressing any at all?

 

[Noo]

Waking frequently is fairly common at 4mo. We are feeding hourly - 90 minutely overnight for the last 5 weeks. I'm sure one bottle won't hurt but you may have to continue indefinitely if baby isn't able to increase frequency to order in a higher supply or increase the nutritional content. I'd be worried I'd stop the bottle then she would be waking again rather than fulfilling her order and then spreading out feeds when the milk meets her needs.

What do you mean by increasing length between feeds during the day? Would this not make her need to nurse more in the evening/night time?

ATM we nurse around 2 hourly during the day and hourly - 90 minutely overnight which at this stage with the whole developmental stage & sleep regression is totally normal (but exhausting!)

 

[kitabird]

A bottle of formula a day shouldn't do any harm. I did the same with Felix so I could get a little sleep at night, and later ditched it once he could go longer between feeds.
I agree with PP though that trying to space out feeds during the day will make baby wake more at night. 4 months is a growth spurt and big development leap so she needs alot of feeds right now.

 

[PetiteMoi]

Thanks guys. The thought behind the spacing out of the daytime feeds is that she gets used to taking more milk in at each feed, lasting her longer between them. At the moment I feed her on demand which is sometimes as often as every 1.5-2 hours and my breasts don't even get chance to refill!

 

[Noo]

Thanks guys. The thought behind the spacing out of the daytime feeds is that she gets used to taking more milk in at each feed, lasting her longer between them. At the moment I feed her on demand which is sometimes as often as every 1.5-2 hours and my breasts don't even get chance to refill!

That's a normal feeding pattern for a BF baby her age. Your breasts don't need to re-fill as they always produce milk. Once your supply has established your breasts should be fairly squishy and only feel firm when you've gone a longer than normal space between feeds. I don't think spacing feeds will cause her to take more - her stomach won't magically grow because she went an extra half hour You may just end up with a cross baby.

 

[justkitty]

Did you introduce a bottle