Switching to bottle

[sunnyday123]

Hi Guys, I am in a piddle here, i have been exclusivly breastfeeding DS for 4 1/2 months now. I love breastfeeding but he keeps waking up every 2-3 hours in the night for a feed. Im shattered and i think the tiredness is causing me migraines. Ive tried everything to get him on a bottle.. i am wanting to xpresss so my partner will take the load too. Nothing is working!!! HELP
From, a desperately tired new mum x

 

[childtocheris]

Hi
for you its now a compulsion to bottle feed the baby.If you are not well then you will have difficulty in taking care of the baby.If your baby is not feeding on bottle don't breast feed him when he is hungry he will bottle feed.You will have difficulty for 1 or 2 days then it will be fine.

 

[megrenade]

That is LUCKY! My son at 14 1/2 months still nurses all night. We co-sleep though so he lifts my shirt up and eats without waking me up. Co-sleeping (if done correctly and safely) is very beneficial. I wouldn't have made it this far without it.

 

[LDC]

Megrenade, I salute you! 8 months and no sttn here, gah I keep thinking when she's 15 she's not going to want to get out of bed...ill catch up on sleep then ha!

I agree that it's difficult getting up in the nights to feed, but at 4.5 months that's not uncommon (as crappy as it feels). My lo has only just started waking twice during the night, which is now more manageable - we went through a stage of every hour and I thought I was slowly going insane.

I'm not sure what you mean by nothing is working?

As I said whether you express or feed from your breast, lo is still likely to wake up as much as now. You can express and keep trying. My lo started to refuse bottles at 7 weeks so we had no choice but for me to feed lo. We tried everything but have now moved to sippy cups, but again at night it's still me feeding lo.

I agree with megrenade, co sleeping is a really good idea. We kinda half do this (lo goes to sleep in her cot and we'll co sleep when she wakes then if I wake up ill move her back into her cot!) it really works so at least you can sleep whilst they feed.

Xx

 

[cassielynn711]

My daughter is 5 months and also exclusively breast feeds. I don't mind it at all, but we are getting to the point where I should really get a part time job. Which means she really needs to learn to take the bottle. My advice is to have someone else try and give the bottle while weening. If I try my daughter just looks at me funny like wtf is this? But if my husband or someone else tries she's a little more likely to explore.... That and I always give in and nurse her
Hope this helps

 

[ttc bubby no2]

Both my sons went though a sort of regression at around 4 -5 months where they had been starting to sleep longer then suddenly were waking every 2 hours. It was so hard and exhausting but it did improve again.

Can you look at resting in the day when your baby naps? The great thing about just having the 1 baby makes it easier to do this.

The other option is co-sleeping, I did this with my 2nd for at least half the night at around that age because he was always waking. It made me slightly less exhausted so that I could manage to get through the day with a 5 month old and 3 year old (no day naps for me with the 2nd )

Hang in there and good luck.

 

[Joygrrr]

Same story here with my 4 month old - sleeps no more than two hours now - really getting me down. Trying to FF him isn't happening, been trying to get him on a bottle for two weeks now!

 

[MommyJogger]

I third (fourth?) the safe cosleeping suggestion. I honestly have no clue how anyone can make it through the first year bf without cosleeping. And once you've mastered safe cosleeping, you will notice wakings less and they'll take less time from your sleep at night. You can even cosleep for baby's naps and make up some sleep that way. Contrary to other advice, you don't have to bottle feed now, and I certainly wouldn't suggest nursing refusal to do so. I totally understand wanting some help with night feeds and if he'll take a bottle from your OH occasionally, that's great, but perhaps your immediate focus would more effectively be put towards minimizing the burden of the night wakings by adjusting your sleep arrangements.
ETA- formula use isn't effective at stopping night wakings. It might work for 1 or 2 nights if lo's tummy isn't upset those nights, but they get used to it after a few days and go right back to frequent wakings-- only on formula you have to prepare a bottle instead of popping out a boob. It's a developmental thing-- they go through sleep regressions around 4mo, 8mo, and whenever they learn a new big skill like crawling or walking. It will pass.

 

[justkitty]

I'd say try a couple of different bottles/teats and if you want to use formula you could mix with bm and gradually reduce bm with formula. At least yourhusband can help with tthe night feeds. Keep perservering as lo will eventually take a bottle. Maybe try ebm in a bottle in the dsy first when you arentt half asleep so you preserve more?

 

[icklemonster]

While I do the half co-sleeping option similar to LDC as LO still wakes up 2/3 times a night, I am also very grateful that LO takes a bottle of expressed milk as it means my Mum or MiL have been able to babysit so I can have a break. Have you thought about a trainer cup to drink from instead? My friend had exactly the same problem that LO wouldn't take a bottle, but since she started weaning and offered a trainer cup, her baby will now also take a bottle. No idea why though?! Not sure if it'll work for your LO but might be worth a shot xxx

 

[sunnyday123]

hi ladies thanks for your replies, I too half co sleep. he wakes at about 4 and then i just so tired i pop him in bed with me (safely of course) and 2 hours later he will feed while im asleep, i get more sleep and hey presto a good nights sleep! But i was trying to get him in his cot longer and waking up that much just exhausted me. I have just bought a NUK bottle and teat as its ment to be like the nipple, he cried and cried,. the little bugger

 

[sunnyday123]

Same story here with my 4 month old - sleeps no more than two hours now - really getting me down. Trying to FF him isn't happening, been trying to get him on a bottle for two weeks now!

Joygrrr i remember you from third Tri forum your baby is 11 days younger than mine Hope your finding motherhood as great as i am