Is 'chunky' formula the only way to get your baby thro' the night?

[Dalesgirl]

My DS2 is 11 wks old and he is BF. We don't have a routine as such, he is demand feeding and I can see a pattern emerging. He is cluster feeding like fury in the evenings which I am starting to find tiring and he has reverted back to 2.5 hr feeding at night, whereas last week he was doing 3.5 to 4 hrs. What has happened? I am exhausted. DS1 is 4 and lively. I like BFing but am I at the next stage and should I bring in Formula?

I have all the stuff for expressing I did it at 5 weeks with DS1 and DS1 went onto a formula feed at bedtime. I am so reluctant to adopt the same practice with DS2, reasons? 1. The BF is generally going well (weight 8.7 at bith 12.10 now) and 2. I feel very attached to BF this baby, I know he will be my last.

I feel like I have lost my way a bit. Advice required. TIKTOK the BF lady, are you around?

[Enid]

can you express in the morning and give him a bottle of expressed bm in the evening when he is cluster feeding?

[misdee]

it soudns to me like a growth spurt. just carry on as you are, and hopefully in a week or so things will go back to normal.

I tended to do a dreamfeed about 10.30-11pm to try and get at leasta 4hour stetch of uninterrupted sleep in. sometimes it worked.

[moondog]

You sound like you're doing brilliantly dalesgirl.It will pass.Ride with it.Before you know it,your b/feeding days will be over for good.
Mine are (ds is 14 months).Can't believe it really.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Have you tried sleeping with DS2? I found that got us through those first six months of night feeds very well.

You're doing very well, this whole waking in the night to feed thing doesn't go on that long really ...

(Another reason to avoid the formula feeds - exclusive breastfeeding, as you're doing, is even better for the baby than mixed feeding.)

[aloha]

I gave formula to my ds sometimes and it never made him sleep a minute longer at night. Honestly. I would tell you if it did. Babies change all the time and this time next week he may well be going five hours or more. My fully breastfed dd has always slept much better than my mixed fed ds. It's just the way she is.
Sorry!
I think things will begin to smooth out for you soon. Never think you have done anything wrong because your baby has changed. It's normally just a change/growth spurt and things will get better. It's not you, honestly. It's just normal.
And agree with everyone else - you are doing really, really well.

[mummytosteven]

the theory is that breast milk takes 3 hours for a young baby to digest and that formula milk takes 4 hours for a young baby to digest - so formula really won't make that much difference, if any to how well your baby sleeps at night.

[flamebat]

Yup - with Aloha... Started mixfeeding DD at 12 weeks, and changed to formula totally at 16, and her nighttimes didn't change at all with it. The only time they changed was when I moved onto hideous milk for her, and she got constipated and couldn't sleep!

[flamebat]

MTS when did you come back? or did you never leave and I've just not spotted you about?

[mummytosteven]

I never left, just I only come on intermittently, as I got DH to block MN from my home computer to stop me spending so much time on here

[suedonim]

It sounds like a growth spurt to me, Dalesgirl. If you can fit in a couple of extra feeds for a day or two (or even have a babymoon!) you should see the effect on your supply pretty soon and all will revert to normal again.