7-10pm and bf 9wo - any tips for sleep!

[manamana]

Hi. Am feeling v tempted to give 9wo a bottle of formula at 7pm to see if it will settle him better than the usual marathon bf. At the moment he does same bedtime routine as ds1 with bath, massage, and then feed at 6.30/7ish - he does finally come off breast himself and fall asleep but as soon as I put him down he's awake. Sometimes we can calm him down and he'll fall asleep downstairs in his chair then I'll wake him for a 10pm feed and put him down - he wakes again when I put him in his cot but goes back to sleep.

I know he's still tiny and he sleeps really well for the rest of night (only waking once and going straight back to sleep after a feed). BUT, with a 2.5yo to cope with as well I really need some time in the evening when they are both asleep to get stuff done. Dh travels with work and so will be coping on my own more soon.

Don't mind giving ds a bottle of formula if it will settle him for that 7-10pm slot but don't want to start extra work sterilising etc and risk reducing milk supply if it won't make any difference.

Sorry - long post. Am off to see HV later but from what she's already said I think she'll just recommend ff and I wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions first (have tried feeding him every 2 hours in the day to fill him up/increase supply).

[FrannyandZooey]

cluster feeding at night time is very common with tiny ones (and is good for your supply)
could you try wearing a ring sling and feeding that way, then you can get on with whatever you want to be doing?

finally, I know it isn't always possible, but as mother of a new baby you should be resting too in the evenings, not rushing around doing things

[FrannyandZooey]

aargh just seen bit about dh travelling
is there any childcare available during the day for your toddler? (just a friend helping out occasionally for an hour even?)
so that you are not looking after children all day and doing household stuff all evening?

[manamana]

thanks - actually ds1 is at nursery 3 days a week so i do only have ds2 on those days but since ds2 has been more alert in the days I am struggling to get stuff done then as well.

Fraid I can't do the sling as I had really bad SPD which I am still recovering from so can't carry weight - also trying to fit my exercises in to get properly mobile again. The v annoying thing is that bfeeding means SPD issues may hang around longer but I don't want to give up yet.

Ds1 had colic so just screamed from 7 for hours so this time is much better! Just wondered if there was anything else I could be doing - am worried that he's hungry and I haven't got enough milk from him.

[manamana]

doh - milk for him!

[FrannyandZooey]

no I think you are absolutely doing the right thing, and that this stage is hard esp without partner and with another young one
lots of frantic feeding in the evening is really normal and not a sign that there's anything wrong with your milk. All this feeding will help to give you a more copious supply also - which is a reason I would try to avoid the ff top up at this time of day
things will settle down but in the meantime I think the best thing would be to just keep the evening clear for resting and feeding, as much as possible, and let everything else go a little
eg cook easy things that don't take long and freeze a couple of extra portions for the next week
let the ironing go a bit
etc

sorry to hear about the SPD - make your exercises a priority also
could you do them in the day while ds2 lies on floor and watches you? it might amuse him

[claraquitetirednow]

this could have been me a couple of months ago - dd1 2.5, dd2 8 weeks, dh off on a whole load of residential courses....dd2 wouldn't sleep in her cot in the evenings either, so what I did was just pare (sp?) my life back to the basics:

• ate very simple food in the evenings
• didn't do anything but the very basic housework (ironing? what's ironing?)
• introduced a dummy for dd2 to help her settle more easily - which, at nearly 17 weeks, we are just going through the process of getting rid of

I decided that to introduce a bottle of formula at this stage would actually be more trouble than it was worth, although when I did do this at about 12 weeks she did start sleeping better in the evenings and now usually sleeps 7 - 10 without a stir.

Good luck, it's really hard on your own with two that age. But just think about surviving, not being Uber-Mum, and you'll be fine!

[manamana]

Thanks for the reassurance - will just try and get a bit more organised in the day... [flying pig emoticon]

[manamana]

cross-posted with you clara - thanks - am going to show thread to dh!