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Infant feeding

Have got myself in a bit of a pickle breastfeeding my ds

7 replies

spiritofstlouis · 28/09/2007 17:16

Hi- I've got myself in a bit of a muddle the past couple of days with my DS (5.5 months old). Last week I decided it was time to introduce a bottle of formula a day- I'm going back to work in 6 weeks and want to ease gradually into just morning and night feeds
Possibly my first mistake was not choosing one feed to switch but substituting whichever was most convienient. Then 2 nights ago I decided to try a formula dreamfeed as well- just in case it helped him sleep through the night! (Usually he sleeps 7am- 3ish feeds then sleeps again till 7am but can wake twice a night sometimes). Well he downed 5 oz and the still woke hungry at 3am. Yesterday and today he has barely eaten anything apart from the bottle of formula, has latched onto the breast but then refused to feed and really screams if I try to persist. It's quite upsetting as well as uncomfortable for my breasts!
How can I get him back into a nice daytime feeding routine? He was breastfeeding every 3 hours before all this.
I've also just started BLW which he's loving but maybe it's all a bit much at once...

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SuperMonkey · 28/09/2007 17:24

I had a similar kind of thing and don't have a helpful solution I'm afraid. I came to the conclusion that FFing is so much easier that they get to a stage where they can't be bothered with BFing any more. It takes too long and there's too much going on! I didn't want to give up BFing so I cut out the bottles completely - as I said, not a practical solution to your situation I'm afraid! You have my sympathy.

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spiritofstlouis · 28/09/2007 17:31

Thanks SuperMonkey -it's ironic as the whole point of doing it like this was to slowly change over to give my breasts time to adjust but maybe I'll have to accept the switch will be much faster and I should get back in touch with the breast pump...

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laundrylover · 28/09/2007 17:38

Only got a minute but have a search on going back to work threads. Lots of people don;t bother with a bottle during the day, they just give milk (ebm, formula or even cow's milk) in a beaker. How is he with a beaker?

IMO if he is having 3 meals a day plus some water/juice or milk he'll be fine. You can the give him a bfeed in the morning, one when you pick him up and a good one at bedtime. One feed during the night sounds fine at this stage if you can cope with it when you go back to work.

This is just an option but means no bottles and no formula if you don't want it! Dd2 has never had either and I left her from about the same age and am not very keen on expressing so gave it up unless away overnight. She's fine and still bfed at 18 months.

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laundrylover · 28/09/2007 17:46

You may find that your boobs adapt just fine and you don;t need to pump. Do they fill up/leak now if you miss a feed? Mine only get really full now overnight and if away I can just express a bit in the shower and then they go down - oooh they're magic boobs.

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spiritofstlouis · 28/09/2007 17:56

Part of the reason I decided to start this now was because I'd stopped feeling full or engorged- however after the past couple of days my breasts have been feeling uncomfortable if going 6 hours plus between feeds. What really annoyed me this morning was that he refused the first feed (probably still full of formula from the dream feed- that's going tonight!) and I pumped 120 mils out which he still didn't drink it. You're right though I could be surprised by how well my breasts adapt... feels so sad...
I guess I'm scared of not switching him to formula as I have no idea how much solid food he'll be eating by 7 months and do want to avoid all night breastfeeding as not sure how I'll cope at work with no sleep!

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jamila169 · 28/09/2007 21:29

By 7 months if he's eating well he'll probably have dropped the night feeds anyway - mine all went from 11pm until 5.30 - 6 am even though they weren't actually eating properly so i guess it must be the time when the body clock starts to work better lol!
at 5.5 months there's loads of reasons why they'd be funny at the breast anyway - teething is the biggie as is growth spurts.
Anyway - It is possible to breastfeed at night and express at work so that they get most of their feeds as breastmilk - i did it with DD1, with a day that started at 5.30 to get him to the childminder's in time for me to get the train to work - i was managing a 32 bed nursing home at the time and still managed to express twice a day for 18 months.
Lisa x

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spiritofstlouis · 29/09/2007 12:31

Wow that's impressive- I am hoping to keep going as long as possible but can't face expressing as I feel like I've been attached to the pump for long enough now!
So I've decided just to feed on demand today and concentrate on the weaning for a bit. I've got a feeling he may want to drop a daytime feed anyway so I'll see if that happens over the next week or so. Didn't dreamfeed last night & he only woke up once and had a huge 7am feed thank goodness!