To hope my baby will sleep better with formula?

[vinocollapso]

I know this is an emotive issue, and an age old one, but after almost 6 months of EBF, I need some advice about moving over to formula. I need to be sure I'm doing it for the right reasons.

DS wakes at night, generally every two hours. He is almost 6 months old. I don't care about this - babies wake up, they need you, I'm happy to comfort him.

But I'm tired. And worse than that I'm worried I'm encouraging a bad habit, that he's waking up because he knows he'll get a feed. I try and leave him a few minutes each time to see if he'll self-settle (sometimes he does), but 95% of the time it's boob and back to bed for him.

In the day he'll go 3 - 4 hours without eating, so he doesn't 'need' to eat at night. But you know how it is, you're tired at 2am and just want the fastest solution.

Should I throw in a bottle of formula now, and start to wean him off the boob? Will formula help him sleep longer? Or is the issue just that he's not settling? I feel that at 6 months I've done my best by EBF.

Any help or experience warmly received.

All so true - they are SO very little still, of course he just wants a cuddle, and I always, always go to him (unless it's clearly just a murmering through a sleep cycle and he'll put himself back to sleep) - a happy and secure little boy is worth all of the tiredness and foggy days, 'tis true.

I remember once, about 4 months in, being so, so tired that I actually (shock!), read Gina Ford. I managed two chapters before the book was flung at the wall.

I think it's pressure from others (ahem, DP) that undermines me the most. He has my best interests at heart by wanting junior to sleep, he sees how tired I am. I do truly feel I'm doing the best thing by my boy, I just get made to feel sometimes that I'm doing something not right because he wakes...but as I said, there in lies a whole other issue...

Bleurgh.

at 6 months if you are wlling: sleep training.if not, then solids mixd with BF.

no point in FF at this stage unles you realy want to stop BF.

..which you rather evidently don't.

A bottle of greedy baby formula saved my sanity. DD1 was the world's hungriest baby - she was drinking 10-12 oz of expressed breast milk at every feed at 10 days old and roaring for more within one or two hours. She was like a big bag of milk, and put on about a pound a week for the first few weeks. She rejected dummy, thumb or anything which didn't deliver food. A bottle of formula last thing at night would give me her 3-4 hours sleep. And she didn't start sleeping for more than that until she was weaned and eating three good meals a day.

If it's DP that's complaining, then it's really him that needs to do the night time settling between feeds. I think it's really too upsetting and confusing for a breastfed baby to have mum come to them but not feed them - they have no idea why!

My DP sounds like yours - at first he was doing things like throwing ds in the air or taking photos of him on his laptop webcam because it stopped him crying. At 2am ffs! But he's got the hang of it now.

you could put baby on a routine. Dc2 slept 'thru' fro 8 weeks with Gina's help. Ds1 was on 'demand led' feeding and didn't sleep thru till 9 months.

Basically tank baby up during the day on milk and food. Restrict naps so he's having only 2/3 hours and no napping after 5pm.

As other say, the type of milk is a red herring, it's what you do through the day that counts.

Get him in the baby bouncer so he gets some exercise.

Ds2 is such a happy and smiley baby, it has really worked for us. Like magic. No kidding!

Good luck

Oh I see you didn't get on with Gina, we used the contented baby and toddler book, not the original. Plus it was easy second time round as I ignored all the bits I didn't like.

She has some good points and it's a good middle way. With ds1 I had to do controlled crying as I was going mad with lack of sleep. This time round has been a breeze in comparison.

Vino

I am deranged from lack of sleep too so we are in it together! X

vino

i think it is not helping that DP is giving you grief, and lets not demonise him , he is a first time dad too! mine trys to suggest fixes for this waking too, I just genuinely think you cant do a huge amount when they are so young

I can only suggest get him on solids as that DOES help, and reassure him its NORMAL

there is so much advice you can go CRAZY, and its kind of unecessary as in time till will pass

but hey, try whatever you think will work

I can honestly say I tortured myself with DS1, I thought it was my fault he woke! I was in tears when NCT group babies slept through

so tell everyone to back off!

what I love being a second time Mum is that when they tell me their babies are sleeping and mine is not I dont give a shit any more

hang on in there sista!

i also did same with Gina with DS1, I tortured myself thinking, if only I followed this routine, he would sleep! ha ha, bollocks

Aw, my DP is a wonderful Dad and a super, decent human being - I'm just a tired and slightly unreasonable old mare who stubbornly wants to do everything her way and takes a few cheap shots when she's feeling the strain...though his night time soothing of DS is screwy.. :)

I'm feeling very mellow today and am just going with the flow as many have helpfully suggested.

Mishy1234 - I loved the idea of co-sleeping with DS but DP is a giant, 6ft 7", and I just know I would have been on edge all night worrying about junior getting squished!

NinkyNoker I just love,love, love your name!!