can i use one formula top up a day without a problem

[fernie3]

my daughter is five weeks and wakes alot in the night. the day before yesterday she had a small top up of formula after the night time feed (around 11pm) which was about 60ml the reason was that i was ill so had to run off to the bathroom for a bit so my husband gave her a little to calm her!. She slept untol about 4:30 which was fantastic - longest rest I have had for ages!.

If we did this every night and only for this feed would it be a problem for the rest of the feeds? would she still happily bf for the rest of the day or would it be a slippery slope. We didnt do it last night and as a result I got 4 hours sleep and now I have spent the whole morning shouting and grumping at the other children lol

I did this with my DS from 6 wks and it didn't cause any problems at all. Carried on like that for 16 months actually!

Now have a 3 wk old DD and plan to do the same from 6 wks. It also gets them used to taking a bottle later on when you may go back to work and need to leave her.

I did this with my dd as I needed her to be able to take a bottle ready for me to go back to work, absolutely no problems she was otherwise bf until 11 months old. I mainly used expressed milk that I had stocked up on when she was first born but I didn't express daily or anything like that.

Me too, from about 3 weeks. Lovely looooooong sleep!!

I did that as well for me DS and it was absolutely fine.

No problemsa with supply by the way...

I did it (from 10 weeks, so I guess Bfing slightly more established) with no problems. I think the important thing is to remember that if you want to keep BFing you need to be prepared to feed more frequently during growth spurts etc (i.e. not give in and give just one more bottle of formula), as otherwise supply won't keep up with demand.

For me, that one feed's break gave me the motivation to continue braving the growth spurts/manic night wakings at random intervals, so definitely saved us from full FF.

I agree hopefully - early on it was the difference between sanity and insanity for me and I have never regretted it.

It won't affect your feeding her otherwise although there is some evidence that it affects the 'vigin gut'.
Here is more info

Depends how strongly you feel about this - I offered top-ups to varying degrees to all of mine though.

i did it with both my dd's from 6 weeks. no problems at all.

How about pumping a few oz in the morning and offering after the last few to top up?

I offered DS1 formula at 10pm and gradually he "demanded" more and more at this feed, until it was 10oz, and it impacted supply. A few oz shouldn't make a difference.

I am giving it another week and if I am stil not getting any sleep if she is still feeding so often at night then I will try the top up, she wil be six weeks then. A part of me doesnt want to but I dont know how long I can last on this much sleep!

Co-sleeping is a brilliant way to get more sleep whilst breastfeeding.

Do it! No harm will come to anyone and everyone will love each other just a little bit more for having slept that little bit longer!!!!

I introduced a bottle at 9 weeks at 4pm, so my boobs skip feed then, and are really full for bedtime. He now sleeps thru at 12 weeks 7 to 6am. No probs with supply but be consistent on the time of the feed.
I just use formula, best to get them used to taste!
He wasnt very good at taking bottle, we have been practising every day for 2 weeks and he finally today got the hang of it and drained the full 7oz. Mind you, I think hes hitting a growth spurt.
I did same with my daughter and BF till 6 months morning and night once we began weaning.

Agree with jemjabella that co-sleeping might get you through this. As long as you do it safely, you can doze and feed at the same time.