BF wobble, just purchased bottles etc

[NikkiTwinkle]

Hi
I'm having a major wobble about BF my DD who's 6 months. She's ebf and has refused a bottle since she was 5 days old. I've reached the end of my teather as she's happy during the day, but VERY unsettled in the evening. She goes down at 6pm and I can be up every 30 mins feeding her / settling her back down until 10pm. I haven't been out in the evening since September and I'm so down about it with the Christmas season coming.

It's been going on for a month now and I have had a couple of really bad days. I've even started weaning onto solids, but no improvement, ok I've only been feeding solids for 4 days.

I need some help/moral support advice etc before I crack.

Tesco delivers all bottle / teats tomorrow.
Thanks
Nikki

hi i had the same with both of mine. its quite common. you said your weaning? what time are you giving slids?

I'm not a b/f counsellor, but I would just accept and go with the evening fussy feeding. My DD has been like that since birth. I just don't put her to bed until she's properly and deeply asleep. I figure she'll grow out of it.

WRT to going out, can you try her with a cup? It may well be that she wouldn't be nearly so demanding anyway if you're not there with milk on tap for her. She may only need one feed while you're out. If you feed her straight before she may even hold off and then feed into early hours instead. Not great, but at least you get your evening.

But given that you've ordered bottles (I've just noticed) the above would still apply but for cup, insert bottle if she'll take it.

i have a nearly 6 month old too.

he has always stayed downstairs with us until i go to bed at 10ish, but has been increasingly grumpy the last 2 weeks. last night and tonight i have put him to sleep at 8pm and he slept 1.5hrs last night, then i raced upstairs, bf a bit more and he nodded off again.

the last 2 weeks sound like your recent problems, he was feeding loads and crying - i think he was really tired. hopefully it will settle soon for you.

do you mean you haven't been out since sept 2009 or 2010? if you did go out this sept i'm impressed! i went out for dinner with dh for my bday in july with baby but not since.

personally i don't think that solids will help - there is fewer calories than in bm.

it will settle down, you have done very well getting to 6 months, keep going! an occasional bottle if you do want to go out will be OK. And december is a month away, it will probably be differnet (and better) by then.

I'm not a bfing counsellor either but would say that fussiness in the evening sounds normal. She will also be going through a 6 month growth spurt, she might be teething and she is being weaned. Both of mine got worse for a short while once I'd started weaning.

My advice would be, do BLW. I did traditional weaning with DC1 and BLW with DC2. BLW is much, much easier.

Only offer food at lunchtime for a bit, with a cup of water and a big bf after. That way she will have the rest of the afternoon to catch up if she's still hungry.

Try to express in the morning, if you can, and offer her a bottle of ebm after her 6pm feed. You might not need to express, if you leak during feeding you could just collect all that you leak in breast shells.

If you do want to go out. Do the above then leave her with someone you trust with either ebm or a couple of cartons of formula and go. One evening might upset her but it won't be the end of the world.

It will get better

can you try offering solids after 6pm feed? hopefully to fill her up so she is more settled.
FWIW DS2 who was a great sleeper (ie all night) from 8 weeks by 23 weeks (EBF) was feeding 2 hourly day and night.
I was going back to work at 26 weeks so had to introduce bottles during the day and it was time to introduce solids.
He had 2 daytime FFs and 2 meals and gave a top up of hipp goodnight milk at 10pm and he went back to sleeping all night - not sure whether this was the food or the formula. Not sure what you are going to do about the bottle refusal though - some babies never take a bottle.

Personally, in this situation I wouldn't try to put her down to bed early in the evening, it seems like a lot of work getting up to her and resettling, I would let her nurse/snooze in my lap until she was ready to go down for the night, then resume bedtime when she was snoozing for longer in the evenings. But it depends how set on routines you are.

porcelain, i did this with mine and it took a while but it worked. good advice. :)

Porcelain and Hayley, I did this too and it worked a treat