breast to bottle at 5 months

7 replies

Becky333 · 19/02/2011 12:37

Hi, I'm new to this so don't know what all the abbreviations mean! I just need some advice please My 20 week old baby is exclusively breastfed, however in the evenings I feel like I have much less milk than all the other feeds so every night she feeds for about 1 and a half hours. For the last few nights she seems really frustrated at how slow the milk is coming out and is really hard to settle and I'm always left quite sore!!! Anyway, thinking about giving a bottle of formula for the last feed of the day before bed but worried for so many reasons. Any advice at all about this would be appreciated, these are my worries:

How will I get her to sleep (she always falls asleep on the breast when I breastfeed her)!?
How do I know if I'm overfeeding her, I don't know how much breast milk she would have had throughout the day so how much formula would she need?
Does anyone else have this problem? Is it normal for babies to feed for this long before bed?

I don't really want to hear people telling me not to give formula and to perservere with bf as I've thought really hard about it and have perservered for 5 months despite many difficulties! Just advice on how to introduce formula for one feed a day please!

Sorry for the long message!

OP posts:

MoonUnitAlpha · 19/02/2011 14:50

It's normal for babies to feed lots in the evening - it's called cluster feeding.

She might fall asleep on the bottle too if she's used to feeding to sleep - or you could try rocking, patting or a dummy. You might need to get someone else to give her the bottle though as babies often won't accept one from their mother if they've been breastfed. Has she ever had a bottle before?

You could always just start with 100ml and see if she drinks it all.

TittyBojangles · 19/02/2011 14:56

Or maybe bypass the bottle and try straight for a cup?

SummerLightning · 19/02/2011 15:19

Yes it's normal and yes i also had this problem. Also introduced bottle for the last feed as I wanted to get a bit of an evening to give me a break particularly as she was waking lots in night too.

We did have problems getting her to take a bottle and had to perservere.

I gave her a whole 200mls and let her drink as much as she wants - at first this was about 100ml now it is most of it. She just conks out too when she's had enough so no probs with getting to sleep. Can't see a problem with trying it and giving it up you can't get her to sleep

MummyofOlivia · 19/02/2011 20:17

I've just made the transition from boob to bottle after 6 months and was dreading it! My daughter has always refused to take a bottle & screamed when I've tried in the past. Over the course of the last week, I've persevered. (found it upsetting at times like I was rejecting her!) If she's hungry she'll take it. I was most worried about the bedtime feed but have been pleasantly surprised that when she's full, she's content and just goes to sleep. I did backtrack once this week and bf her as my boobs were uncomfortable. Never again- the next bottle was refused! Think we're back on track now. Stick at it and good luck!

BronwenC · 19/02/2011 20:55

i wouldnt worry about feeding too much milk, just give as much as it says on the packet for her age/weight. i did the same with mine when he was 5 months (not for the night feed though, just a few day ones) and after refusing it for a few days he took the bottle fine. it wont take long to accept it.

Original poster

Becky333 · 20/02/2011 12:55

Thanks everyone for advice, she didn't take it last night but I'll perservere! :)

OP posts:

petisa · 20/02/2011 13:22

Are you sure she's feeding for all that time, or is some of it comfort sucking? My 5 month old would be on for that long if I let her, but I unlatch as soon as her sucking changes to a v sleepy slow one and shes not swallowing any more, so about 15 mins or so, and burp and put on the other side for another 20mins or so until she's definitely stopped swallowing and is practically snoring and then I unlatch and creep away. If I didn't do that I'd never get away!

Could it be she's going through a growth spurt? My 5 month old will be 6 months in a week and I have just had a horrendous week of endless feeding and tugging (and I sympathise, I have a toddler too!) but now I have loads of milk and she's gulping it down quick and sleeping more this week, which is great. Maybe if you hang on in there it'll be better in a few days?

Flip