6 month old bf baby, i need help ?formula

[sunnyweather]

can anyone give me some advice. im finding this really hard.we've started weaning onto solids but im still only giving him breastmilk. im exhausted as he sleeps badly and im awake every 90mins or so. i feel like i never get a break despite having a supportive family and dh. should i introduce formula, if so how do i go about this. ive managed to reduce night feeds by putting him in his cot but that means frequenrt wakings and he is back in our bedby 3 am and takes a big feed and i can never seem to settle him back in his cot after that. mil takes him for an hour or so once a week but other than that im always with him and havent gone out myself since he was born (and dont see how I could) is this normal?

Hope so, because you've just described my life! Sorry, can't be more helpful but that is exactly what my 6mo is like, so you're not alone.

IME formula will not help your DC to sleep... It may help you sleep if your DP does the formula feeds. But it will not miraculously make DC sleep through, he's probably not waking because he's hungry.

The trick we had to get our DC to sleep was to make sure he didn't need feed to sleep, he went into his cot awake and had to learn to self settle. He wasn't really capable of this until 9 months and first slept through at 11 months. Now at 20 months (I'm still breastfeeding) he sleeps through probably 4 times a week and the other 3 days will usually only wake once.

With regard to not getting a break away from your DC... Formula or expressed milk (if they'll take a bottle) would mean your DP could have DC for a few hours on the weekend so you can get your hair done, do some shopping, or in my case, sit in Starbucks for 3 hours with my kindle!

Six months is a big growth spurt. Co sleeping can be a godsend to get you through this. The frequent night waking is often mistaken for hunger - your baby just needs extra energy because his brain is doing some huge growth right now. Cuddles and feed on demand will get you through and stop you becoming stressed. Get DH to help by doing ALL of the housework and letting you have a couple of weeks of an additional baby moon. The time will fly and before you know it the stress will have gone.

Queen- how did we get here??
Captain- I know formula doesnt aid sleep its more about finding ways of making it so that other people can help and i dont feel its all down to me. i would still like to bf tho so i guess im looking for advice about mixed feeding at this stage. the sleep issues are causing exhaustion but are not the only reason i feel we need a change. i have tried expressing but i dont seem to get much milk.

I'm in same situation.trying "no cry sleep solution" only 1 wake last night! Worth a try.I downloaded to my kindle so could read while feeding. Try a free flow beaker if bottles an issue...finally got my ds to take milk from it at 6m. Like u not expressing much but getting better now I'm less exhausted.good luck

sunnyweather :( Sleep deprivation is just horrible, isn't it :(

Sometimes just getting a good few hours of sleep can make all the difference. Certainly what you're going through is TOTALLY normal. As is a whole other range of things including babies sleeping 12 hours at this point (although that's rare!) and babies who wake even more often than yours. 6 months can be a really tough point but it will get better soon.

It's very common to feel "touched out" or like you're the one with all the responsibility. Again, getting a break when you feel like this is important, yet so hard.

Are you doing puree or baby-led and what sort of foods have you started with?

Can you bear to have him in bed with you and ditch the cot for another month before trying again? That way you'll not lose that sleep trying to re-settle him.

Can you try going to bed really (stupidly - 7 or 8) early for a few nights to catch up a bit?

If you are not able to express you can certainly try formula (infant, not follow on) to give you a break. Do you need information on formula?

One thing though - he is clearly telling you that he needs that night milk so cutting it down is a battle you won't win! So there are workarounds (eg co-sleeping and a few early nights) or substitutes (eg formula) to help you through, which will probably mean you feel up to going back to EBF after a few days.

Yeah expressing didn't really work out for me either. Try a bit of formula then, don't go the whole hog and buy an enormous tin until your confident they will take a bottle (my DS refused). Buy some of the little cartons (just open and use, no boiling water, cooling water, mixing etc...). And give it a go. I think your DC is more likely to take it if someone else gives it to them while you're in a different room (or out of the house).

It's draining... so you've got to look after yourself and have time or yourself to keep you sane! good luck!

hi everyone - thanks for posting. I went to bed super early last night and so got 3 hours unbroken sleep - bliss. As a result I feel able to cope so much better today. I have a new action plan - super early nights for the next week, try to start regular expressing but with no pressure on myself, try ds on formula in the middle of the day to see that it agrees with him, buy a little stash of formula so that ive got it if I feel overwhelmed again, carry on EBF and weaning as before.

I felt dreadful yesterday and completely overwhelmed so thank you for your replies - they really did help

I second trying the no cry sleep solution too. I found it really useful to get DD able to resettle without the boob or rocking. At 6mo she could go down in her cot awake so night feedings are fast. Now it's regressed with separation anxiety so she is only happy in our bed if she's awake. But at least I can leave her awake beside me!

I didn't use ff until DD went to nursery. I am using carton only because I cba with the prep. She reverse cycles on her nursery/formula days, but I'm sure it's to do with separation, not formula

I moved to mixed feeding at just over 6 months and the advantage I found was that I could be certain that DD was not hungry during the night as I had a better idea of how much milk she'd had during the day. It gave me the confidence to not offer the breast during the night and so break the cycle of feeds every 2 hrs.

It also ment that DH could go in and settle her as we both knew she wasn't hungry and didn't 'need' me. That also helped as she didn't associate DH with boob and so would settle for him far easier.

I really feel you pain as I felt like I was losing my mind with the lack of sleep and never having a break. DD sleeps very well now though so it does get easier!

When I was at my lowest I rang a breast feeding councillor and found her to be wonderfully helpful. I literally cried for the first 10 minutes of the call and couldn't actually construct a sentence but ended the call felling a 100 times better. In fact it was she who gave us the tip to send DH in to settle DD at night (not something we had done before because DH had work and I didn't think it was fair).

Oh if you are worried about hunger, at 6mo, have you tried stodgier dinners? Instead of carrots and apples, give meat and complex caborhydrates instead? They are harder to digest and more filling, if you believe that's how ff helps them sleep through.

Yes, I meant to mention that I am also a fan of the no cry sleep solution. Previously Ds could only feed to sleep and was in our bed all night with a real dislike for his cot....when i think about it we have come quite far.
NMWFM -which organisation did you call?

In a few months he'll be having lots more foods and less milk. My ds can go
all day without bm but if I'm there he'll want some (if that makes sense). It does get easier