Giving baby BM bottle at night to avoid cluster feeding

[xkatxdollx]

Has any EBF moms pumped during the day and give there baby a bottle of it for the bedtime feed mine cluster feeds and by cluster feed I mean eating from 7 to 11 straight not every hour and because the feedings are so close together I don't have time to re fill and she spends most of that time just sucking and getting angry and I feel that if I pumped so that I'm not losing my supply and give her a straight bottle she would go to bed at what I want her new bed time to be (8 o'clock ) daughters almost 5 months

I do (baby is just two months) although I express the bottle at night after 2am feed. He still cluster feeds for comfort even with the bottle but it helps me feel more in control to know the bottle is there for him iykwim. I can only feed on one breast due to surgery so cluster feeding was even more intense!

Although the little chap much prefers the breast in the last week and makes his feelings known - am dreading a real bottle strike....

And it hasnt negatively affected your supply at all?

The trouble with messing with baby's natural feeding patterns is it can also mess with your supply - cluster feeding is physiologically driven and it's telling your body to make milk then (with a 'more milk tomorrow' note as well). Pumping doesn't quite mimic the same set of hormones as direct bfing so you can end up with supply issues if you pump lots in the morning and then by evening stop bfing for a long stretch while baby has a bottle.

Don't forget that a baby can 'nurse' without getting much milk if they aren't hungry but want comfort from Mummy - they can't do that with a bottle as if they suckle they get milk regardless of what kind of suckle they use.

It is hard to be stuck to the sofa feeding a baby, but the easiest way to deal with it is to make it easier for you to cope with not to try to fight baby's biology. Things like Dad cooking a dinner you can eat on handed, good TV programmes to watch or a good book, laptop to MN, drinks on tap (Dad can do this one too!), and if you need a break Dad can give baby a cuddle for a bit while you have a bath or go for a walk or whatever you like doing.

This to will pass and you may even find you miss the evening cluster feeds in a while - I do!

At 5 months your baby is still 'cluster feeding'? I know very young babies do it in the early weeks.

I'm wondering if there is another issue happening? Is there someone local to you able to give advice - a support group or something? Babies often suckle for comfort and your daughter may be feeling insecure about something and that is why she is needing you so much.

At 5 months your supply should be established enough to allow for pumping if that is the way you want to go, but remember that the night time pumping is the most important bit, especially between 1.00 a.m. and 5.00 a.m. so crazyhead is doing the right thing by pumping at 2.00 a.m.

And crazy as it sounds, when you have stopped bfing and your daughter is becoming an independent toddler you will really, really miss those evening snuggles.

My 14 week old feeds constantly from 5-7.30ish but then I just put her to bed because she's comfort sucking and tired!

It's not uncommon for babies to cluster feed to 6m+ if they are with their mum in the evenings. With DD3 we didn't bother doing a 'bedtime' until she was about 9m and she fed on and off, dosing on my lap in the evenings up to that point. It was when she started feeding then sleeping for longer stretches all by herself, did we see any point in putting her to bed in the evening. Even then she had a feed at 6ish then would have another one some time between 9-11 until she was about 15m.

I should admit to probably not being the best person to ask as I was back at work full time when DD was 4 months, so I was going to bed with her at 8.00 p.m. each night (5.00 a.m. start). She may well have clusterfed but I was too busy snoring to know. Such is the joy of bfing and cosleeping.

She's a big girl I don't know if that has anything to do with it she was born 10 pounds 24 in long and she's now 20 pounds and 26.5 in long and she usually eats every hour I know lots of baby's go to around 3 hours at her age but she's always been a big eater and when she cries I'll do all the checks and play with her to see if she was just bored but everything results in crying until I feed her then she's a content little girl again

I sometimes do this, because I have a sitter 4-6pm on Thursdays, so she inevitably gives five-month-old DS a bottle of expressed milk within that time (4-4.5 oz). I then feed him again at 7.15pm, after his bath, and he usually wakes once more, at 10pm or 11pm, and then that's it until 7/8am. He stopped cluster feeding in the evenings at around 3.5 months, but he is a big morning cluster feeder, strangely enough.

Ugh it's like,one clusterfeeds all day she rarely makes it to 2 hours between feedings

Baby's can feed this often, DD fed every 2hours during the day untill 8months and she was a resable sized baby to.

But have you ever had anyone check your latch? It could be she isn't feeding as efficently as she could. So maybe a trip to your local breastfeeding support group/baby cafe if you have one mite help.

O no her latch is fine since day one the nurses were like wow she's a pro and she gets lots of milk during the day feeds all I hear is gulp gulp gulp gulp and at night it's gulp suck suck suck suck suck suck suck gulp suck suck etc and her middle of the night feeds are all gulp gulp gulp too