Changing breast feed to bottle feed at bedtime

[Northfieldmommy]

My five and a half month old dd has been exclusively breastfed until two week's ago when i started to introduce a bottle of formula at her lunchtime feed (have tried expressing and it just doesn't work for me). I intend to mix feed her for as long as she takes the breast at her other feeds, but want to start giving her a bottle at her bedtime feed to give me a bit of a break and let her dad get involved with her bedtime routine.

Her usual routine has been bath, feed and then bed. Most of the time she falls asleep on the breast but then wakes up as soon as she is put in the cot and then gets herself to sleep, and she is quite good at self soothing.

Have introduced a bottle in the routine the last couple of nights and she seems fine with it, but will only take four ounces, which i don't think will be enough to get her through the night so have also offered her the breast afterwards and, sure enough, she breastfeeds for another ten mins or so - so she's obviously still hungry, she just doesn't want the rest of the bottle.

has anyone experienced this? How can i get her to take more of the bottle and be confident she's full? should i just put her down after the four ounces?

Hiya. In my experience, because breastfeeding makes them work harder and is a bit sedating to little ones, too they get worn out and fall asleep easier. Bottle is easier for them so they don't wear out as much, but the milk is by its nature heavier so they tend to sleep for longer before wanting to be fed. I've breastfed my three children and did combination feeding too at different stages with all of them. I think it's more for them to get used to than we realise. Chances are she still wants you because you ARE her bedtime routine... if that makes sense. Not really about hunger. Also, a little food for thought, my ds2 wouldn't take bottled milk from me at all. My husband had to do it. If I tried he would suck for a while, realise he wasn't getting the milk he could smell from me and not really be bothered. But then would feed for ages if I then breastfed instead. (Just something to consider). :)

Is it because the last couple of ounces have gone a bit cold? Ds takes ages with a bottle and always refuses at the end, but if i offer another bottle of warm milk or the breast he will take it.

Thanks for the responses. She definitely prefers warm milk (only way i could get her ro take a bottle in the first place was to have it VERY warm) so will try taking a couple of bottles up with me tonight. Will also try to get dh to feed her. Will keepyou posted. Thank you

I was going to say about the temperature, I think they crave the comfort of warm milk. My tip would be maybe wrapping the bottle in a muslin or keep it in a bottle bag during the feed so u don't waste formula x

If your main aim is to get dad involved and you just a short break then I wouldn't worry about how much she takes, she'll sort herself out with other feeds. And she'll need to get used to it, not just the taste but how to digest it etc. I did both from 8 months and found DD didn't add extra bf but never took much from the bottle, 3oz was about average. I kept up bf 1-2 feeds until 16months, it worked well

Quick update - i took two small bottles up with me tonight for her feed as they keep the heat better than a big bottle and she had 6 and a half ounces! She seemed really sleepy afterwards so I popped her into bed and she tossed and turned for about ten mins but then dropped off to sleep without too much fuss. Not sure if 6 and a half ounces is enough to last her through the night (she's been sttn for the last week or so), but we'll see!