Come and talk to me....need a boost....

[HateBeingCantDoUpMyJeans]

So ds has been ebf since he was born in sept. I am due back at work in a month and as ds has so far been a bottle refuser I thought I'd better start tge battle

So dh buys a different bottle (cheapie tesco one tgat has a teat tgat looks like a lambs bottle) and he takes it

Ds has fallen into a pattern of waking at 10pm, 2am and 5am, in a bad night it hits double figures [yawn]

So I use tge bottle on wed and don't fed him during tge day and he doesn't wake for his 5am feed. Yesterday he takes abit more and last night he only woke at 2am.

So as well as painful, engorged breasts I have this horrible niggle that I haven't been enough. He has been a milk monster during tge day and through the night because he wasn't getting all he needed and a few bottles of milk has sorted him out in a way I couldn't. I feel so sad and like all my hard work, total exhaustion and standing up for what I believe in has given ds and I a challenging start to his life for no reason. And the best nights sleep I've had in since Ive had since he was born has been something that was just a bottle away

I'm sure you were enough for him, and more . Formula is just harder to digest, so babies can go longer between feeds.

By feeding your baby your own milk as often as he wanted it, you've given him the best possible start. As well as having food when he wanted it, he's also had cuddles when he wanted and known that you'll respond when he needs something.

Someone once described formula as a Christmas dinner! Everytime a formula fed baby has a bottle, it's like he ate a big Christmas dinner. So it's not surprising he doesn't need another one for 4 or more hours. In contrast, with breastfeeding, the baby might just take a little snack, a normal meal or a Christmas dinner. So the time he takes to digest it can be long or short and he might need feeding again very quickly.

Please don't doubt what you've been doing. You have done the right thing and you're now doing a different right thing, they're just different :)

Please don't doubt your supply, if this was an issue the problem would have presented itself long before now.

It could be the formula helping him sleep or he could have settled into this new pattern all by himself. Have a look here at formula and sleep. Babies change all the time and don't forget that BFing Mums get more sleep than their ff friends. Also, half of 12 month old still wake at some point during the night however they are fed.

if you do want to continue bfing there are things you can do if the frequent wakings are bothering you. Have a look at this from Dr Sears. Have you read the No Cry Sleep Solution too?

Bfing is about much more than how many calories you can jam into them too. Have a look at all the benefits you and your DS have gained already, here .

Just a thought - if you weren't making much milk for him during the night - why have you got sore, engorged breasts the one time he doesn't have bfs at night? Surely you'd have woken up just fine....*

I would suggest a slower transition to bottlefeeding as if you just stop bfing you are at risk of plugged ducts/mastitis. If your working schedule allows for this, you could keep morning and evening feeds going for as long as you both want. It doesn't have to be full bfing OR full bottlefeeding. If you don't want to go back to bfing at all, then expressing can help relieve the pain and engorgement and you can gradually taper down the expressing until you are comfortable again (this may take some time but means your breasts have less chance of mastitis/plugged ducts developing).

• This doesn't apply to very established bfing (i.e. over 1 or 2y) as by then you are mostly making milk as and when the child bfs with a bit stored.