Any disadvantages to EBF bar one bottle at night?

[JimbosJetSet]

I EBF DD to 6 months and I contunued BFing her in the night until well past her first birthday.

I am now expecting DC no 2 and I fully intend to BF. however, the advantages of giving the baby one bottle of formula at night are appealing.

Has anyone done this and encountered any problems, or are there any disadvantages to the baby (or myself!) by EBF apart from one bottle of formula at nighttime?

Thanks!

I found this useful when making my decision

I think our understanding of BF suggests there are particular disadvantages to introducing such a bottle early on as it can lead to an artificially long gap between feeds, reducing supply, especially as the nighttime feeds can be particularly beneficial for supply.

I gave DS one bottle at bedtime from 12 weeks, and DS the same from 4 months. Haven't had any problems with either of them. I've found it has made it easier for DH to feel involved and given me more freedom as they'll take a bottle at other times if necessary. No probs with weight gain or milk supply here.

We did the same with DC2, we gave formula at 10pm(ish) from 12 weeks. It was a life saver, with a toddler and a newborn you need to get as much rest as possible. No regrets here, it kept me sane and DD2 was fine with it. No probs with milk supply etc. I tried doing it with expressed milk at first but just couldn't pump enough.

Personally I found it affected my supply, but think it varies from woman to woman as other people I know didn't. Your body also produces a different kind of protein in the milk at night which assists the babies body to differentiate between night and day and helps them move to a normal circadian rhythm, so it could slow down the gradual sleeping better at night thing potentially.

However, that applies more to very young babies. Older babies it would probably be less of a problem to, and it has to be balanced against your needs too.

Incidentally I bf to 4mo so the supply thing for me was in the early days. If I had introduced it later at 12 weeks or 4 months as others above did I may not have had that.

Re. supply, I pump whatever I've got left at 9.30pm, it's normally only 2-3 ounces.

Re. nipple confusion - my friend is a maternity nurse and has never seen nipple confusion. She advises introducing a bottle (of breast milk or formula) at about 3 weeks or the baby may never take one.

Playing devil's advocate, Marathon, there's no reason a baby HAS to take a bottle at all, so I think that's slightly warped logic! However, of course the pros are that you could get a bit more rest (possibly) if DP did one night feed, but as others have said, and I'm sure the link confirms,

• night time breastmilk contains sleep hormones for you and baby to aid a natural sleep
• babies MAY sleep longer after a bottle of formula (though there's no guarantee) because it is much harder to digest. This deep sleep isn't necessarily a good thing and means you'll go even longer between breastfeeds at a crucial point of high prolactin levels (milk-making hormone). Night feeds are important to 'put the order in' for the next day's milk. Prolonging baby's sleep means less night feeds, deeper sleep for them, which can be linked to an increased risk of SIDS (I'm sorry if that seems like scare-mongering), and yes, potential supply issues for you.

I will say I know plenty of mums an evening bottle has been a positive thing for, and plenty who it hasn't. Ultimately it's your choice, but it may not be the golden ticket to DP involvement and more rest that it promises.

Sorry Mombo - I wasn't saying that you should introduce a bottle at bedtime. I was just addressing Maples point about nipple confusion. If you want to introduce a bottle, six weeks may be too late. My sister has just sold her Olympic tickets because her ebf DS won't take a bottle at all, she left introducing it too late. Also, my friend missed her anniversary spa treat for the same reason.

I introduced a bottle at 5 weeks, but gave it at late morning rather than bedtime. It meant DD napped for an hour or two (compared to 10 minutes after BF), and I found it easier to cluster feed and settle her at night anyway. I think there's some theory about hormones and milk production at night so I preferred to give a single bottle during the day.

It didn't affect my supply either, still BF her at 9 months. Since she's been on solids she doesn't have a bottle every day either.

I did this

Worked very well

Sorry too soon

Worked very well - DH gave the bottle when DS woke at 11pm ish and I got a chunk of sleep 9-2am ish

It's silly to give your baby a bottle of formula to try and make them sleep through the night. Baby will do this when ready.

When you give one bottle of formula this can reduce your supply and can encourage mastitis etc.

Not worth it in my opinion!

Good luck with what you decide x

I did this late eve bottle feed with all 3 of mine. No nipple confusion, no mastitis, no effect on breast feeding or on baby sleeping.

The older 2 are now 6 foot plus teenagers and the youngest is 11. All are perfectly fine, and DH enjoyed the chance to feed the babies at 11pm-ish while I got a few hours sleep.

There are no guarantees with babies, or children, so trust your instincts and go with what works best for you and your family x

Agree with wowser - ivr seem nipple confusion and it's the death knell for bf. no hcp should be advising ff unless there's no/slow weight gain it's a who code violation.
Font get me wrong I can see there are perceived practical
Advantages but the health disadvantages are greater - introducing formula is a risk to your baby and a risk to bf - you have to weigh those up for yourself

Hmmm, thanks for all the responses! It has certainly given me lots more to think about now... Perhaps the possible advantages of a bottle are outweighed by the possible disadvantages then.

I did this from day 2. We're now 3 months on and no problems at all. It allowed me to get a good chunk of sleep from the start with DP taking a turn. Kept me sane. I know way too many people who quit bfing altogether because the pressure of broken sleep and being solely responsible for feeds was too much for them. You could weigh things up again after baby arrives when you see how you're doing.

If it helps I decided to give a bottle of expressed milk at night (well DH does) as a solution/break for me. Started this at about 13 weeks & he took it with no problems at all.

Once i'd done some research I didn't want to undo the good work breastfeeding had gone with his digestive system but still managed to take the pressure off a bit.

We did an ebm feed in the evenings from about 4 weeks with the letdown milk from the opposite side collected during the day iyswim and that worked well. Often dd didn't want it though so it had to be chucked or frozen.

When people ask me about subbing in a bottle, I generally suggest a lunchtime or late morning bottle rather than a 7pm-7am one.

One reason is that it is when you are most likely to be out. Many women find bfip awkward (I don't) and/or might see friends and relatives who would like to offer a feed. A midday feed is easier to delegate than an evening one which gets in the way of eating/bathtime/tiredness.

Another reason is the supply/hormones discussed upthread.

DD1 had a bottle from her first week, she slowly by 8 weeks she rejected the breast completely. I personally believe it was more the ease of the bottle, fast flow and sense of fullness she preferred to the breast rather than confusion as such.

DD2 I have EBF with 1 bottle of expressed given at about 8 weeks and now at 10 weeks she is having a bottle at bed with no signs of her going off bf. in fact she takes the bottle then wants bf to sleep!

The only problem now is her settling better on ff but that's an entirely different thread!

So I would say wait at least 6 weeks then introduce.

My dd has a bottle at night (about 7.30pm). We had to FF for about 10 days when she was 5 weeks old due to sickness and hospitalisation and I kept the bottle going. My dh usually gives it to her, which gives me half an hour to zone out, and it has become part of her bedtime routine. She now knows that bottle means its nearly time to sleep and that works for us! She's now 5 months old, and is breast fed the rest of the day (and night) . Incidentally, I think it did help her sleep longer at first, but now she's up all night regardless!! I don't think it has had any effect of my supply, as I have recently been away on holiday with her and routine changes meant sometimes I breast fed her at normal bottle time and i had enough to satisfy her then. Do what works for you and your situations and don't think about it too much would be my advice!!