BF'ing newborn, DH not keen..

[EMS23]

We have 2 older DC's, the younger 22 mths & still up in night occasionally.
I failed to BF before but DD, born Sat 4am is latching beautifully so I'm keen to do it.

But we're so used to the bottle routine and my DH is incredulous that I could potentially be all night feeding with no sleep or routine for the foreseeable.
We came home y'day and so far she won't sleep independently, wants to sleep on me and wants to feed constantly.
Is that all normal? Will it be slightly easier when my milk comes in?
Would giving her one bottle in the night kill breast feeding? I could express or give formula I was thinking, just so DH could help.

Sorry to ramble!!

It is all perfectly normal, could dh help with other things like bathing and looking after the older ones? you sound like you are doing a fantastic job.

Just relax.

Don't worry about tonight, or tomorrow, don't worry what shes doing or not doing.

Just sit and feed her when she wannts to be fed. The more you feed her the better it will be, more milk will come in and she will get more, a bottle could disturb that.

My advice would be try to put the bottle out of your mid, I know thats hard as its your norm, but if its working at this moment, right now, if shes feeding and you are happy then focus on that and just take it one feed at a time.

And tell your DH you want to do this for as long as you can and would like support.

Congratulations on your new baby!
It is possible to bf (as many millions of women do) and cope with the night feeds - it sounds like your DH is quite supportive of night feeds, so instead of that, perhaps he could help more in other ways so you don't get too tired?
It is perfectly normal for your newborn to feed a lot - she is helping to stimulate the milk production, I wouldn't give her a bottle just yet, and I think the advice is to not introduce a bottle (even with expressed milk) just yet either - it's a few years since I bf so this may be different now, but I'm sure someone with current info will be along soon.
It sounds like you're off to a good start though.

PS i failed feeding my first 3 but did a good few weeks with my newest DS and for ME that was a sucess. I went for as long as I could :)

This is making me broody!! lol

You're doing brilliantly. All sounds normal and so lovely and close to your dd.

Will take a couple of weeks after milk comes in for demand / supply equilibrium to establish itself.

I wouldn't disrupt that with formula if I could help it. Ask dh to help in other ways and do not fret about housework.

Enjoy your baby. very pleased bfing is working out for you.

It's normal and it will settle down.

Congratulations!

When your milk comes in she will still want to feed little and often but not as constantly as she is doing now.

I probably wouldn't mess around with bottles just yet, because you might find it causes more problems than it solves. I would just take baby into bed with you and doze while feeding. If DH wants to help in the night then she might need winding or a nappy change? TBH though it's easier all round during the newborn stage if everyone just tries to get as much sleep as possible even if that means you doing all the feeding, because breastfeeding in your sleep once you've got the hang of it is a lot more restful than using bottles. If DH really wants to give one later on that could be something to look into after the first 6 weeks or so, but there are lots of other ways he could help out which might work better.

If your cot or cotbed will stand up with 3 sides, consider converting it into a sidecar cot so that once your baby is a bit bigger she can have her own space and for now that you don't worry about her falling out of bed.

It's all a bit full-on for the first few weeks but it does get a lot easier. Keep posting on mumsnet!

Congratulations!

I would say, do what feels right for you and baby.

Completely normal for babies to want to sleep on you, especially if bf ime.

Yes there is tiredness and disturbed sleep associated with bf babies, but that's true with ff fed too.

Do what you think is best for baby.
Daddy can bond in other ways apart from feeding.

Also, I'd second not using bottles if bf, at this stage anyway.

Your milk supply isn't regulated yet and your baby might find the difference in suckling confusing and frustrating.

Thanks for the replies. DH is being great, having taken over 100% on everything else.. Looking after older DC's, house stuff, holding new baby when I need to do other things.

He tried holding her btwn feeds in the night so I could rest but she got quite distressed. She's been better today though, settled a bit in the basket and with him.

I've got a bf counsellor coming this week, hopefully tomorrow so perhaps if they explain to my DH what our expectations should be, then he will find it easier to cope. I hope so because my nipples are so sore today that the bottles look very tempting right now and knowing it would make DH more comfortable makes it hard to persevere.

boys - every breastfeed is a victory for me after my previous failure, which sent me into PND, so I'm aiming for one feed at a time and if the next feed is destined to be a bottle then so be it. If I made it to 8 weeks, I'd be so chuffed!

Sorry, I meant name check greenparcel there!