reverse cycling- any chance this might improve/i will get some sleep?

[Helsbelscm]

DD now 6 months. She was EBF from birth. I start back at work next week. After about 5 weeks of persistence I have persuaded her to take a bottle. I have now been working on cutting out some daytime feeds with a plan to continue breast feeds morning, night & overnight. However she is only taking maximum4oz from the bottle & is totally making up for this all night. She is feeding 1.5 to 2hrly & it is kind of killing me. I have a feeling there isn't much I can do but wondered if anyone clever on MN might have any ideas!

Haven't got time to post, but didnt want you to go unanswered.

Have you tried one of the Bfing Helplines?

Do you think she is hungry or seeking comfort? Or using you as a sleep crutch?

With hungry id maybe try to drop a couple of night feeds (easier said than done) and see if you can get more milk into her during the day (quiet room for milk)

If its for extra comfort - maybe extra cuddles from you? A soft toy comforter
or even co sleep so you are there next to her (easier if she demands a feed too)

Calpol if you think she is teething.

With sleep - some gentle sleep training might help (maybe look at no cry sleep solution)

She is definitely hungry. I am already co-sleeping & trying ncss! Co-sleeping is.obvious helping but my sleep.is really broken. The problem is exactly that I can't think how to get more milk into her in the day as she is going to have to use the bottle while I am at work & I am sure she is just taking a little bit to tide her over until she gets her preferred option!

Do you mean she's taking 4oz at each feed? If so that would be plenty!

Isn't 4oz about right for a feed? That's what I give DS when I give a bottle.

Bf babies take on average an ounce an hour, so ideally it is something like 3oz and a 3 hour gap. Think you are going to have a really hard job getting her to take more than 4oz at this age, her tummy just won't be big enough.

Do you a partner? Could he do the first part of the night (or second) using bottles and then you do the other part - that should give you a good 4/5 hour block of sleep?

Well this shows how much I know about bottle feeding! Thought 4oz was only a tiny amount! i have no idea what has been coming out my boobs! She generally takes less though, normally in the region of 2to 3oz. Given what you have said maybe i need to up frequency rather than anything else. As for my DH he has offered to give a bottle in the night but he is deaf in 1 ear so i think by the time i have managed to wake him i could probably have finished it myself!

Hi Hels. I had exactly this problem with one of my twins who is now eight and a half months. At about 7 months I started trying to give her two bottles during the day as she was just not taking the breast (too interested in life) but was feeding loads during the night to make up for it. This didn't work because obvs she didn't want the bottle either cos he was so full from the night. I think the only way you can reverse this is to reduce or stop feeding in the night. Easier said than done I know!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to try stop feeding her at night (without leaving her to cry) so for a couple of nights I did that and she did cry but I cuddled her and rocked her back off. She's now totally accepted no night feeds and is sleeping much better, generally waking once and will go back off if I give some water and a cuddle. Anyway, she is now feeding loads during the day again because she's hungry. So I don't think you can get her to take more in the day without cutting down on the night feeds.

Also, my other twin has been taking a bottle for few months (she is now too) and at 6 months he was taking a 8 oz bottle before bed so I think it is possible that she would take more than 4oz. I'm no expert though!

I would agree with Nancy54, it does sound like reverse cycling. I have a 4.5 month old who is doing similar (ie too interested in the world to breastfeed properly during the day) and I have yet to work out a solution! I am sure if you can cut down the nightfeeds it will improve the daytime feeding - for me as well - but at the moment I am finding it easier just to feed than try an alternative way of getting DS back to sleep!

The one thing I would say though in answer to those saying '4oz is plenty' with your bottle feeds - errr, it's not for a 6 month old! Are people maybe misinterpreting the OP's post as being for a 6 week old not 6 month old? You would be looking for a 6 month old to take a lot more than 4oz for a full feed. I moved both my older DC to formula feeding at 6m, and they were taking between 7 and 8oz per feed. In fact DS3 has a bottle of formula at bedtime now and easily takes 7oz and has been doing since he turned 3 months!

OP - my best suggestion would be with regard to her daytime bottles, if she's only taking 4oz at a time, can you offer smaller 4oz feeds more frequently? And perhaps do a split feed around tea/bedtime i.e. 4oz before her bath and then another 4oz afterwards? Just a thought that might help get more milk into her.

Well, my DS is now 7 months corrected age, and even in his non-bottle-refusing and milk-guzzling moments we have never managed to give him more than about 90 to 100ml (so about 3 oz or so) of ebm at a single feed. When I asked around about this, neither the paediatrician nor the HV thought this was a cause for concern. Just my experience though.

Oops, in the name of accuracy I should say that my DS is now 6.5 months corrected age - I seem to have lost my sense of time.

I should also say that I have no idea about the quantity of formula babies should drink, I've only ever given expressed breast milk.

Gurke I guess it does to some extent depend on the baby. If you look at the side of a formula box or carton, though, the guideline amount for a baby from 4m is 7oz per feed - stating of course that some will need more and some will need less.