Prefers bottle at 02.00...

[Jellybellyrbest]

Need to be quick as DS about to waken for next feed! He was premature (35wks), jaundiced (had to have treatment), so for the first time we're mixed feeding (DC4). Busy life & DH often not sitting down & ready to give bottle till after 9. Which at this stage (DS 7+2) has cluster fed & takes max 1oz & conks out. He then sleeps a far bit; (tonight it was 01.00ish) before he's ready for his next feed. Tonight he happily guzzled 5oz & is still aslp. Great for me; got 6.5 hrs sleep! Not so great for DH who's getting up for work in a couple hours now. How do we turn this around? TYIA….

Is your DS is 7 weeks old? One night waking isn't so bad at that age is it?- certainly well into normal.

I've worded that really badly; what is like to do is have DS take the FF earlier & me BF through the night. I'm already worried that the supplementing we've had to do will have affected my supply. I need to do the night feeds for that reason & DH needs to be in bed before midnight..

Sorry, advice a bit thin on the ground here! I'm mix feeding and DS has a big bf in the morning and mid morning then needs topping up more as the day goes on. I was told that the more I fed the more I would be able to feed but after weeks of sitting baby on boob all evening I still haven't been able to build my evening supply up. I too wanted to bf in the night- bottles are such a pain- but never really managed it. Fortunately DS has dropped his night feeds (15 weeks)now- hence the full boobs in the morning! Sorry but I think that the way to go is to either dramatically reducing f to up your supply or gradually reducing it over time- either way it might mean some long nights to replace a 5 oz bottle.
With the earlier bottle- we give DS a bf and top up at 7-7.30pm then a dream feed at 10-10.30 ! Sometimes he takes a lot, sometimes very little but it helped him last longer into the night which might let your boobs get "full" for a good night bf

Just want to add something about how breastfeeding works. Have a look at the excellent Kellymom website for the full explanation, but actually having "full" boobs give the message to your body to make less milk. This will therefore reduce your supply in the long run.

To increase supply you need to nurse often, and remove milk from your breasts. Your breasts are constantly making milk, there's no need to try and get "full" boobs.

I know!! it's just the way I've found it- I do nurse DS frequently during the day though so maybe that has made a difference. Most bf ladies I know do get "fuller" if they leave it too long to feed

Yes of course when bfeeding your breasts will feel full if it's been a fair while since the last feed, that is normal. (Well, later on when bfeeding an older baby/toddler it's actually normal not to get engorged at all).

My point was, for the OP, to be aware that leaving a long gap between feeds to produce "full" breasts will actually reduce supply. That's not what she was hoping to achieve. I was also trying to point out that you don't need "full" breasts to give a big feed.