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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Genuinely can't understand why people say this...

42 replies

Writerwannabe83 · 16/06/2014 22:52

"You should give a bottle of expressed milk at night, it will help him sleep better."

I don't understand.....people say this to me all the time, but why would giving expressed milk in a bottle make them more tired than feeding from the breast??

I really do want it explained to me

Or is it just one of those weird things that people say for no known reason?

OP posts:

OsMalleytheCat · 16/06/2014 22:53

I think (no actually basis for this other than my thought!) it's because you don't have to get them out of their crib/cot and put them back down again so their sleep is less disturbed?

jaggythistle · 16/06/2014 22:55

Eh osmalley how would that work?

I thought feeding a baby lying flat wasn't advised, surely you'd have to pick them up?

Original poster

Writerwannabe83 · 16/06/2014 22:55

As in dream feed them whilst they are just lying on their backs in the cot/crib?

OP posts:

highlove · 16/06/2014 22:56

I've never heard that. There's the theory that a bottle of formula will help them sleep but I think that's recognised as being rubbish. Anyway, unless you want to give a bottle of expressed milk, I'd ignore entirely

jaggythistle · 16/06/2014 22:59

I'd imagine people think if your pack their wee tummy with milk they'll sleep longer.

I couldn't be bothered expressing if I didn't have to though. :)

clarinsgirl · 16/06/2014 22:59

I always thought the advice about giving a bottle of expressed milk at night was so that DH could do it and mum could sleep...

HamAndPlaques · 16/06/2014 23:01

No, my understanding is that it is an efficient way of tanking them up for the night with a large-ish helping of milk if you have a lower/slower milk supply in the evening. It is also theoretically possible for mum to go to bed early and partner do a feed at 11ish to enable a longer block of sleep for mum. All academic for me as her ladyship never took a bottle.

EssexMummy123 · 16/06/2014 23:07

hhmm - is this one of those 'breast is best so i can feel all smug threads'
because really come adulthood it wont make jack difference.

Oh and of course you have to get them out of bed for a bottle - ffs.

Original poster

Writerwannabe83 · 16/06/2014 23:07

The bit about the partner giving the bottle so mother can rest makes perfect sense

But when I have been given the 'advice' they never say my DH specifically should give the bottle, just that I should and implied it's because the milk is in a bottle as opposed to coming out the breast that makes the baby sleep well. I suppose it makes sense if they are thinking along the lines of 'tanking' the baby up

I first got given the advice when DS was about 8 days old

OP posts:

Xcountry · 16/06/2014 23:10

I had a mare in foal with DD1 so I was going to the stables at night and had to express a bottle for her so DH could give her it. I tell you now it didn't work, she would only fall asleep if cuddled into me. she ended up at the farm in a sling after 4 days.

Original poster

Writerwannabe83 · 16/06/2014 23:10

My question is about giving a bottle of breast milk.

Why does that make it a breast is best thread?

OP posts:

tiktok · 16/06/2014 23:10

writer are you still being harassed by people who won't mind their own? :)

Tell them to butt out!

Original poster

Writerwannabe83 · 16/06/2014 23:12

xcounty - when I read your post I thought you were expressing milk from the mare to give to the foal!! I smiled at how sweet it was that the little foal would only sleep when cuddled up with you and then got very confused when trying to work out how you managed to put a foal into a sling

I had to read it 3 times before I realised you were talking about your daughter

OP posts:

Original poster

Writerwannabe83 · 16/06/2014 23:16

tiktok I'm just surrounded by very 'helpful' ignorant and noseypeople

I'm much more assertive now though when it comes to me telling them what I think of their suggestions but some of them still baffle me

The good news is that my grandparents, who are the worst offenders, have now shut up! I think they realised it was their suggestions that were the reason why I no longer visited......

OP posts:

OsMalleytheCat · 16/06/2014 23:31

All the bottle fed babies I've known their parent just put a bottle in babies mouth...like I said just a thought!

steppemum · 16/06/2014 23:49

I did this with ds and it worked.

The idea is (I got it from a controversial book that Cannot Be Named!)
Anyway, the idea is that the baby cluster feeds in the evening because your supply is low. If you express in the morning when you have a good supply, then in the evening at say 7 or 8, you bf and then offer the 2oz ish of expressed milk. This tanks them up, so they then stop cluster feeding and go off to sleep for a good long sleep.

It really did work for ds, he was abig hungry baby, he fed all evening, cluster feeding like you wouldn't believe, it stopped the cluster feeding immediately. He was a regular as clockwork baby and fed 3 hourly on the dot, so this meant he fed at 7 and then slept til 10, fed and then slept through (from about 6/7 weeks) I also had loads and loads of milk, and expressed 4oz every morning no problem. (which meant that dh could do the odd bottle too)

With dc 2 and 3, expressing was a disaster, couldn't get any milk. Dd1 was so erratic anyway that I wouldn't have know if she was cluster feeding or not!. dd2 was more regular, but expressing was awful and she didn't really ever cluster feed, so didn't need to.
So I didn't do it and didn't notice the difference

Fasterkillpussycat · 17/06/2014 08:26

My dd gets a bottle of EBM before bed. In part this is because she needs meds and this is a convenient way of delivering them. Also, when she was smaller she would get quite frazzled when breast fed. I think I had fast let down. Anyway, she would get flustered and windy and wake up whereas she does not seem to do that with the bottle. Plus there is an element of tanking her up as she very rarely wakes in the night. That said, it is entirely up to you - you know your baby best and is I would ignore suggestions unless you think they will help.

Original poster

Writerwannabe83 · 17/06/2014 10:58

I'm quite happy with my DS's sleeping as he go 5-6 hours overnight which I thought was pretty normal at his age. Obviously things change when he has a growth spurt or the weather is warm but I know it's just a temporary blip

I'm not intending to give a bottle of expressed milk but just genuinely couldn't understand why it was suggested.

The bit about wind makes sense though - DS is definitely more windy at night and as a result it takes him longer to settle.

OP posts:

tumbletumble · 17/06/2014 11:04

I agree with other posters who say it's because your supply is lower in the evening. Your breastmilk is supposed to be best quality first thing in the morning as you're well rested from a good night's sleep haha as if so if you express then and give that milk in the evening your baby will supposedly stay full for longer.

Original poster

Writerwannabe83 · 17/06/2014 11:14

It was always my understanding that the evening milk is actually the best quality??

Why should evening supply be lower than any other time of the day??

And even if evening supply is lower surely expressing a certain amount of ounces is no different to a baby just feeding for longer? It isn't like the breasts are going to run out of milk whilst baby is only half full

OP posts:

HamAndPlaques · 17/06/2014 11:35

Milk isn't of any better quality at any time of day but night feeds are very important when you are establishing a supply as prolactin levels are higher at night.

tumbletumble · 17/06/2014 11:38

Well maybe I'm wrong, it has been known! But I've always thought evening supply was lower because you're tired and have been breastfeeding more frequently throughout the day. I'm sure that's what these people are referring to when they advise a bottle of expressed milk.

PterodactylTeaParty · 17/06/2014 11:45

I have also been told this, by both DM and MIL. I think the idea is that they'll drink more than they would from the breast? MIL described this as the baby "getting a full feed", which I was a bit wtf about given that DD is huge and has about seven chins as it is!

(Should mention to be fair that both DM and MIL are really supportive of me bf in general, they just come from a generation that got very different and crap advice about it. Both of them were told in the 70s/80s that their 9lbs+ babies wanting to feed frequently meant that the babies weren't getting enough milk...)

iK8 · 17/06/2014 11:45

I found with DC1 that a bottle of formula was brilliant for knocking him out from about 2 weeks old until about 12 weeks for about 6 hours of blissful sleep. Then it stopped working...

I think it's the hit of a lot of milk at once and because a full tummy makes you sleepy due to the body's focus on digestion. A bottle delivers milk a bit quicker than a breast and is less effort for the baby IME.

However, with DC2 she wouldn't take a bottle and slept just as marvellously as your baby is op, so there really wasn't any point in fannying about with bottles and expressing.

I have no idea why anyone would specifically express a bottle instead of giving a feed It saves no time and used to take me longer to express than just feed the baby and it was a right pita. Expressing when I had too much milk and was engorged in the early days was heavenly relief but just doing it so dad can give a bottle? Well it's just another thing to try to find the time to do isn't it? If it's not saving you time or having a positive benefit for you or the baby what's the point?

Xcountry · 17/06/2014 11:55

oops sorry Writer should have made that more clear It was my milk for DD. No the mare was a known battleaxe for want of a better word so I would go up at night when there were no pony club kids around to get bitten and kicked for being too near her foal. Didn't want DD getting hurt and the mare is handy with her feet but it didn't work out at home with the bottle so I would have to lock DD in an empty stable till I got the mare and foal out. Shes at school now with a pony of her own and scared of nothing so it obviously left some kind of attraction with her.

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