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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

making up formula feeds at night

40 replies

jenny260906 · 30/10/2006 20:29

i have been advised to 'top up' my BF baby with formula feed last thing at night to try and fill him up.

Went to Tesco today and bought some cow & gate formula and relevant equipment but i have a few questions regarding making up the formula...

If i want to give him a formula feed during the night can i make a bottle up in advance then leave it in the bottle warmer ready for when he needs it? then just turn the warmer on during the night and give him the bottle? or does it need to be stored in the fridge until required?

The container says to give the feed within an hour of making it up but this isn't very practical during the night, especially when i have no idea when my baby will wake for the feed!

help!!

All very confusing!
x

OP posts:
QuootieSpookypie · 30/10/2006 20:31

I think you can do the water and leave it, then all you have to do is add the powder and heat? Or use them carton things?

MKG · 30/10/2006 20:33

If you want store it in the fridge. Or have the water ready and just add the powder when it is needed.

tribpot · 30/10/2006 20:33

Hi Jenny - I'm not qualified to talk to you about the pro's and cons of a formula top-up, although my instinct is to say 'no' (but that's based on reading MN, not on personal experience).

However, if you do decide to go ahead, no you can't made the formula up in advance unless you have one of those natty day-to-night warmer jobbies, which keeps the milk cold until you need it, and then heats it up.

By far the easiest way to avoid that is to have a bottle with water only in on hand, plus either the box of formula or a powder dispenser containing a measured amount. Tip latter into former when baby wakes et voila. (But baby has to accept formula at room temp for this to work). Alternatively have a flask of hot water ready, mix formula in then add cooler water to make it drinkable. The important thing is not to leave a bottle of formula made up for hours unless in the fridge.

lulumama · 30/10/2006 20:35

do not store made up milk out of the fridge for more than an hour...

boil water and leave to cool and add the powder when ready...
can get powder dispensers so can measure it out in advance

mothercare , avent & tomee tippe do them

or use a carton of ready made!

i formula fed mine and never warmed the milk, always gave it room temp which got over waiting for it to warm while they screamed

why are you being advised to top up ? how old is LO>

loomer · 30/10/2006 20:36

I never used a warmer with bottles. I used to measure out so-many fluid ounces of cooled water and top up to so-many with fresh boiled water. Takes a bit of experimenting to get the ratio right.

Either way you can then you can fill a thermos flask with the right temperature water and take this into babies room when you put him down, along with your bottle with the dry formula measured into it, and just mix the two when required.

littlepiggie · 30/10/2006 20:56

why are you been told to top up?

Original poster
jenny260906 · 30/10/2006 20:56

thanks everyone! hopefully he will only need one formula feed late evening and i wont need to heat/prepare bottles in the night.

lulumama.... my baby is now 23 days old. ~I took him to be weighed today and mentioned to the HV that he feeds every hr to hr and a half all morning and throughout the night (and each feed lasts for between 10mins and 40mins which means im feeding pretty much constantly during this time) and i was worried about him not taking enough milk and hence why he kept waking for a feed. she suggested giving him a formula feed last thing at night to see if he will last a little longer before his next feed to give me more sleep and him a fuller tummy. Im not sure if this is the right thing to do but cant see one bottle a day doing him or my milk supply any harm?!

we will be trying his first FF tonight at 10:30pm ish so hopefully he will take it and make him fuller!

OP posts:
littlepiggie · 30/10/2006 21:02

tik toc is the one you want, but as far as i know it does have an affect on milk supply.
It is normal for babies to feed that much, ds started weaning a few weeks ago (6 months), he fed every 2 hours in the day up until then.

HV know about as much about bf as i do about flying a plane (most anyway)

frumpystumpy · 30/10/2006 21:04

Maybe not a popular idea but......I breastfed my DTs but bottle fed through the night because otherwise I would get nooooo sleep at all. I made up the feeds before bed and laid them out in a line and grabbed one whenever I needed it. The freshly made ones were warm and closer to morning they were room temp. I had no issues with bottles being out the fridge......

(DT2 cried a lot but DT1 didn't so it wasn't the milk )

Aitchisforhellishdifficult · 30/10/2006 21:11

jenny, on the one hand i think 'what do i know about this to start advising someone cos my breastfeeding failed and i was only able to mix-feed for four months'? on the other hand i think that your HV is talking horseshit, really and truly, and completely endangering your ability to breastfeed.

your wee baby sounds very much like mine, feeding constantly for ages, but what i found out when i finally accessed specialist breastfeeding help was that although my latch looked good enough to midwives and HVs, the baby actually wasn't really drinking. it was too late by then for me, and my supply began to tail off especially when the baby discovered that he bottle was so much easier.

and by getting him to sleep at night, which is the best time for building up your supply, well, that seems potentially counter-productive for you.

if you're absolutely certain that you have loads and loads of milk, then feel free to ignore everything i've said, i guess. good luck, and congrats on your tiny little baby...

Aitchisforhellishdifficult · 30/10/2006 21:13

and sorry, frumpystumpy, but the idea of leaving hot bottles to slowly breed bacteria overnight is simply dangerous. i'm sure your children were absolutely fine but it's not hugely responsible advice all the same.

pupuce · 30/10/2006 21:15

Jenny at 23 days your milk supply is barely established, your milk supply can be affected by formula feeds.
And whilst it "may" work you may also end up with colic or more wind and an unsettled baby.
Only you can decide what you want to do.... no one walks in your shoes
But HV are notoriously bad at BF advice as they often feel formula will solve things!
Do you know how much calories there are in an average breastfeed and an average formula feed ?
If you can spend the time I would go to a BF clinic and have a proper discussion with a BF counsellor or lactation consultant. There might be a few tricks to help you space the feeds and have a more efficient feeder... formula may not be the right answer.
You may not find this an issue but the minute you start on formula you do change the gut flora of the baby.

pupuce · 30/10/2006 21:17

It is definitely not safe to leave formula next to bed...
The safest is to use ready made formula.

littlepiggie · 30/10/2006 21:21

HV love fomula and baby rice, they think it solves everything, sure they get paid by the companies that make it.

Original poster
jenny260906 · 30/10/2006 21:21

i wasnt convinced about the advice the HV gave me but i thought... she is the professional, she SHOULD know best. hhhmmmm beginning to doubt that now.

She gave me details of a local BF centre so i may go to one of their weekly meetings and see if the true professionals can tell me if he is latching on properly. Im not sure if he is, which i mentioned to the HV. She said if it doesn't hurt when he feeds then he is latched on fine?! is this true? It doesn't hurt when he feeds unless he is doing one of his marathon feeding sessions then i get a little tender but not sore.

By the way, he weighed 8lb 5oz 12 days ago. Today he weighed 9lb 4oz so he is gaining weight fine.

oh this feeding lark is so difficult!

OP posts:
pupuce · 30/10/2006 21:23

He gained a pound in 12 days... you have a fab supply - feeding plenty... my question would be :
Are you sure you are feeding when he is hungry.... they sometimes are unsettled for other reasons but it sounds like hunger so we shove boob in mouth very common!!!

Aitchisforhellishdifficult · 30/10/2006 21:25

my breastfeeding NEVER hurt, that was also another piece of dodgy advice i received. honestly jenny, you do not want to get into a mix feeding situation, it is a pain in the arse, please go to the bf clinic and explain everything to them.

Aitchisforhellishdifficult · 30/10/2006 21:26

your supply sounds great, by the way, but you might be able to encourage the other person in this breastfeeding partnership to perform a little more efficiently with a slightly different latch.

Original poster
jenny260906 · 30/10/2006 21:29

HV actually asked me if i was feeding him when he was hungry...

I have no idea to be honest?! He cries so i try to entertain him, if that doesn't work then yes i try feeding him. Is this not the right thing to do? I really dont understand when to feed and when not to! I can only recognise his cry for food when he is absolutely starving and is starting to become a little distressed by it... i cant work out what his other cries mean yet.

so when he wimpers/cries what routine should i follow do you think to avoid trying to feed him when he doesn't really need feeding?

Having said that... if he wasn't hungry would he still latch on?

OP posts:
littleducks · 30/10/2006 21:33

I would recommend holding out on giving the formula, he is still so tiny and your building up breastfeeding patterns which could be upset this early on.

pupuce · 30/10/2006 21:33

Yes comfort feeding!!!
Some babies just need to be held closely and will settle without a feed. Ideally they should not cry when they are fed as it is a sign of great hunger... You should feed a baby before he cries so that he feeds well and calmly before being stressed from hunger. Signs of hunger are arm movements, tension in body, hands to mouth.
A sling is also useful.
And BTW there are more calories in breastmilk than formula.

littleducks · 30/10/2006 21:33

you are sorry

littlepiggie · 30/10/2006 21:37

sounds like you are both doing great, babies do like to be cuddled up to mummy, heve you tried swaddling? workedwell with ds, or a sling?
You should just make the most of the day feeds where you can watch tv, read a book, eat, drink, anything else you might want to do and feed at the same time as at about 4 months that all goes out the window when they want to play with everything.

Original poster
jenny260906 · 30/10/2006 21:41

i think he does comfort feed to be honest as he may 'feed' for say 5mins then just play with my nipple in his mouth - bobbing his head back and forth and letting my nipple slide in and out of his mouth - so i will try just holding him close when he does that then and see if that helps.

thank you for all your advice by the way!
x

OP posts:
bluejelly · 30/10/2006 21:46

Agree with what the others said. Get some proper support not just an unclued up hv.
My baby fed constantly for around 6 weeks, but there was nothing wrong with her, she just needed a lot.
She gained loads of weight, very healthy etc and by 3 months her feeds were spaced out quite naturally and she had a good 'routine'.
I would go with the flow if I were you, you sound like you are doing great so far