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Infant feeding

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

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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:

littlepiggie · 30/10/2006 21:46

I would not worry to much just yet about feeding for comfort, he is still tiny, it was only a few weeks ago he was still inside you and if feeding lots makes the whole thing easyier for him then so what, its a few months of your life, enjoy him been tiny as it all goes so fast.

bluejelly · 30/10/2006 21:48

Also bfeeding a night is sooooo much easier than faffing around with bottles.
Breast milk is always there, always the right temperature and never goes off/bad.

lulumama · 30/10/2006 22:37

wow! you got great advice there,,,,! i know pupuce has said so..but it is true...breast milk actaully more calorific than formula...at less than a month old...and gaining weight beautifully...the advice to top up is wrong imo......try other ways to comfort him rather than feed straightaway...it is early days and you are getting to know each other...learn to listen to baby's different cries and cues...and you will soon know what he needs and when! sounds like he and you are doing really well.....keep going!

tiktok · 31/10/2006 09:31

Jenny, some good points made here already. But I read here that breastmilk has more calories than formula, and this is not true - they are more or less the same, as far as they can be compared, because breastmilk is not always the same. There's a table comparing breastmilk and formula here if you scroll down.

But it does not make sense to compare, because you cannot control the amount of breastmilk a baby has - a baby might take a 100ml of formula and you know he has ingested 68 calories. He might take a breastfeed and you have no idea how many calories he has taken - not just because you don't know the calorie value of your breastmilk (which you don't!), but because you don't know the quantity!

Your HV is simply not doing her job correctly or well. She has failed to explain to you that what you are experiencing is normal in a baby of your baby's age, and that it does not last forever, and that there are ways to make night feeds easier on yourself...expressing (as suggested here) is one way, co-sleeping is another. One bottle of formula given by a mum whose supply is clearly abundant is not likely to have a long term impact on your supply, but of course you reduce the health effect of exclusive breastfeeding.

I wish she had encouraged you, supported you, and explained what a great thing you were doing.

Please don't worry about wondering if he is 'really' hungry. Just feed him - he's only 3 weeks old, and needs to be responded to and there is nothing wrong with feeding for comfort

pupuce · 31/10/2006 13:04

The point Tiktok though is that many women believe wrongly that formula is far more calorific.... and of course you never know how much a baby is reeally taking at the breast.

binkacat · 31/10/2006 20:49

I can't express how annoyed I am at your HV saying that to you. It makes me so mad.

I would be very concerned that giving baby a top up of formula at night would affect your milk production. Its very tempting to do it (especially when advised by HV), problem is baby might sleep well due to having a full tummy as formula is harder to digest. The problem is though that prolactin hormone levels are highest at night and proloactin is what drives the milk supply. If the hormone isn't stimulated then the milk won't be produced. Plus giving one bottle of formula strips away all the good coating that breastmilk lines the stomach with that protects against tummy bugs, etc. It takes something like 6 days of sole b/f for that protective layer to be relaid. And if you start giving a bottle then baby is more likely to get colic and you'll be up all night anyway

This near constant breastfeeding does not last for ever. I bet if you stick with sole b/f for another 4 weeks you will notice a huge difference.

twinklemegan · 31/10/2006 21:07

Binkacat, I didn't know that about breastmilk lining the stomach. So I guess feeding formula top ups undoes the good work of the breast milk. Makes me feel even worse about combining with formula than I do already!

BTW, I know this is a bit off topic, but re the pain issue that was raised - I don't know why pain/no pain is always used as a gauge of whether the latch is correct. For me, BF was agonising at every feed for the first 10 weeks or so (which is partly why I had to introduce formula), but I had the latch checked by a BF counsellor and it was fine. I don't believe anyone who says BF doesn't hurt!

smittenkitten · 31/10/2006 21:09

I have to agree with the advice on here - stay away from formula top-ups if you want to carry on bf. The formula top-up advice was given to me by a mw because I said I thought I was "running out of milk" in the evenings because ds wanted to constantly feed then (yes, I know now but unfortunately didn't speak to a bf counsellor at the time!) and it was one of the things that led to me stopping bf very early on. If you want to bf it's really worth just seeing this period through if you possibly can - take it from someone who didn't!

WeaselMum · 31/10/2006 21:10

oops - posted under dp's name (smittenkitten!)

twinklemegan · 31/10/2006 21:12

But I would say that I've been combining BF and formula for about 12 weeks now and my breast milk is still there. Admittedly the supply hasn't increased that much in line with DS's appetite but that has been largely due to me limiting the number and duration of feeds (because it's been so painful) not the other way round.

binkacat · 31/10/2006 21:17

Twinkemegan - sorry I didn't mean to make anyone feel bad. A/F does not undo all the good work of b/f, yes it does strip the extra coating in the stomach - but the breastmilk you are providing will still have all the antibodies and laods of other health benefits for your baby. So well done for breastfeeding especially when it sounds like you're not having an easy time.

Breastfeeding should not hurt - ok initial latching on/let down might make you wince momentarily. Bu you should not be in agony for any period of time. I would find another b/f counsellor if you are still in agony at every feed.

twinklemegan · 31/10/2006 21:35

Actually for the last couple of weeks it has (finally) not been hurting me. I've been treated for nipple thrush (that's a whole other story which I won't bore you with here) and I don't know whether it was that the made the difference. In some ways I'd love to go back to exclusive bf but I think there would be a hell of a lot of work to do to build up enough of a supply again (and TBH I like the routine we're in now). And DS seems happy and healthy which is the main thing.

littlepiggie · 31/10/2006 22:54

why are hv and mw alowed to give information on something they know so little about, a bf mum has more idea than most of them.

helenhismadwife · 01/11/2006 15:14

Hiya

hv are not the best when it comes to giving bf advice why not get in touch with one of the bf support groups to see what they advise?

la leche league or the nct should be able to put you in touch with someone who can give you better advice and quite often they are still bf themselves. The hospital you delivered at may have a breastfeeding cousellor as well so that is worth checking out.

It is early days yet and your baby is obviously thriving so dont let your hv undermine your achievement and your ability to feed your baby.

Helen

Mumpbump · 01/11/2006 15:38

I think babies go through a growth spurt at around 4/5 weeks - which seems to be the age of your baby - and have a few more when they are feeding constantly. My ds fed every 1.5 to 2 hours which is wearing, but I took the view that I was on maternity leave for the purpose of dedicating myself to ds and that I would therefore go with it. As long as the weight gain is fine, there is no reason to give up b/f if you want to continue. That said, most of my antenatal group did the last feed as a formula feed and got better sleep as a result!! I wouldn't have done it differently though...

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