Topping up a BF baby (9 months) with formula - will this lead to weaning do you think?

[Astrophe]

My ds has beed fully BF until now, and has never been a good sleeper. Recently he has been so hard to settle in the evenings, even after very long bf, following a big dinner of veg/meat/pasta and a pot of yoghurt.

I have started giving him a cup of formula after his bf, and he is sleeping and settling far better. Which is all good, but, after about 10 days of doing this he now looks for his cup, and doesn't seem to want to bf for very long.

He is still happy to bf in the mornings when he wakes, and a bit during the day.

I'd rather keep feeding (although would not be devestated is he stopped as he has always been a fussy feeder...sleep is more important to me now), but wonder if this will lead to weaning off the breast? Anyone have any thoughts/advice/experience?

And can anyone guess why he would suddenly be so hungry and why I don't have enough milk for him (after having a MASSIVE over supply for the first 6 months!)?

i expect he likes it, it is made to taste nice for babies (well i hope it is haven't tried it). why did you start giving it?

maybe he needs a different bedtime. my ds dreadful sleeper till about 9 months then it all settled down. perhaps you are having a similar thing but opposite with unsettledness?

My dd was like this when we gave her top-ups in the evening. She started looking for the bottle, so we hid it, and didn't let her see it until the bf was finished. That phase didn't last long before she twigged that the bottle would still be forthcoming whether or not she saw it first! Fortunately we were able to drop the bottle, but ultimately that was why I dropped the bedtime feed (though she was much older), because she wanted to be like her big brother and drink from a beaker.

I would have thought that, if you continue this way, he will drop the bedtime feed but may well continue with the other feeds - as long as he doesn't get any other bottles.

Does he get a feed after his bath, just before bed, separate from the supper? We always had a feed (whether breast or bottle/cup) with the bedtime story.

ds has little cup of water in bed, has had since about 9 months and he loves it (hybrid non leak). perhaps you could try that?

thanks for responding

he has his dinner, then bath, story etc, then his bf, then his cup, and we already hide the cup , but he looks for it!

we started giving the formula because he seemed hungry avan after his bf, and it seems he is hungry. He will drink up to 90ml, after a good long bf. So I can't really not give him formula can I? What other options are there?

Is it possibly a sleep issue, rather than a feed issue? What are his naps like during the day? Is he possibly overtired by bedtime, and the bottle settles him?

It could be a sleep issue. But he used to often fall asleep at the breast, but now he finishes his bf and looks around for more! I'd say the bf is more soothing for him than a cup really. He usually only sleeps once a day, for about 2 hours, so he is tired at night. He has one good day feed, usually before his nap, and one morning feed before breakfast, and they both seem to satisfy him, which is why I think its a hunger/supply issue.

Yes, I think you're right. You need to talk to Tiktok really - she's the expert when it comes to breastfeeding advice.

At 9 months you supply is well and truly established. If you think he is still hungry I would just breastfeed him again. By doing that your milk will increase. By giving a bottle of formula (which he will take whether he is hungry or not because it is different), your body is not getting the signal to make more. I personally would ditch the formula but that is me

Even though we tried exclusively bf my ds it was never enough for him, after taking advice from bf expert at our local hospital (he was feeding for hours a day and still not putting on weight) we did a combo of the two breast first then bottle. It worked well for us and he thrived but he still loved the bf and we kept it going for two years until we weaned. So in our experience you can quite happily do the two together and it doesn't necessarily mean the end of bf.

The last few nights he has had a little less from the cup, so perhaps it is just a growth spurt my supply hadn't quite adjusted to?