DS spending hours on feed - should I top up with formula?

[PotatoPicker]

I have a very hungry 8 week old. I'm breastfeeding and every evening he spends hours feeding, last night for example was just over 3 hours in one sitting, after only giving me a less than an hours break before that. He can also be very restless/uncomfortable during this time, often pulling away while still trying to hold his latch. It seems like wind but when I take him off to try releave the wind he screams and roots desperate to get back to feeding.
I know he is getting enough milk as he puts on around 10oz every week, sometimes even 14oz!
When he does settle and sleep, he goes down for 2.5-3 hours at a time and then it's just short feeds (20mins average) through the night.

The hours on the boob drives me crazy! It's an overwhelming time to spend feeding and then the restlessness/crying during it is stressful, exhausting and can be sore.
I am thinking of giving hungry baby formula in the evenings to satisfy him and settle him quicker. Will this help? I want to express while DH feeds DS so my supply stays up but should i offer DS breast first (for a limited time) and then top up with formula or just do the full feed as formula?

Any other advice is welcome. Thank you for reading all of this!

Has he always been feeding for 3 hours in the evening?

There's a growth spurt around 6 weeks which can continue for a while so sounds like he's still trying to build up your supply/build up for the spurt.

I've never done formula but don't think you should necessarily jump straight onto hungry milk.

It sounds like he's taking air in which is making him uncomfortable when latching. What hold are you using when feeding? & has he been checked for tongue tie?

When my DS is rooting & taking in air he screams & then after a burp will go back on but I have to use a pillow & the rugby ball hold to make sure he's not taking in air.

Hopefully someone more knowledgable will come along with regards to formula but my DS was the same at that growth spurt & he's really greedy & will feed for hours if he wants to but he has now started to do 6-9 hours at night. Plus the hours of feeding stopped.

That sadly is though what cluster feeding is, my eldest once did 7 hours which completely numbed me.

Hope you've got lanisoh to use as it can be incredibly sore.

Make sure you are getting plenty to eat and drink in the evening too and put your feet up. Keep some water by you. It is the time that you are at your lowest ebb.

He's been doing this most nights from around 5 weeks. I first thought it was a growth spurt but surely not still?
He feeds very regularly during the day too. I don't mind during the day but by the evening I'm tired and need a bit of time for myself. I struggle to get time to shower!

I'll try to use the rugby hold. I do that during the day sometimes but very rarely in the evening.

@mylittlesunshine I do think that sometimes but he won't take the dummy.

I found that feeds suddenly got a lot shorter around 12 weeks. I think he became more efficient at sucking.

Have you had a chat with the health visitor or your local breastfeeding advisor/lactation consultant?

The La Leche League website may also be useful, as they have loads of troubleshooting and information leaflets.

www.laleche.org.uk/unhappy-baby/

There is also the breastfeeding network which may be of use too:

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk

Be very careful introducing formula - baby may not take it for a start, or it may upset his tum even more - there may already be some intolerance which may not be settled by or may be exacerbated by formula.

Also, I would definitely say don't be tempted by hungry baby formula - it seems like a bit of overkill at this point. Hungry baby formulas contain higher levels of casein protein and whey which is hard for babies to digest, so the idea is merely to keep your baby's tummy fuller for longer, however there is no evidence which says that babies are more satisfied or settle for longer than with other formulas. It's more of a gimmick to encourage people to buy in hopes of a quick fix imo.

If you did decide to go with formula, you could look at the first steps nutrition trust website which can help you to decide on a particular formula if that's they way you wanted to go.

www.firststepsnutrition.org.

And I'd also say that if you were to mix feed, you'd still need to be doing those overnight feeds to ensure your supply continues as lactation hormones are higher overnight. Introducing formula will have an effect on the amount that you produce and you will likely find that your supply dwindles quite quickly if you're supplementing with formula, so do be prepared for that if you do use some formula.

Personally I wonder whether the discomfort at the breast is down to an underlying cause rather than baby just being too hungry - as you say, he's gaining weight and is only difficult late evening/night time, have you thought of getting him checked for reflux or lactose intolerance? Some babies do have an intermittent lactose intolerance which resolves itself eventually. May be worth a look into?

I remember this and I remember the feeling of confusion and worry about it. It's very frustrating but it does stop. I can't remember exactly when but I know I phoned the breastfeeding helpline many a night in tears at this!

No real advice except and this too shall pass xx

Also I don't think it means he's necessarily hungry I think it's just part and parcel of breastfeeding for some people unfortunately

I think it is just because you are tired in the evening and milk production slows. I put my feet up and fed (and ate a good evening meal with drinks and snacks in the evening) and went with it with DTDs and things got better at about 12 weeks, and they slept through far earlier than DS who was my PFB. I tried to resist this with him.

I also used to keep a list of times because I lost the plot. You could see how many times a day they were feeding then and how it changed (with a pencil after DS drew trains all over the bedroom wall with the biro - he still wasn't sleeping through)

My little boy was pretty similar op, I did too up with formula, not hungry baby, that stuff is way too heavy, just normal stage one formula, it did the trick for us, he always slept really well after and I got a little break, it didn't interfere with the breastfeeding either