Breast vs bottle

[sazzerbear]

I have a 3 week old who won't sleep much during the night and my husband and I are exhausted!
I have been soley breastfeeding however considering introducing a night-time formula feed as have heard this works well to get them through the night. Or, is it better to express first to give me a break from breastfeeding and get him used to a bottle? Would like some advice, so much conflicting information out there on what is best all round! Also, what sort of time should a 3 week old be going to bed if there is such a thing!!

Hmm
I gave up bf at 2 weeks and I have to say it had no effect whatsoever on my DD's sleeping, she still woke up all the time. I think this "they'll sleep better with formula" is a myth.

Well done for keeping going, someone else will be along with more informed advice soon.

Giving a bottle of formula is very unlikely to make any difference.

You run the risk of undermining your b/milk supply by providing formula too (although some folk have found mix-feeding work for them).

It is very normal for young babies not to sleep. They need to feed often in the early days. They dont understand the difference between day and night (and probably wont do for some months).

All babies are different you see. Some sleep through large portions of the night at a very early age, some dont. Its down to their own individual characteristics, and not really down to how they are fed at all.

If you wish to bottlefeed, then of course, thats okay, but please dont do it on the pretext that your baby 'may' sleep better, because it is quite likely that he/she wont. You may end up bitterly disappointed.

Your baby is going through a growth spurt. There's no such thing as a "bdtime" for them I'm afraid.

What you might like to do is to babymoon. That is lots of skin to skin and being in bed with baby. Night time is simply day in the dark. You need to take all opportunities to rest and if you babymoon then you will.

It is a bit relentless the first few weeks but I promise it will settle. The problem with introducing a bottle of formula is that you are in effect telling your breasts not to produce that feed. Which then becomes a self-perpetuating cycle, less milk from breasts more formula. When a baby goes through a growth spurt he is demanding more milk of your breasts by feeding more. Your breasts make the adjustment and produce more milk. Weeks 6 and 11 are other weeks where the baby will demand more (probably why these are key times for women to give up breastfeeding).

So in essence....babymoon darling. Lots of skin to skin and being in bed or resting with your baby. hth

oh yes, fab advice marsy

hi. dd2 was 11 weeks early. tried to bf her in hospital but she kept falling asleep. in the end she came home on ebm given to her with a dr brown bottle. she didn't sleep.

after a few weeks i got her to fully bf from me. in the evening she would be constantly on me but she started sleeping through. i don't know whether it was the bfing or her just settling down and getting into a routine herself.

we did the usual kept her as active as we could during the day and by night time dim all the lights, bath her and we always put her to bed awake.

Agree with Kreamkrackers and everyone else here. My DD started sleeping longer at night when she started feeding ALL evening - cluster feeding - stocking up for the night I think. As to bed time, I wouldn't worry about that too much at this stage. When DD was this age we just used to take her to bed when we went up so that if she did sleep for a longer stretch it was more likely to be 12 to 5ish rather than 7 to 12 IYSWIM. if at all possible, I would just try and relax and go with the flow and follow your baby's lead. Much too early to worry about routine or bedtime I think but know many will disagree...

Thanks for all your messages, I am not alone!! We had a much better night last night, long may it continue!

at 3 weeks old they just sleep and wake whenever. im bottle feeding and my ds is demanding. he 12 weeks now and goes to bed at 9pm. he naps about 6pm but i dont put him in his cot till 9pm coz that is when he has his last feed and he goes through the night then till 6am and has a big feed then.
he still has the odd night when he wakes in the middle of the night but hes teething now...so you swap one prob for another lol....i think i went off subject a bit there..

Oh dear bless you sazzerbear, we have all been there. Hang in there and it will get easier, I am sure. At 3 weeks they have no concept of day and night but in another 3 weeks it will be better, and 3 weeks after that better still. Good luck. Agree formula prob not the answer just now.