Baby only feeds at night!

[undercoverhero74]

Hello everyone, I am in some desperate need of some help.
My baby is 7 months old and I have had to return to work. The problem I have is he will still not take a bottle.
I am currently working 10hr shifts with a 4hr commute thrown in on top. This is an extremely long time to be out of the house and although he takes maybe a couple of ounces during this time (to keep hydrated) he seems to wait until I return home and feed all night! It’s like he’s reversed day time and night time in order to avoid the bottle!
This is exhausting as it means after working such a long day I am then up all night feeding. We have muddled through by co sleeping however this is starting to also impact on my partners sleep and we are both snapping at each other.
Basically I’m after tips to get the little nugget to take a bottle and feed throughout the day rather than all night? I feel like I have tried absolutely everything, cold turkey being the last option and this has just backfired completely. He is perfectly happy and healthy and is gaining weight well, it’s us parents that are suffering lol. Oh and he happily eats at least two meals a day so is getting some nutrition during the day. Sorry for such a long post help is really appreciated

Does he not have any solid food yet?

@Bluerussian yes he has at least two meals a day which consist of porridge and fruit in the morning, maybe a yogurt, cheese and rice cakes/melty puffs around lunch and then usually some veg around dinner time. He's really good with his solids however I think this is due to hunger by not taking a bottle

It’s called reverse cycling. Common in america where they get very little mat leave. Have a look on kellymom.

Mine did this too. I managed to get a routine where she fed before and after work, and once or twice in the night. She dropped the night feeds mostly be about 10months.

If it works for you, fine. If if doesn’t, have a think what you can manage if he won’t take bottles at all.

First thing is to get as much down him 7am-7pm as possible. Milk in a cup, cereal, yogurt- where you would normally bf give a dairy snack like cheese, yogurt etc. He’s over 6months so could be on 3 proper meals a day, with dairy snacks in between. It doesn’t sound like he’s getting much at the minute? I’d up his solids considerably and start finding calorie dense foods to stoke him up- veg has nothing in it, just fills them up.

Co-sleep. Do you have a spare room you can move to to save your dh as well? Weekends could you swap so dh brings you the baby and goes back to the spare room so you can get some decent sleep- or can he make sure you get a proper lie in.

Also remember it’s not forever. It may feel like you’ll never get through it, but you will.

@bluebluezoo thank you for that! I have just looked up reverse cycling and it's been really helpful. I had never heard of it before.
As for solids he eats a lot. It just so happens at dinner time he much prefers veg to anything else. We do offer proteins such as eggs, chicken, meat etc along with various carbs like rice potato's which he eats but it's the veg he eats most of. He also has dessert which he loves but I try and limit this as I'd much prefer him to eat more of the savoury stuff first.
I will try adding more dairy to his diet. I have been putting breast milk with his veg but understand he needs more than this.
Being a working mum is a lot harder than I anticipated but your right it's only temporary.
We do co sleep but it's a habit my DP frowns upon. We don't have a spare room unfortunately.