Introducing a bottle

[SchofeTee]

Help! This lockdown is stopping me speaking to other mums who are exclusively breastfeeding.

My baby is 12 weeks old and is exclusively breast fed but I'm just not getting enough sleep. He hates sleeping in the day so when it comes to naps there is no routine it is just go with the flow. I go for walks with the carrier and manage to get boob naps here and there. But I can spend ages walking him up and down and getting him to sleep for him to just wake up as soon as I put him down. At night he goes down like a dream after the night time routine. But I seem to get 3.5 hours as the longest stretch.

Night before last he went 5.5 hours for the first stretch and I thought we had turned a corner but tonight we're back to 3.5 hours. So my question is, are there any other mums who persevered with exclusive BF and got their little ones to sleep for longer stretches at night? Should I really consider a bottle of formula at night even though it eliminates their "virgin gut"?

If there's a light at the end of the tunnel i will persevere but if it's like this the entire time I might need a change. I'm a single mum who needs sleep!

My 7 month old still wakes a couple of times a night to feed. He only has breastmilk and solids now he is older. He has pretty much always fed every 3 hours around the clock and that is still the same. Things I have found to help are co-sleeping, going to bed when he does so usually around 7, having a nap in the day when I really need it. I know some people prefer to have the evening to themselves but I'd rather prioritize sleep.

My EBF baby never took a bottle, and he woke up and fed a lot in the night for a long time. I don't think there's much you can do about it so it is about adapting! I went to bed when he did (to be in the same room with him also) and just got through it, it is hard. As a lone parent I'm not sure a bottle of formula would save you time/energy at night. If you'd like to introduce a bottle maybe start with expressed breast milk first? Good luck! It's hard to know what to do and hard to be so tired but your baby's sleep stretches sound pretty good to me. Hope whatever you choose works out for you and you feel better soon