anyone ever switcheed from bf to ff or giving one bottle of formula a night glad they did it

[kittenbaby]

as my dd is 12 weeks and im think now might be the time to try her on one bottle of formula a night

and wondered what your experiences where

DS2 now 13 weeks and I've been giving him a bottle of formula each evening and Breast feeding the rest of the time. Did it through necessity since I was really ill when he was 3 weeks and my milk dried up completely. It took a while to get it back and in the meantime we had to supplement with formula. We've carried on giving one bottle a day partly because he's a big chubber and has an insatiable appetite and partly to keep a bit of flexibility. With DS1 who was exclusively breast fed (and wouldn't take expressed milk) we didn't get any time to go out on our own for 6 months but now that DS2 is having a bottle, grandma can babysit! I know I could express but my milk gets really low in the early evening and its easier to use formula.

hi elle

so when did you give him formula when he was 3 weeks
how long did he have that for before you got your milk back

It depends why you are doing it - if you think it will help sleep through, then don't count on it, if it is that you want DH/DP to do it in the night then it is a better reason.

I found I was better off just keeping b/f in the night though - no stumbling downstairs to sort bottles.

I didn't answer the original question - I did it with DD and regretted it, with DS I didn't bother

kittenbaby when he was three weeks he had formula and a dribble of breastmilk every day for a week and a half when I was ill. Didn't think my milk would come back but spoke to a BF counsellor who told me to spend a few days with him permanently attached to my breast and it came back eventually. Now we like the flexibility though of one bottle a day and it means DH can give the bottle feed whilst I'm handling bathtime with DS1. Breast is definitely easier in the night though.

DS was having a bottle at bedtime from about 6 weeks and it definitely helped him settle in the evening. Gradually I've gone back to BF though (he's now 199 weeks), he was getting a bit grumpy about the bottle and rooting for boob and I was just too soft to fight! BF is definitely easier, especially for night feeds.

Make that 19 weeks!

We gave my ds who is now 20 weeks a bottle of formula every night before bed from about 7 weeks. It was nice for daddy to be able to feed, plus it gave me chance to make tea/have a bath etc. Sooooooooooooooo pleased that we did this in hindsight, he now takes breast or bottle with no problems at all. A lot of my friends who are going back to work soon are frantically trying to introduce bottles now with little success..

ah thanks for all the replies

well im not sure if we class night feeds as the same thing
dd goes bed about 11pm an gets up about 6-7am
so i dont feed her in the night but i do feed her from 6am till 11pm ALOT lol prob about 15-30 times a day

she is now 12 weeks old and im thinking of giving her one bottle a night

when would be the best tim to be this just before 11pm say maybe 1030?

or should i try giving it to her earlier?

I ( or rather DH) gave my ds a bottle of EBM in the evening from the word go, so I could have an early night.

As time went by, this became a bottle of formula, and then went to 100% formula feeding when I went back to work.

I found it great to have the flexibility of bottle or breast feeding and never regretted it for a second.

I never had any guilt about giving him formula either - he'd had a good length of time exclusively breast fed, as has your dd.

ellie i def agree bf must be easier in the night
esp in the early weeks i just used to pull dd out of the mb and feed her
fall asleep etc lol

thats the thing with me jojay i do worry if ill feel guilty
but ive have ex bf for 12 weeks
and it would be nice to really be able to enjoy her as a small baby before we move onto getting her on solids
as i imagine is the next battle

i kep hoping the constant bf would get easier
say by 6 week then by 8
but really its always been difficult and dd wants it all the time

jojay how old was your lo when you gave the formula top up
if you dont mind me asking

xxx

i know dd will take a bottle as i have given ebm but it takes a good hour to get between half and oz and 2 oz
sometimes i have to do do 2 hours to get 2oz then i still have to bf after

so expressing isnt really working for us either

I agree with Geordie. It worked for me with dd who has just turned one.

DD was bf exclusively to six months and then we introduced formula (I was hopeless at expressing) for the 7pm feed so that dh could give it to her, and I bf the rest of the day, to help her sleep through (and it worked) and to get her used to a bottle.
We are SO glad we did. DD took to a bottle easily, and then also to a beaker easily. I do think introducing a bottle early'ish helped that process.

Maybe give it a go - you can always go back to giving her a bf instead if it doesn't work out for you.

It wasn't a top up to a breast feed, it was a whole bottle of formula at about 10 pm.

He was about 3-4 months.

He was on formula exclusively by 5 months as this is when I returned to work.

Only you can decide about the 'guilt' thing.

I absolutely refused to feel guilty, but that was just me.

Kittenbaby - you have done ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANTLY to exc.bf to 12 weeks, especially if it has always been difficult.

If you think this is affecting the pleasure you get from your baby, then I think you are right to consider other options.

Others would disagree, but I believe there is a big picture to be looked at with regards to breast feeding - it isn't just about infant nutrition, it's a whole lifestyle choice IMHO.

You are obviously thinking carefully about this decision, and are keen to do the best thing for your baby and you.

If you feel that one bottle of formula a day would help you get some rest, and enjoy the time you have with your baby, you absolutely go for it.

Don't feel you need anyone's permission to do this.

sorry, keep thinking of other things to write

yeah you are right
it not ike i cant try it and reverse my decision

also although i worry about if ill feel bad about it
i was wonder if i carry on the bf ex
that mayb ill look back on this time when dd is older and wish id had of given her a top up to keep her happier and to make this time more enjoyable for all three of us [dh included here]

instead of the constant bf

jojay thanks
yeah i do feel that i have done well
esp with the difficluies ive had not only with bf but alot of other stuff
wont bore you with all the details but had 2 have a repair op for 4th degree tear after birth and not getting any family support except dh and hv constanley on my case about dd not gaining enough

so im very happy and proud that ive given her 3 months ex bf

thanks for listening to me

if she's sleeping 11-6 already how much better could an evening formula feed make it?

she sounds like she's happy to sleep at the moment, so how will topping up 'keep her happier'?

am genuinely perplexed what you hope to achieve

if it's the days that are stressful because she's feeding so often, wouldn't it make more sense to give the formula at (eg) 3pm so someone else can feed her and you can have a nap?

Kittenbaby - I read your other thread about your hassles with your Mum etc - if anyone needs to cut themselves some slack it's you!!!

Mrs Badger has a point in her last post though.

I agree with MrsB

(and am not at all at the sleeping, oh no not at all )

Hi, KB.....I was puzzled, too, like MrsB

Your dd sleeps so well, and this is at least part of the reason why she wants to feed a lot in the day.

Giving her a bottle of formula at night is not going to help her sleep any better or give you more rest.

If you are sure you want to give her a bottle (and it's not just to get that witch of an HV off your back!!) then fitting one in earlier would make more sense....but don't forget to factor in the work of getting the formula, preparing the bottle, washing and sterilising, making up the feed, before you're sure it will save time

Exclusive breastfeeding to 6 mths gives the best nutrition, but of course that's not the only factor to consider - it's up to you to weigh the pros and cons.

You need to think about the reactions of people around you, too. Do you think they might look all smug and say 'oh, good, kittenbaby has seen sense at last' (just judging from previous threads) and that might make you a bit .

Just a thought!