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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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

51 replies

kittenbaby · 20/09/2007 14:47

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

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kittenbaby · 20/09/2007 16:44

well yeah i wondered how it would really help at night as she sleeps so well
so maybe if i do just try it i should give it to her at teatime then at least dh gats to enjoy some time with her

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kittenbaby · 20/09/2007 16:47

well i wouldnt bother telling my mum anyway as im trying to avoid her at the moment

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kittenbaby · 20/09/2007 18:49

any othrs had a good experience of doing this ?

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lornaloo · 20/09/2007 18:51

Ds used to have formula aswell as breastmilk from time to time, especially if I went out and dp would look after him. I have no regrets he still had much much more bm than fm.

kittenbaby · 20/09/2007 19:06

yeah never even thought about the other advantages such as being able to go out

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lornaloo · 20/09/2007 19:09

Have you tried expressing?

kittenbaby · 20/09/2007 19:13

i have given ebm but it takes a good hour to get between half and oz
pathetic and 2 oz
sometimes i have to do do 2 hours to get 2oz then i still have to bf after

and also dd get constipated after ive expressed ,as if ive taken her milk from her

say if i express in the am after feeding
she wont do a poo allday
so expressing isnt really working for us either

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cisan · 20/09/2007 19:21

gave my daughter 1 bottle a night until 18 weeks when i swapped to full formula - best thing i ever did even if everyone tries to make you feel guilty!

kittenbaby · 20/09/2007 19:28

just be so nice to giver her a bottle at say teatime and for her to seem content for a little while

never seems content on bf thats why i feed her so much

i just dont want to reget not giving her a bottle a day and wonder if that would of made it easier to njoy her iykwim

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muma3 · 20/09/2007 19:31

like kittenbaby dd3 never seemed happy on bf . when i switched to ff i thought she had had at least 1 good feed and slept through. regreted it though as milk dried up . never could just do " the one dream feed. " always buggered up my milk supply

cisan · 20/09/2007 19:48

like i said i did it for 18 weeks and helped her settle but didn't affect my bm. whatever helps you and baby

Coolmama · 20/09/2007 19:54

DS was "topped up" with formula from the beginning as the first 6 weeks of BF for me was a nightmare! But, once the BF had settled down, DS got EBM and fed from the breast happily for 7 months - also, because we had introduced a bottle early on, there was no problem weaning him from breast to bottle at a later stage. But each baby is different so do whatever is going to give you a happy baby and a happy mummy.

Loopymumsy · 20/09/2007 20:43

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tori32 · 20/09/2007 21:01

DD1 was bf for 5 wks and mixed fed with top ups after every feed from 5-8wks as she never seemed content and would take both breasts then drink a 5oz bottle. I regretted not doing it longer but as soon as she went onto bottles she slept 7-7 every night. From 8-12 wks we fed her while still asleep from the bottle at 1030pm and she has slept well ever since (now 20mths)

I have no regrets now!

kittenbaby · 21/09/2007 23:08

thanks for your replies
xxxx
nice to hear the fors and against xx

be so nice if dd would seem satisfied and content on bf but if after nearly 13 weeks ex shes still not
doubt its ever gonna happen

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MissTea4Me · 21/09/2007 23:22

I just wanted to say if you try it you're not necessarily making an irreversible choice: I was giving DD one ff a night at about 12 weeks (memory very blurry) and then one day she just didn't want it anymore so I then exclusively bf for the next few months.

kittenbaby · 21/09/2007 23:27

thanks 4 that misstea that is helpful

i forgot that i could just try it

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prettybird · 21/09/2007 23:49

Kittenbaby - I know you've been thorugh lots, including a difficult birth and both an HV and a Mum who have not been supportive, despite a baby who by all normal standrds he doing fantiasctically (as are you )

You say dd is feeding a lot in the evening. How much of this is real feeding and how much of this is her confort sucking? Ds used to feed for ages and ecentually realised that the latter part of his feed was just confort sucking. If I needed to get on and do other things (and my bum used to get sore 'cos I was sitting for soooooooo long) I used to try to pull him off and if I could do so easily, ie not have to "break" the latch, then my view was that he wasn't really feeding. If he still wanted to suck, then I gave him a dummy.

I don't know hwat your view is re dummies, but if you are otherwise OK with them and hadn't been giving dd a dummy 'cos you were worried about your dd's weghit gain, then I'll repeat again what many have alreasy said to you: your dd is doing great. You are doing great

I also found that expressing in the morning was more pordcutive, plus once ds started sleeping through, I maintained the late night feed as an express.

I hope you do manage to get things sorted. You have done really well to get so far with so little support. Whatever you decice, do what is right for you - you have already given your dd a fantastic start {{{Hugs}}}

kittenbaby · 22/09/2007 07:59

thanks pretty bird x

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Jojay · 22/09/2007 10:10

Hi Kitten - did you try it??

It sounds like from your posts that you really want to.

To echo what others have said, you can try it for a couple of nights and if it doesn't make any difference, then just go back to bfing. One bottle for 2 days won't have an irreversible affect on your supply.

I hope it works for you - it sounds like you could do with something going right for a change.

Has she ever taken a bottle before? If not, be prepared for her to refuse it to begin with. Keep trying and hopefully she will take it okay.

kittenbaby · 22/09/2007 12:59

jojay

i havent given dd any formula ......yet
dd will take expressd milk in a bottle so i know shes fine with a bottle
but i havent tried her with any formula yet
so your right she might hate the taste of it
she might not even take it i suppose

i just feel torn tbh
dont want to regret not ex bf
and dont wont to regreat not enjoying this time as much as poss iykwim

i hoped it would be easier by now x

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Loopymumsy · 22/09/2007 13:41

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Jojay · 22/09/2007 19:39

It's so jard to what to do for the best sometimes isn't it?

((((hugs)))) to you x

Jojay · 22/09/2007 19:39

Make that HARD!

barefeete · 22/09/2007 20:45

I gave a bottle of formula at about 10pm from 3 weeks with DD mainly because i was so knackered that it meant DH could do it while i slept. I hoped it might help her sleep but it didn't in the end and she still wake every night for a feed now and she is 6 months. I would recommend it as it gives you a tad more freedom. Both my children had bottles (DS expressed and DD Formula) at 3 weeks and they happily BF for 5 - 6 months after that for all other feeds except that 1 evening feed.