mixed feeders .....how do you start ...when and how shall i begin

[robinredbreast]

dd is 16 weeks,has been ex bf so far and as soon as shes had her jabs [well 48 hours after] later this week id like to introduce a bottle a day,
although im not sure when to give it to her she sleeps from about 11pm till 8am ,but she is v fussy in the eve [always wanting to be fed ]
would it be best to give it to her at tea time ?then dd hopefully be wanting to feed all eve
or should i try to hang on and give it to hr at say 8pm and try and get her to go to bed earlier and sleep longer?
or is it totally unrealistic to hope she will go to bed earlier or sleeep longer at this age ?
also if i give one bottle a day do i have to give it at the same time everyday? or could i give it at either teatime or night and vary it a bit ?

id be very interested to hear your storys and any hints and tips

tia

I used to give the one bottle a day mid afternoon.

did you always give it at the same time each day hamabeads?

why did you choose afternoon hamabead if you dont mind me asking

anyone?

I think I first swapped the 11am bf for formula. This was also the feed where I introduced solids later on. Then nap, then bf (which was the next one to switch). So, it was bf first thing, bottle, nap, bf, bf, bed. If that makes any sense at all.

I think it was the kindest way to do it for me as well with regard to milk supply and exploding norks. The bedtime feed was the last one I dropped, but only because I liked the comfort and calm of it all.

Hope my garbled words help!

thanks foxy
what time did your dc go to bed

yes always mid afternoon. I choose the afternoon so I could go out for a sustained amount of time basically. Never felt happy BF while out and about as I have enormous norks and always felt I was being stared at!

hi robin, i started with a bottle of ebm at about 11pm at 4 weeks and initially dd slept through to 5 or 6 am. dd now 15 weeks and that feed has gradually come earlier, now around 9pm and she still sleeps through from around 10pm to 8 or 9 am now.

hi teapot
yeah thats the sleeping patten id like
do you only give ebm ?
as i was thinking of using formula as it takes about 2 1hour pumping sessions to get 3oz and i feel id like to knock the expressing on the head now ifykim

Oh, I assumed you meant a bottle of formula - sorry. Currntly I give my lo (13 weeks) a bottle of EBM after the 7pm feed to top her up. (though last night it was 9.30, she wouldn't wake up at midnight, then at 2am - so it went horribly wrong).

Anyway, its a bf at 7pm, followed by a top of of EBM expressed that morning and a 10/10.30 bf. she then seems ok to go through to 6.30/7am.

In my earlier post I was talking about weaning my others off the breast, not topping up. I have 4DCs, and I am very confused!!

Think I'll just be quiet and not clog up your thread with my witterings!

robin, i give ebm, expressed in the morning - it is a faff and i'll probably do the same with formula when it becomes too much faffing expressing
i've given formula 2 or 3 times when i've had no ebm
on the sleeping, i guess it depends on the baby - i feel very lucky but know things can change at any time!
foxy do you wake her at 10.30 for bf or she wakes up? not surprised if you get confused coping with all yours! i have one and i don't know whay day it is!

hi even im confused now lol
dd has only had ebm ...so far but i think id like to give her one bottle of formula a day because otherwide ill spend all my time either bf or expressing

can i sometimes give it in the afternoon or tea time and then on other days give it at night ?

dh wants us to give her 2 bottles 1 at tea time and 1 at bedtime ,but i only want to give 1

from what i've read, when i introduce formula instead of ebm for night bottle (which i plan to do at some stage), my supply is likely to reduce and i'm then likely on my way to full ff
i chose night bottle because dh can join in feeding and i found for us, it helped dd to sleep and settle better - i guess she just needs this top up to fill her up.

regarding time of day, i'm not sure it would matter as long as she takes the bottle, but i know nothing. i would be tempted to try different times to allow for flexibility but maybe you and your baby would like more routine?

i would have thought that the more formula bottles you introduce, the less bf you do and so would gradually end up with a lot fewer bf - so this relates to foxys earlier post about weaning off the breast i guess!

everyone confused enough now?

Is it solely to help her sleep, or to get her used to taking a bottle for a return to work or something?

hi hunker
its just cuz im always bfeeding like all eve
if i could get away with doing it very couple of hours[ideally 3 or 4 ] id prob carry on till a year or so ,it really seems like i dont have a lot of milk at once iyswim when i express i only get about 2oz
so i wonder if my boobs can only hold a small amount ?is that possible?
it would b a bonus if she either slept longer or went to bed earlier ,but it sounds as if 11pm till 7am is quite lucky for a 16 week old

I think 11pm - 7am is as good as it gets at this age! You are doing really well. But I understand that it must feel like you are feeding constantly. Good luck with it.

i give my 4m ds his bottle between 7 and 8. then he sleeps til the dream feed at 11 ish. then he bfs anytime between 5 and 7. the rest of his feeds are bfs.

robin i think we've spoken before! well done for getting this far!