Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

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

Original poster

i have a carton of formula int he house - is it the answer to my Nights of Torment and Woe?

36 replies

Tutter · 29/11/2007 15:22

i imagine the answers will be split 50/50 between those saying "yup, i'd do the same" and those saying "it'll make not a jot of difference"

ds2 (4.5mo) is having shocking nights (see threads passim) - wakes over and over

have tried everything

the only thing i can think is to see if a formula feed before bed makes a jot of difference...

OP posts:
theUrbanDryad · 29/11/2007 15:26

Tutter - i think you will be proven right.

there's some anecdotal evidence that formula fed babies sleep through the night quicker. but then a lot of people who ff from day 1 have babies who never sleep.

could you go and sleep in the spare room and get dp/h to give the formula so you can at least get some sleep? or express?

sorry you're having such a hard time. 4.5 months was awful for us too, but it passed, eventually.

oliveoil · 29/11/2007 15:26

well when dd2 eventually got onto bottles she did sleep better (cue MIL informing me, ooooh she must have been starving )

but it did coincide with her bout of teething ending as well

imo it will not make a JOT of difference but try it if you want

horrific nights are just that

hope it gets better Tutter

Indith · 29/11/2007 15:27

Wait and see I suppose

I tried it, a couple of people at my baby group had done it and it had worked like magic. Ds of course had to be different

Mind you the boy refused to take any sort of bottle, expressed or formula so rather difficult to know how much difference the couple of ounces he maybe took made overall!

Tatties · 29/11/2007 15:30

I tried it but it didn't make a jot of difference. At the time I was willing to give just about anything a go, but I wouldn't do it again.

Camillathechicken · 29/11/2007 15:31

tutter, is he waking because he is hungry.. is he taking a good feed when he wakes ? might he be teething?

you can give it a try, and if it doesn't help, then at least you;ve tried.. i don;t think it would affect supply at this stage too badly.

Original poster
Tutter · 29/11/2007 15:35

have no idea, lulu

he will happily feed if it is offered to him

but will still wake a couple of hours later

and then other nights i don't feed him, put him down and he'll go a couple of hours before waking again

if i do try it i shall express to match any formula feeds, to make sure my supply is maintained

how weird is it that i'm feeling all puritanical about this, yet i mix fed ds1 from 5mo...

OP posts:
Original poster
Tutter · 29/11/2007 15:36

thanks for sympathies, all

OP posts:
Original poster
Tutter · 29/11/2007 15:39

ps olive, yes i can see my MIL shaking from the effort of not urging me to get ds2 onto bottles/solids/both

OP posts:
oliveoil · 29/11/2007 15:40

yes indeedy

I was trying to get them both onto bottles from early, both refused until around the 5 month mark, when they would probaly settle down anyway

is there any reason you do not want to try? do you want to just purely b/f this time round?

Camillathechicken · 29/11/2007 15:41

4.5 months is still early days in terms of sleeping through, or going a few hours at night between feeds

have you tried co sleeping, so at least you don;t have to move far to feed him?

Tatties · 29/11/2007 15:42

It's not weird to feel puritanical about it

How will you feel if you try it and it doesn't work? (Only asking because I felt guilty when I tried it and it didn't work)

Original poster
Tutter · 29/11/2007 15:45

but, lulu, he used to sleep so much better

a typical night (7-6) would only be broken by one waking to feed, somewhere between 2am and 4am

last night he woke 2 or 3 times during the evening, and several times in the night. after feeding him at 2ish he then slept for 3 and a bit hours (his longest stint by far)

olive, yes, for some reason i really wanted to make at least 6 months exclusively bfing

OP posts:
Original poster
Tutter · 29/11/2007 15:45

and he doesn't sleep any better when in with us

OP posts:
Original poster
Tutter · 29/11/2007 15:46

if i try it and it doesn't work i shall feel partly happy that my boobs are as good as it gets and partly gutted that i have more shite nights ahead...

OP posts:
oliveoil · 29/11/2007 15:47

well if you want to make it to 6 months put the formula in the bin!

if you try it and it doesn't work you will get cross

my money is on growth spurt/teething

dd2 is 3 and she still wakes up once in the evening and once in the night!

pita

TrinityRhino · 29/11/2007 15:48

gecko didn't sleep any better when I tried giving her a bottle of formula last thing at night when she was 6 months
she cosleeps and still wakes up every 2 ish hours and shes nearly 10 months

good luck xxx

Camillathechicken · 29/11/2007 15:48

maybe now he is a little older, he is more alert in the day, and wants to be awake more at night to carry on learning? sorry babe, some babies just don;t sleep brilliantly, for no discernible reason. which does not make it any easier. rest in the day when you can?

Tatties · 29/11/2007 15:53

Tutter your boobs are as good as it gets!

If you want to make it to 6 months, bin the formula like Olive says

Nemo2007 · 29/11/2007 15:53

might be right or might just be that he doesnt sleep at all...all of my trio were FF but are still notoriously bad sleepers!! Regardless of how much they have had, how much they have eaten if its the hungrier baby stuff etc etc it does not matter one bit.

TheQueenOfQuotes · 29/11/2007 15:57

Here's my experience.

DS2 bottlefed almost from birth, slept through on his own from 3 weeks old.....however he was a VERY placid baby from birth and had no trouble sleeping anytime, any place from the word go.

DS3, bf for 3 weeks, mix fed (only one bf in the mornings in reality) for 4 months, exclusively FF for the last 2 month. Still wakes at night,

MumtoCharlotteMay · 29/11/2007 15:59

It all depends I think on how comfortable you are with giving him a formula feed. I breast fed my dd for 6 weeks and hated it for various reasons. I knew it wasn't for me and my dd took to bottles really well. I remember it getting really awful one day where she had screamed non stop, I had been feeding her all day and she still wouldn't settle. I was close to cracking that evening. I gave her a 4oz bottle of ready made formula and didn't hear a peep out of her until 7am the following morning.

Since then she's been pretty much sleeping through, and enjoys her feeds, even more so now because I'm weaning. Oh the mess! I'm comfortable with me decision to switch completely to formula because my dd was distressed and unhappy when I was breast feeding, as was I.

Because of my experience I'd be inclined to tell you to give it a shot, if you felt comfortable with doing it. There is no harm in trying. And even if you are wanting to bf for the first 6 months, one formula feed before bed won't do any harm.

Original poster
Tutter · 29/11/2007 18:59

well, we've tried it

he downed it, then rejected the breast - hopefully because he was stuffed

am not sure i'll be able to express 7 fl oz tbh

OP posts:
FioFio · 29/11/2007 19:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

FioFio · 29/11/2007 19:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Tutter · 29/11/2007 19:27

i know, fio

still makes me feel a teeny bit sad

i only managed to express 4 fl oz. should i really express again later, to try to match to the extra amount given, anyone?

OP posts: