Bf / formula during night

[Sprat12]

DS is 6 days old. I am trying to breastfeed but really finding it a struggle at night.

He feeds and sleeps like a dream during the day but from about 11pm - 3am I can't seem to get enough into him.

I feed, he sleeps, I put him in the Moses basket, he wakes. Often I then need to change his nappy which he hates and so I then need to BF to get him settled again.

I've gave in and he had a formula feed in the hope that this will help fill him up enough to sleep.

Is this going to affect my supply? Is it a really bad idea if I want to continue BFing? I can't cope with the lack of sleep from the constant feeding, putting down, picking up again over these hours. I had an awful labour and delivery and we spent a few days in hospital so this is only our second night at home. I'm really struggling and don't know what to do for the best!

If he sleeps like a dream during the day, are you sleeping then too? As you should be! Night time is when cluster feeding is common and he's building supply. The best way I found to deal with the nights was to just sleep whenever I could during the day and accept that day/night distinction wasn't going to be a thing for the first couple of weeks generally.

Is your DS your first child? Your sleeping pattern is going to be turned upside down in the early days. As pp said if your DS is sleeping well in the day that's when you should be sleeping. I found it challenging as well and did some expressing so that my DH could do some of the feeds. I would sometimes go up to bed a bit earlier before my DH while he stayed up with our DD just so I could rest as I knew I'd be awake during the night. It's hard work to begin with but it does get easier x

That time of the night is when the hormone to help supply is highest -baby is doing his job

I used to give my BF babies a bottle last thing at night in the hope that they would sleep that little bit longer. I never had any issues with supply.
Just remember that you need to drink more water ( I’d have a glass every time I fed) and eat well.

Very normal - this is cluster feeding. They do it to build supply. If you're happy to co-sleep and bf that makes it a lot easier as you can snuggle up together, feed and rest. If not, it will pass! Combi or mixed feeding is totally possible - I have friends who've done it successfully although didn't do it myself.

Sounds like cluster feeding. My son did this for the first couple of months. It was earlier in the night for us though, more like 7pm till midnight then got shorter as the weeks went on. I think they do it for comfort and to up your milk supply.
I desperately tried to get my son to take a bottle for one feed a day so I could have a better stint of sleep but he never did so I feel like you're lucky if you can. You might be best talking to one of the breast feeding charities like la leche as the cluster feeding might be important for supply but you could perhaps have partner give a bottle in the morning so you can sleep longer at that end of the night?

After the first month, I expressed a bottle of breastmilk and my OH fed the baby once during the night. Never had any issues with supply.
I fed lying down during the night as well, meant I could doze off and get a bit more sleep.

My daughter is 8 weeks old and EBF. what you describe is perfectly normal at this age. It may partly be for comfort but it’s most probably baby’s way of increasing your supply - your milk making hormones are highest at night. For that reason it is best to avoid skipping feeds at this early stage. Once your supply starts to regulate you can introduce a bottle without worrying about your supply - for me that was after about 4 or 5 weeks but it can be a bit later. It’s very hard but it really does get easier quite quickly - last night I fed at 10pm, 1:30 am and 5 but she went straight to sleep in between feeds. You just have to nap as much as possible during the day snd have your partner help as much as possible while on paternity leave (ie he gets baby up and passes them to you for a feed, does the middle of the night nappy changes etc).

Combi feeding can work. It might be a good idea to speak to someone about it to get the best advise on how to make that happen.

If you can, have someone else give the bottle while you rest, if possible in a separate space and have them bring the baby to you when they wake after the next sleep cycle.

Also look at alternatives if you want... there is some research that shows that co sleeping breastfeeding mothers get the best sleep... so have a look at the safe sleeping guidelines and perhaps also ask your partner to do nappy changes and settling in the night as well as allowing you to totally rest during the day.

thanks all.

yes, first DS. I am trying to sleep during the day when he sleeps but it’s not always that easy!

I am also expressing as DH wants to be involved and help as much as poss. It’s tricky getting enough sleep during the day, being able to express enough to feed him and then bf as well before it gets to nighttime!

I think I’m going to try and give a bottle of expressed milk tonight to really try and fill him up, and then continue to bf through the witching hours and see how we get on.

it’s hard bloody work 😢

Breastfeeding is bloody hard work. Try to rest whenever they sleep, even if it's resting rather than sleeping. Call in all favours to help you get through the first few weeks! It will get easier, just do what you need to survive! My baby is 14 weeks and has just started sleeping through the night, and has 4-5 regular feeds in the day.

@catsnore thank you - 14 weeks seems like a long long time away 😅

I feel a little better this morning; managed to sleep from about 5am - 9am after finally getting him down. Whilst I am still tired, I’m not that mind grippingly exhausted and upset tired that I was last night. I’m going to try and get another nap in this afternoon between feeds and pray to every god I’ve ever heard of that tonight goes better than last night!

I know it seems like an eternity away but each week will be different and after a while you will be just tired rather than exhausted/bleeding/healing/hormonal 😂

Good luck for tonight!

Do get your husband to give that bottle so you can get the most benefit from that rest time.

You will find that there are certain crucial moments of sleep for you... if your baby is calm in the morning... let your husband listen out while you close your ears and rest deeply.

I have an almost 6 week old an could have written this! It does sound like cluster feeding, which is totally normal and I wish I'd known about this before birth (they didn't mention it at NCT, but all my friends with DC went through it).

I don't do this every night, but most nights DP will do the final feed before bed with a bottle and infant formula. It hasn't affected my supply, but this might be because DC feeds so much. All other feeds are BF, but I appreciate having a bit of time to myself on an evening, even if all I manage to do is grab and shower and brush my teeth in peace!