Can you give me reasons for/against starting mixed feeding a 16 week old?

[rubles]

I have been exclusively bf my dd2. However she is a crap sleeper and I am really starting to feel desperate to get a chunk of sleep longer than 2 hours at night...I really am a dried up husk, a shadow of my former self.

In the wee small hours my mind turns to all the desperate measures that I can use to try and get her taking longer chunks of sleep, one of which is to try a bottle of formula at 10.30ish. However, I am really trying to hold out until 6 months before I add any foreign bodies to her digestive system.

In the chemist last week my hand did semi-extend to the formula but I pulled myself back at the last minute, but I can't stop my mind wondering to it.

Reasons to NOT give in:
a. The sense of pride I will have of having grown her to a healthy 6 month old on my breast milk alone..but oh! that seems like a million years away
b. It might not make a sod of difference to her sleep times and then I'll really regret it

Reasons to try it:
a. It might work in extending the gap between feed times
b. Dp can give her the 10.30 feed and then I could maybe manage a 4 hour stretch at the beginning of the tonight as apparently it takes longer to digest

Can anyone give me some compelling reasons either for or against starting to mix feed? I either need my resolve strengthening or need telling that it would not be a bad thing to start now.

By the way I currently feed her during the night, but I try to space the feeds to 3/4 hour gaps. She is not a massive baby - on the 25th centile at around 12 lbs 8 oz.

Thanks

Do you know about breastfed babies and the virgin gut? here

NOT a potential guilt trip, just something that you may want to know before making your decision.

have you considered co-sleeping?
It was the last thing I ever imagined doing (case for the defence brings forth exhibit A; one pristine, unused and very expensive Amby baby hammock), but did it out of necessity and it was the cleverest decision I ever made.

You know it almost certainly won't make any difference to her sleep (though I know there are a couple of people here who swear it did with their LO). But I completely understand your desperation. Have you tried co-sleeping as VLC suggests? Have you tried tanking DD up during the day so she is less hungry at night? Have you tried baby rice(I'm joking I promise)

Yes, formula can take longer to digest, but it can also make for uncomfy windy babies who don't sleep because they're not used to it.

Have you tried expressing if you want your DP to do a feed at night? I used to express in the morning (from one side whilst feeding on the other side - takes a bit of juggling, but perfectly possible).

Or, as VLC says, co-sleeping's a good option - I did this with DS2 who was a v bad sleeper.

I think your reasons for not giving formula are stronger for giving it. I think you might think that too?

seriously, co-sleeping saved my sanity.

I actually sleep now. I still feed a zillion times a night, but all lying down snoozy. Wake up feeling human.

with a grinning 24 week baby cooing next to me.

Yum.

Message withdrawn

Everything VLC says. Apart from the Amby Nature Nest. I just have a second hand cot gathering dust instead.

I used to express in the morning, so that DH could give DS the 10.30 feed, and it was heaven to be 'off duty' for a few hours and have an early night.

also, DS used to get tired at the end of the day, and would take a very short feed and fall asleep, then wake up hungry an hour or two later.

By giving EBM in a bottle, it was easier for him to take a larger amount, as it requires less effort to get the milk out, and so he went a bit longer between feeds.

Might be worth a try

why cant you sleep whislt feeding your baby? i used to be half asleep whilst breastfeeding ds swhilst sitting up in bed. and ds1 , well, i was asleep as i fed lying down.

Rubles,

I think 16 wks is possibly the hardest time of all as the sleep deprivation really kicks in around then!!

Like HunkerMunker and Jojay I would also try giving Ebm. I used to express in the morning when I was fuller and my DH would give DS3 a dreamfeed. Just having 4 hrs sleep in a row was bliss..... it is a faff but I think I only did it for a couple of months as the breastpump is now in a cupboard gathering dust as DS3 started sleeping longer.

DS3 is now 8 months and still bf which i am sooo chuffed about that I am waiting to begin bf counsellor training!!!

I would hang in there- the difficult bits soon pass. DS3 is the first of my four to be exclusively bf. Due to various difficulties the others have been ff and mixed fed, and IME it makes no odds how you decide to feed a baby to how long they will sleep. DS1 was ff every 2 hrs during the day and night for many, many months!!!

I expressed for my DD every day until she was 8 months old, and it was brilliant, cos sometimes I would even treat myself to an almost full night's sleep and leave a few bottles with DP ... Now though with DS aged 8 weeks I am struggling to find the time or energy to express, with a toddler rushing around and colicky DS pretty much glued to me the whole time in a sling. So I've been considering feeding him the odd bottle of formula as expressing just seems nigh on impossible at the moment, and rubies like you have been struggling with the pros and cons (and guilt).

But why feel guilty about wanting some sleep...and obviously being less tired for your baby during the day? My baby slept through on FF from 2 weeks old and when I hear stories about BF have never heard of a baby sleeping through that early. My baby...now 8 months old by the way...is thriving....v. healthy and happy. Rubles, what I'm trying to say is that what is best for you is best for your baby

I'd vote for EBM given by DP.

Milk expressed early in the day has a higher fat content (I think) so can be more filling to get a good long stretch on a full tummy.

We did this for DS, and now for DD orginally for my benefit but soon realised it was a fabulous for DH - real one to one time. I confess I could interfere a bit if DH gave bottle when I was around, so being out cold asleep solved this. DH quite sad when DS sleeping through!

Goodness, don't feel guilty - you've got to look after yourself to produce the best milk so think of it as an investment for all the other feeds.

Another reasons to continue, is the best health outcomes happen in an exclusively breastfed baby.

Many babies (my DD included) have regular growth spurt...if this is a growth spurt the best thing for her is as much milk as she asks for. So your milk supply will increases to match her demands, which won't happen if you formula feed.

Have you tried offering more feeds in the day, especially the evening ? I found my DD slept more when she fed frequently in the evening.

Good luck

Stripey, no, milk expressed very early in the day doesn't have a higher fat content.

If anything, the fat content is likely to be lower. This is because many women have a higher volume of milk in the breasts in the early morning, and higher volumes mean proportionately less fat.

And actually, you don't have to look after yourself to produce the best milk....you can be exhausted and run ragged, but the milk will be just fine

Not that being exhausted is a good thing, of course.

PS If someone expresses after they have breastfed the baby, then the milk is likely to be higher in fat, because the less milk in the breasts = the more fat in the milk. I don't think it is worth the hassle of trying to engineer this, though, as it is so variable and unpredictable.

Rubles

I have a 15 week old dd2... I am feeling EXACTLY the same as you.... In fact last night at 3am I decided that enough is enough.. I am feeling at my wits end with sleep deprivation. I like you have not made the purchase of formula yet, and I am today, in 2 minds... I have been expressing to get a stash in the freezer as I am going back to work in 7 weeks. I need to start dropping breast feeds over the next 2-3 weeks as I am going back to work so dd will be mixed fed...

I feel like you.. unsure...