Advice re feeding 15 week old

[clairebear610]

I've been ebf by 15 week old and on the whole it's going well but I'm not sure if it's the 4 month sleep regression kicking in or what but she is waking every two hours in the night for a feed. I have a toddler (who I ebf until 11 months) and I think the moment my baby wakes I am jumping up to feed her as I'm paranoid about my toddler waking. The toddler wakes very early so that adds to my exhaustion. My husband has suggested I either pump so he can help feed so I can catch up on sleep, or we combi feed. To be honest I'm not a fan of either idea as pumping feels time consuming and a hassle sterilising etc, and combi feeding feels slightly like giving in as we've been doing well with the breastfeeding. Plus I want to give her the same duration of ebf that I did her sibling. But then I'm shattered - not sure if that's just down to a regression though and going to improve soon. Please can I ask other peoples experiences and what they recommend. Have others found that a bottle of formula before bed fills a baby up more? Thanks all.

It's a tricky situation.

Is your husband able to look after the toddler in the morning so that you can have a lie-in? Or can he take over the toddler and baby in between feeds so that you can take a nap? Or else you could look into getting the baby to bed earlier or getting the toddler to bed later?

I EBF mine for 11 months just like you and throughout that time I couldn't remember ever having a proper night sleep. EBF is not easy at all and I only stuck with it because at first DS was refusing formula. He eventually weaned himself and his sleep got so much better.

I don't have any further advice as you've already said you don't want to pump or combi feed. All I can say is hang in there mama.

I mix fed both of mine, the first out of necessity after a dreadful struggle with bf, the second because I wouldn't countenance ebf. Dd had a bottle of f a day and was bf the rest of the time, dh gave her the bottle so I could get an early night and a chunk of sleep. Alternatively could your dh go to bed reasonably early and sort your toddler out?