Am I feeding her right?

[JMPB]

Sorry I’m advance for a long post …

DD is 6 weeks old and Combi fed, however is 90% breastfed. She has one bottle in an evening and occasionally one on an afternoon if I am out, and where possible I use expressed breast milk.

I used to try and feed her every 2 hours, and would wake to feed her on advice from HV when she wasnt sleeping at night. This did work and she slept better through the night. However this lead to et screaming while I was trying to feed her and she wouldn’t latch for very long before breaking off and screaming some more. At first I thought it was colic, and started using Infacol which worked a little and eased the crying afterwards but not while she was feeding.

After an especially bad few days I decided by chance to just let her sleep when she was asleep and feed her on demand. This has helped with the screaming, she latches better and feeds every 3 hours or so and sleeps well ish at night waking 2 times sometimes 3. She only feed for around 10 minutes and I’m worried she isn’t getting enough. Though her weight gain is fine, I have noticed less wet nappies since taking this approach. I just wanted to see if you thought I was over feeding her before? Under feeding her now? I have had conflicting advice off professionals so I’m a bit stuck.

secondly we have occasionally tried to give her a bottle through the night so DH can do the feed and I can get get longer periods of sleep. However through the night she refuses to take the bottle and cries till I breast feed her when she will happily feed and then go back to sleep. Is this just because she likes the comfort of the boob to get her back to sleep? Should I be doing something differently? Is she more likely to accept a bottle on a night when she is more used to it?

to add we have only been giving her a bottle on and off for 3 weeks and she is still very much getting used to it.

thanks, from one very confused first time mum xx

Hi @JMPB it can be so hard to know whether you're doing the right things and if all is going well, especially in those early weeks but it sounds like you're doing great.

The research tell us that for all babies, but particularly when breastfeeding, the best thing to do is to feed responsively. That means following baby's feeding cues. Babies don't follow a schedule and when breastfeeding, they take the oz they need across the 24 hour period. Some feeds they may take less and other feeds they'll take more. The NHS website has lots of information to give you some reassurance.

Was there a reason you were told to feed every 2 hours? Usually that's only advised when baby isn't gaining weight as expected.

Breastfed babies can't be overfed so don't worry about that at all. It could be that when baby was crying and not latching she just wasn't hungry and didn't want to feed at that time. You say she's latching better now but that she's having less wet nappies - how many in 24 hours now? She should be having at least 6 heavy wet nappies in 24 hours.

If baby is continuing to gain weight and having those 6 wet nappies it sounds like she's doing really well. As I say, perhaps look into responsive feeding and try not to work to the clock.

In terms of introducing a bottle at night, I know it can be tempting to try anything to get more sleep (see this article for some info). Those first few months are relentless and exhausting but it is totally normal for babies so young to wake so frequently. Research suggests this may be nature's way of protecting baby from SIDS by waking them from deep sleep. Have a look into the 4th trimester - your baby feels safe and comforted in your arms and doesn't know they're a separate person to you. Breastfeeding isn't just about milk it also offers reassurance, comfort, calming, pain relief and plenty more. So it makes sense that during the night baby just wants what she knows and feels safe with. That doesn't make it easy though and I completely understand.

You're doing great and just remember it's really early days and it will get easier

Let her feed when she wants and relax