How do i do EBM 'top-ups'??

[caspercat]

Ds 6 wks old. Is a quick feeder (BF), seems to get full after a 10 min feed. Is gaining well, & my boobs feel empty so HV (who seems like a rare good sort to me) assures me we're doing well. However in the night (say 10/11pm feed), he falls asleep after about 5 mins, can't get him to go back on, so wanted to try EBM top-ups. Do i do boob feed 1st, then pass to DH for bottle (which is what we tried last night, but it didn't work), or give bottle 1st then boob?? He has already taken a bottle, so we know he's ok with that.
Any advice??

casper, I may be missing something but why do you want to do this???

Seems like a hassle.

Your baby is doing fine, and maybe the 5 mins is all he wants at that time.

When he falls asleep at 10/11 how long does he sleep for?

Sorry for delay, been driving to MILs for a few days.
After the 10/11 feed he's asleep for anywhere btwn 2 - 3 hrs at the most.
The reason for wanting to do this is mainly cos we want him to get used to a daily bottle (hoping to eventually replace this feed as a total feed of EBM for DH to do to help me out) and was told 6wks + is best time, and also cos i'm hoping it'll help him sleep a little longer after the 11pm feed so i can get a little more shut eye (never been a quick one for falling asleep myself). We're already co-sleeping so doing all i can for extra kip.
I realise this goes against the grain for everyone who advocates 100% BF, but want to find a happy medium where he's still mainly breast fed but i'm not completely knackered as have full-on toddler to care for also. And have to go back to work when he's 6 mths, so he needs to accept a bottle by then.
Thanks for your replies so far xx

Not scientific at all but I'd replace an earlier feed as its important to feed at night to keep supply up, esp. in early days.
Actually, I'd make the pattern fairly erratic so boobs are kept on their toes so to speak.

I don't see that giving him milk in a bottle is going to make him anymore likely to take it than if he feeds from you directly. If you want to try and get him to have more milk at that feed then you could try giving him one breast, then changing his nappy and offering the second breast. He may then sleep longer which would give you more sleep without worrying about introducing EBM.

Your DS is still very tiny at 6 weeks, by 3 months his tummy will be able to hold more milk which should enable him to sleep for longer at night. I would wait a while and see how things develop before you start regularly replacing feeds with EBM, as Moondog says it can play havoc with your supply.

Thanks guys, all makes sense. The prob i have is that he refuses to latch back on again once drowsy, and i have tried changing nappy etc. Had hoped that a little from a bottle might stop him drowsing so much as wouldn't be such a comfort feed. Anyway, have decided to keep the bottle erratic for a while as you say - he took one midday today from MIL while i took DD for a walk for half hour, no prob. Certainly don't want to mess up my supply, just want him to accept the occasional bottle to make life a little easier for us all when i go back to work.
Thanks again xx

Just to say - 6 weeks is minimum time for bottle/expressing, not ideal time.

We mixed fed and it worked well but made sure dd fed from breast LOADS and LOADS and that bottles were 'last resort' type thing. [am disabled and sometime feeding was not physically possible] As feeding got easier I preferred to give breast anyway and supply was adequate for when I was feeding her.

I breastfed all day, gave bottle after feeding her at night. Not best time but it was pure selfishness and I don;t regret it. I swear if I had not been to breastfeed dd in the middle of the night without a 'bottle backup plan [not always used!] ' I would have gone insane and, I feel, been a poorer mum because of it. Fed dd till she self weaned at 18 months.

And don;t worry: 6 months old is ages away - you've got plenty of time to get him used to what it will be like when you're at work and he'll be a much differnet baby! He will have grown up so much!