gaps between feeds, supply & expressing

[GYo]

Hi

My DD is wks an exclusively BF. I have a couple of questions:

• if she occasionally goes longer between feeds at night ( she just went 7pm to 12.30am!!!!) does this affect my supply? how does it work when its not a regular gap? do breasts not get confused?

• I now am thinking that we are getting ready to try a late night or occasional EBM bottle so DH can partipate in the evening feed. I assume a one off change in feed time ie, EBM in day so I can go to the hairdressers - ) wont have an impact. However if DH gives her an EBM bottle at 11pm so I can get more sleep, how does it work regarding supply? would I not need to express at that time to avoid an impacted supply and engorgement later on? Am really keen but if i have to get up to express anyway, i may as well feed her myself!

thank you

Depends how old your baby is, you don't say in your post

If you baby is young and you wish to give an expressed milk bottle feed, then you should pump at the same time that the bottled milk is given to make sure there is not a long gap between feeds which could affect supply.

If your baby is older than an occasional EBM bottle should not affect your supply.

However if you are just nipping out for an hour or so you don't need to leave a bottle of milk. Just nurse the baby right before you leave and she should be happy until you return.

As for your DH, he can partipate in her evening by hugging, playing and bathing her, no need to feed her.

I am not sure how feeding her a bottle of expressed milk at 11pm will give you more sleep ? Have you tried a dream feed ? i.e. Nurse her when you go to bed, she may wake up a bit or she might stay sleepy. The premise is by topping them up just before you go to sleep, they should sleep for longer. No idea if it actually works but could be worth a try

Good Luck

Hi
thanks for your reply.
She is 5wks! (thats what happens when you write posts in the middle of the night!)

The idea of DH doing the 11pm would be that I could occasionally go to bed at 9pm and get a run of 6hrs sleep before the 3am (or thereabouts). Unless there is a good sleep benefit not sure I can be bothered with sterilising etc

Might stick to doing EBM for babysitters or me going out in day. My round trip to hair dressers is about 3.5hrs so would need a bottle during that time.

I never thought I'd say it after the first few weeks of struggling to BF, but I love it and might find it hard to watch someone else feed her!

Hi, we did just this - DH gave a bottle of EBM at 11pm. I would just pump before I went to bed, usually around 9:30. (But I would also pump late morning, because I had trouble getting enough for a full feed from just the one pumping. Once DS was a bit older, and my supply more established, we mixed EBM and formula, then eventually just formula for the 11pm feed. Beware introducing formula though because it can affect your supply.)

re: gaps between feeds. as far as I understand, if she goes longer the odd time, she'll probably feed more at the next feed and overall your supply should remain constant.