Evening milk supply and EBM dreamfeed - advice please

[sunnybump]

My DS is 11 weeks and gaining weight well with plenty of wet any pooey nappies. He was on the 9th percentile but has gone up steadily to just under the 25th and is happy and smiley most of the time. We had a bad start at BF. I had badly cracked nipples because of poor placement and latching, then we had thrush, me in my ducts, ouchey, which finally was driven out by 4.5 weeks of fluconazole. Finally BFing is now pain free and a lovely bonding experience.

I started expressing occasionally about a month ago, after the thrush was gone, to allow DH to give a bottle and me to get some sleep. I now kind of have a routine where I express each morning about 2 or 3 oz off one side while DS feeds.

Sometimes DS can feed all evening and still want more. Last night he fed 7 to 11 - with breaks but more time on than off - and still wouldn't settle. At 11 we tried an EBM bottle, he took all 5oz, promptly burped (we can struggle to get wind up from him) and slept til 4.30am (brilliant for him, and me!)

I have 2 things I'd like advice about really.

The evening milk supply issue. I feel it's happening more often that he's hungry and my supply can't keep up in the evening. How often can he be having growth spurts? Is this normal? Am I risking my supply by offering an EBM bottle when he just can't get enough out of me?

Secondly sleeping til 4.30am was heavenly. Has anyone tried an expressed dreamfeed with a BF baby? He burps easily after a bottle whereas after a Breastfeed he can take a long time to wind and always wakes fully. Could this be a way to help me get more sleep and so be a happier Mum or would this be risking my supply?

Or am I just overthinking the whole thing which is what DH would say

Thanks in advance

I did an expressed dreamfeed and it worked brilliantly. Expressed first thing in the morning, DH gave it to her around midnight, by which time I was already tucked up in bed...

Thanks Josie, I'm really excited about the possibility of getting more sleep

Hi Sunnybump. My son used to do the same thing (feeding all evening) and I used to give him a feed of EBM about 11pm and he would sleep for longer. In fact now he's on solids he still has a bottle of EBM before he goes to sleep about 8pm.

My son was in hospital so I exclusively expressed for a long time, and I definitely had less milk in the evening, so I thought maybe he wasn't getting enough, but I still let him feed for a long time to help my supply. I'm no expert but all this worked for us.

And why wouldn't you be?!

Your boobs do what you ask them to do re. supply. So if you give your last BF at (say) 9, then with the help of a bottle of EBM aren't actually breastfeeding until 0430, then that's what they'll get used to doing. If you're regularly expressing first thing (as I did) you'll wake up full enough to do both (and feeling as though you've been given a Jordanesque boob job!)

I don't know if anyone's given you this tip yet - but you can express twice as fast with the baby on one boob, and the pump on the other. You need an electric one for that of course... When DD was tiny I used to BF, express and Mumsnet all at the same time. There's a knack to it. Can't quite remember how though!

Thanks for the tips. I'll still let him feed on demand, which means all evening, but have the expressed milk ready to go later. I do manage to manually pump and feed at the same time in the morning, I use DS to wedge the pump bottle in place but am thinking about trying to hire an electric NCT one. The wedging is getting harder now he wriggles!

lol at the boob job thing. Was going through clothes and my old pre preg bras barely cover my nipples now.

It's good to know you've both done it successfully, finger crossed

My friend offered an EBM dreamfeed, which she had expressed in the morning. Then she was able to hop into bed earlier and her DH did the dreamfeed using the expressed milk.

So, yes it can work!

I'm so glad I tried this, and I wouldn't have even thought of it if it weren't for Mumsnet so huge thanks. DS didn't go to sleep til 11 but I don't care cause he slept til 6.40am, 5 minutes before DH's alarm went off! [dancing on the table smiley]

We gave the dreamfeed bottle at 12, and of course I was awake at 4ish and checked he was ok, but this is a heavenly amount of sleeping time. Woke up engorged and have tonight's bottle expressed already and ready to go

Yay!

To avoid the constant evening feeding give the bottle of EBM at 7 / 8pm. Then, express again at around 9 to use as the 11pm dream feed. If you have been feeding all evening you should be able to express off loads at that time especially if you have a double pump.

Now there's a thought, good idea Peas, might give that a go, thanks

Just found this thread and wanted to ask similar questions, so here goes!
My DS is 9 weeks and I think he's just over 13lbs (he was just over 9lb at birth). My DH gives him a bottle of EBM at about 10.30-11pm - he takes 180ml pretty easily which I express the night before at around the same time. I would struggle to express any more than this - but I get the feeling he might take more and that maybe this would help him start sleeping through.
He currently sleeps till around 3-4am though it varies a fair amount. He seems to be waking hungry though - I don't think it's just habit as he tucks into the boob if it's offered.
So options are:

• Trying to express a bit extra in the morning which I already have to, to get it to 180ml (but I feel like he needs it from the boob in the morning, so am reluctant to express much then)
• Topping up the bottle with formula
• Assume that 180ml is actually plenty and when he's ready he'll start sleeping through more - so just be patient!

Any thoughts?

I'd like the answer to the last question too!

I actually abandoned my expressing routine as I couldn't keep up - I was struggling to express enough at 10pm for the following nights bottle. Our baby is big and was easily putting away 180ml.
I am now doing a BF dreamfeed instead so the downside is that DS will have lost the knack of the bottle but we'll have to reintroduce it later on when required, even if it's hard.
He's now 13 weeks and tending to sleep through to between 6-7am after the BF dreamfeed so I feel like he's getting what he wants direct from the source - rather than second guessing how much to try to express and invariably having to top up from the dwindling supplies of EBM in the freezer.

IME (well my baby anyway) BF babies will take more than they need from the bottle and it doesn't make too much difference to their sleep. They're used to the sucking and getting comfort from that. With a bottle when they suck, they happen to get milk.

I normally feed her directly at night, but a few nights I gave her an unlimited amount in a bottle and she only went 1 extra hour.

Just decide on how much you want to give him and just let him wake when he wants.

As a guide BF babies only consume about 25oz a day which averages to roughly 1 oz an hour. They don't NEED as much as what we think (i.e. like ff babies)