How do exclusively BFing mums do it?!

[Newmum288]

Serious question. I’m pregnant with my 2nd. I would love to EBF but pumped with my 1st, largely so that we could ‘split’ the nights and I could sleep for 4/5 hours in one go before taking back over. I want to EBF my 2nd and not pump, but is there some sort of hack to this?! I know postpartum mums are basically superwomen but seriously how do people manage if baby feeds every eg 2 hours?

Sometimes fed lying on my side in bed but not co-sleeping, too worried about suffocation. It was tiring but sort of get in a pattern.

Found it helpful to time a feed just before going to bed.

I EBFd twins and still consider it the greatest achievement of my life, but looking back have no idea how I managed it! I don’t think I slept much 😆 Definitely getting the hang of feeding lying down was the game changer, I think I dozed mostly while DH swapped them as needed. It’s all a bit of a fog to be honest.

I had a bedside cot an co-slept, I don’t think I would have managed without. I had 7 months off work with DS and 9 with DD and the longer mat leave was definitely better. They only once slept at the same time during the day.

I found it easier to mostly ebf with my second. Having a mix of pump and bf with my first (part because I was a bit self conscious but also to let my husband feed. The second time around it was less time consuming with a toddler to bf the baby but I did do the odd express just for hubby to do some feeding but it was probably 90% bf.

Chiming in also with co-sleeping, following the lullaby trust guidelines. Also progressed to utilising the next to me crib. It still felt a heck of a lot easier to just slide them over from the crib and feed lying down than actually getting up and sitting in a chair or whatever. It was hard at times, but it doesn’t last forever and I hated pumping so not having to do that was a huge plus.

We're both tall and had a standard double bed, so there was no room to Co sleep. Dd was in moses basket next to me for 6 weeks or so, then I just used to go and feed her in the rocking chair in the room next door, then get back in to bed. Often just in time for ds to wake at 530. She didn't need feeding every 2 hours though. I think she went a good few hours.

The hardest bit was when I was back in work ft and she went through her 5 year phase of wanting to sleep with us every night. I am not good at being touched all night. It was a long 5 years

I'm going through it now and I find it easier than expressing because you don't have to do anything (no washing/sterlising etc.).
I have a Moses basket next to the bed but find co sleeping a lot easier as I don't have to keep picking him in and out of it - and the soothing that goes with it trying to settle them on their own.
I try to side sleep and BF lying down. He wakes me up regularly of course but I try to keep the disturbance minimal.

Baby next to me in Moses basket, came into the bed for feeds and then popped back in the basket. At some point refused to leave my bed and is still there (and still on the breast) three years in 😬😬😬

This. Cosleeling. I coslept with my second and got SO much more sleep than with my first. Fed lying on my side and after baby fed we’d both fall back asleep easily with all the breastfeeding sleepy hormones. Shit hit the fan after 4 months, sleep-wise but that was the way with my first as well. Pretty typical I think

Mine tended to sleep for three hours at night before needing a feed. I guess you do a feeding/sleeping cycle whilst DH does every else for a couple of weeks? Mine did do cup—feeding of expressed milk to help me get sleep. You use sterile disposable cups. They don't need much. Then you can just EBF once it gets to every four hours.

This is similar to what we did with both our babies. As well as cosleeping. Really thick cosy jammies and cover over bottom half with baby higher up. Side lying I learned how to do with second baby and that really helped. It’s just survival for a while.

I combi fed my first and EBF my second until her third birthday. She wouldn't take a bottle or dummy so I had no choice 🤣

Cosleeping safely, when she was older she'd attach herself with no issues and go back to sleep. Was great

Agree with the co sleeping and feeding lying down. I have EBF two babies this way. DH sleeps in the spare room so just me and baby. Also agree no nappy changes unless poo. If baby wakes just roll over and feed, I have found they quickly go back off to sleep and I do too! Good luck.

I would say the opposite to be honest. I'm Bring my 16 month old at the moment who is my second child. I don't understand how mums who bottle feed do it! There's so much Oreo and planning involved and so much washing ! I just whip a boob out whoever and wherever and that's that. No waiting, no prepping. For nighttime (he still wakes during the night but my first child slept much better) I'm pretty much half asleep while I feed him. I have a nursing chair in his room and a big blanket. Feed him, pop him back in the cot and back to sleep I go. It was easier when he wasn't in his own room as he was in a bedside bassinet so I didn't even have to leave my duvet. But I still think it's so much easier than prepping bottles.

I would say the opposite to be honest. I'm BFing my 16 month old at the moment who is my second child. I don't understand how mums who bottle feed do it! There's so much prep and planning involved and so much washing ! I just whip a boob out whoever and wherever and that's that. No waiting, no prepping. For nighttime (he still wakes during the night but my first child slept much better) I'm pretty much half asleep while I feed him. I have a nursing chair in his room and a big blanket. Feed him, pop him back in the cot and back to sleep I go. It was easier when he wasn't in his own room as he was in a bedside bassinet so I didn't even have to leave my duvet. But I still think it's so much easier than prepping bottles.

I co slept. It was all absolutely fine.

My DH did all nappy changes and ran the household and dealt with other DC whilst I was feeding. That was equitable.

It was much better for me to snuggle and feed my baby whilst he did the shitwork in the early days and looked after us all.

Much prefer that set up to another adult clattering around making bottles and trying to resettle a tiny baby in a separate sleeping space.

I EBF both of mine for 14 months each and couldn’t express.

I co slept and then baby was in a cot at the side of my bed. Tbh I found it fairly easy, but I am a good sleeper, and slept during the day whenever baby was sleeping.

EBF both mine but I honestly think pumping mums are heroes! That felt a lot more faffier and effort to me. My husband usually took baby 7pm - 11pm ish and bought him in for a feed in that time so I could get a little sleep, then I’d co sleep/have them in a next to me for the rest of the night. After the 4th trimester it really does get a lot easier ❤️

I don’t know your situation @Newmum288

But I exclusively breastfed 2 babies - mainly because I could only get minuscule quantities of milk out of the pump 🤦‍♀️

I coped by having a very supportive husband who would help in the night by fetching me drinks and changing nappies. Have a lot of respect for single mothers that manage it, must be incredibly difficult.

It’s a stressful, exhausting time either way. But in most cases it doesn’t last for long that they need to be fed so often. So it’s mainly a case of just getting through it one day (or night) at a time.

Co sleeping! Had her with me for the first 3 months then started moving her into her own space as she did longer stretches. I swear, I was better rested in the new born phase then at any other time, I barely woke up when she latched and we feel asleep together.

This is what I did. Pumping seemed far more of a nuisance to me, having to sit there doing it, and cleaning and sterilizing everything. Get used to side lying breastfeeding, share a double mattress with the baby, and you barely have to wake up. We did do shifts as well, I would go to bed about 8pm and DH would stay up with baby til 12-1am. If she really needed a feed, he'd bring her to me but usually I'd get a few hour stretch, and at least he'd do the rocking, nappies etc. I'm still feeding at 15 months. I think bottles seem way more of an effort, you have to actually get up in the night to make the bottle whilst your baby is waiting for it, it seems the harder option to me as someone who hasn't done it!

EBF removes pumping, washing up, sterilising, managing fridge/frozen stash, stocking up before going out… Currently EBF my second (2 under 2) and found it a lot easier to just pop baby on the boob any time they’re hungry.

I made a comfy space to sit for the night feeds with extra pillows I could grab. And had him in a co-sleeping crib next to me. If he woke up I just lent over and picked him up, fed him and placed him back down. No pumping. No bottles to set up. After the initial shock of getting used to the new routine it wasn't too difficult to do, as I barely had to get out of bed to feed him. When he was a bit bigger we moved him into a cot next to the bed. At 1 year we moved him to his own room, he started sleeping better immediately and wakes up less now. I have a comfy chair and blanket in his room and if he wakes I sit on there if I need to feed him. I spent 100s purchasing all the pumping stuff and bottles and barely used them and felt I actually saved a lot of time and money by just doing ebf in the end. Couldn't work it how I had the time t pump, feed and wash up on top of everything. No cleaning, no noise, no getting out of bed, no money spent. The first few weeks are hard because of the tiredness and you can get a bit sore, but then your body adapts.

I was just bloody knackered.

Lying down feeding and co sleeping didn’t work for us because (it later turned out) DD had tongue tie and couldn’t latch in that position. She also could only sleep in a semi upright position on my chest. But she was prem and formula made her throw up so 🤷‍♀️

I have never co slept and exclusively bf. My personal view is that co sleeping makes it easier earlier on but they don't reduce their wakes as much as they got older as they would in a cot (eg feeding multiple times a night as an older baby or toddler). I used to go to bed as soon as the baby went to sleep. And for the first few weeks, my husband used to hold the baby while he watched tv for a few hours so I'd get a longer stretch. After that, he would be stationed by the cot to settle back if there was a quick wake up / would sometimes take him for a few hours early in the morning. Just muddled through really until wakes reduced to average 2 at 6 months, average 1 and finally sleeping through the night consistently at around 14 months.