Did anyone switch from EBF to combi feeding at 6 months?

[ProudSeal]

I am coming up to 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding and I’m wondering whether combi feeding might help me feel a bit less like a zombie. Baby has always had a slightly screamy relationship with the boob, and I’m feeling so drained and exhausted . My supply seems to be really low in the evening, so she will feed for 1-2 hours before bed, and then wake every 1-2 hours through the night. I know the guidance says that formula-fed babies don’t sleep longer but this doesn’t seem to be the case whenever I speak to other mums!

I’ve tried pumping in the morning and giving a bottle at night with limited success, but I’m even sick of pumping at this stage. We do bed share, but the wake ups are still frequent and I’m still so tired and touched out. I’m wondering whether to start combi feeding and introduce some formula in the evenings. This will also give me a chance to have a break and for my husband to take on some of the nights, and hopefully may lead to fewer wakes?

Did anyone do this at 6 months? What was your experience?

If your baby already takes a bottle, that will presumably help with transitioning. I combi feed from day 2 to 8 months, so can't really comment on introducing formula at 6 months, because my baby always took a bottle (and some won't).

The other thing that helps is cracking on with solids. Add the evening meal first and think about (once anything actually goes in baby's mouth...) ways to make it filling eg spinach cooked weigh butter, banana mashed with avocado (yes really!), peanut butter in porridge oats & whole milk.

If your baby has been growing then your supply is fine.

What you describe as a feeling of low supply in the evening is normal as babies with often cluster feed in the evening. Most milk is made on demand especially by the time you get to this age, very little is stored in the breat between feeds. Also unfortunately adding formula may not have any effect on sleep. From experience of my two both EBF babies one fed every 1-2 hours during the night and the other went over 5 hours from 4 weeks old. The sleep thing seems to be depend on the child and not how they are fed.

I'm not saying any of this to put you off just to reassure you that what you are experenncing can be totally normal. If you'd like to introduce some formula though so your husband can maybe do the first night feed and you can get some more rest. I think that's a good idea.

Also I wouldn't actually introduce solids for the evening meal as some babies can find it actually upsets their digestive system too start with. Also solids that you normally start with, like fruit and veg are less calorific then milk, we introduced them at lunch time.

It was a decade ago now but I switched to formula at 5.5m due to lack of sleep destroying me. My experience was that it was exceptionally difficult to get my baby to take a bottle. I tried so many types of bottles and formulas. Other people feeding. Me feeding. In the end things were forced by my getting a bad stomach bug and I think my milk dried up enough that baby took formula. I would have loved to have combi fed, on paper, but was honestly so done in I just went all in on formula at that point. It didn't mean baby magically slept but meant husband could do more of the night shift.

I think unless you've got a separate sleeping space, you'll still wake up even if he's in charge?

You have all my sympathy though, the lack of sleep is a killer.

Yes, definitely give a bottle of formula at night. If you’re like me you have very little milk then.

I weaned both babies fully at 6 months (5.5 actually) and I’d recommend that. There’s no real need (assuming you’re in the UK or another developed country) to bf beyond then, the advantages are minimal and have to be weighed against the disadvantages to the mother if you’re not 100% happy doing it.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it’s given me a lot to think about.