Breastfeeding at 4 months

[Boymum101]

Hi everyone, this is my first thread so I’m looking for some advice. My DS2 is 4 months old, up until now he has been exclusively breastfed and I have loved the journey with him! I never breastfed DS1, so this was so new and I was so happy that I was able to do it this time.
DS2 has always measured smaller on the scales but my health visitor advised me that it was nothing to worry about and that breastfed babies can be smaller on the charts than bottle fed babies.
But… recently we have noticed that DS2 is not sleeping.. AT ALL! At night! He naps regularly through the day but nothing that would be considered over the top. He is feeding a lot less at the boob and so I have introduced a bottle of formula once a day to maybe settle him a little more at night. He has always breastfed for 40 mins at a time every 2 hours.. and now he wants a feed every 2 hours but seems hungry when he has finished at the boob.

Do I switch completely to formula? I am exhausted.. feeling like I have let him down by not satisfying his feeding needs.. and just want to do what’s best for baby!

Thanks so much in advance xx

4 month regression for the sleep and growth spurt for the feeding- normal and hellish- never think you aren’t satisfying him. I mix fed without issues to give me some rest- don’t feel guilty whatever works for you both

@OnlyFoolsnMothers thanks for your comment! How did you find mixed feeding.. I have always had a big supply so I’m worried I will get mastitis! Maybe just cutting a feed?

Regression. Breastfed babies eat little and often. My boy would wake every 2 hours on the dot to nurse. I ended up sleeping in his room, on a mattress on the floor and next to him as he used to latch on by himself. All normal. Be careful with introducing formula as once you drop a breast feed then your body doesn't produce as much, as in baby will get what it takes.

I introduced a bottle and introduced a lunch feed at 6 months to prepare him for nursery and then gradually offered in feeds so I still fed him in morning and night. This happened over a long period of time to allow my breasts to adjust.

[quote Boymum101]@OnlyFoolsnMothers thanks for your comment! How did you find mixed feeding.. I have always had a big supply so I’m worried I will get mastitis! Maybe just cutting a feed?[/quote]
My first baby mix fed from 6 wks no issues- my second refused a bottle for 3 months but we gave her a bottle a day over a week and eventually she fed from a bottle. By the time you’ve got to 4 months your supply is well established, you could go a whole day without a feed and your milk wouldn’t dry (you may just feel like your boobs will explode). I didn’t overly have a set schedule, possibly just a bottle before bed and then breastfed to sleep at first, and then whenever I was out without the baby.

I pumped from one boob while feeding from the other. I would then give dd the expressed milk at night from a bottle because I knew how much she had, had. Her sleep was much better once I started this. Every couple of days she might have formula if that day I hadn’t managed to express much or I wanted to get more expressed that day. Mixed feeding might be worth a try and I would give it at the last feed at night.