My dd is coming up to 11 weeks old. I bf her but have been and want to continue giving a bottle before bed (this is sometimes expressed breast milk and formula mixed together, or sometimes just formula). The reason I want to do this is because I would like the freedom of someone else being able to do this last feed, and because I want to get her used to bottles for when I stop bfeeding (no idea when this will be).
My issue is I am having trouble establishing a routine that doesn’t result in her in total meltdown. In order for her to be hungry enough for a bottle not to be rejected and wasted I need to not bfeed her for at least say 1.5-2 hours before. During that time we bath her, and because it’s getting near to bedtime and she is very crabby, when we take her out of the bath (which she neither loves nor hates) she has a full blown hysterical breakdown, which is upsetting for all. I can’t seem to work out a way of avoiding this. Please could I have some ideas of how others balance this ‘bottle before bed’ - ensuring baby is hungry, but not so tired and fractuous that she is sometimes too distressed to feed at all, even when I give in and try the breast.
Tonight for example I breastfed at 6pm, played for an hour, bath at 7pm and bottle around 7.30pm, which she did take, but not before inconsolable crying after getting out the bath.
The prior 3 nights to this I’ve had to rock her to sleep whilst crying, then when she’s finally fallen asleep out of exhaustion, dream feed her. Not ideal!
Could I have some tips please from experienced mums! Thanks