First time mum having problems with night feeds

[Jesskii]

Hi all,

Registered because I really need some advice about feeding my little one.
I have a 5 week old girl, and she sleeps brilliantly on formula, but not when breast feeding. Currently my partner gives her a bottle before going to bed (around 1) and she sleeps through till 5. The problem is after this, when I'm breastfeeding, she doesn't seem to want to feed enough to be able to sleep properly. She'll have a small feed, and then fall asleep looking milk drunk. There's no waking her (by burping or changing her nappy etc), but if I put her back in the cot she'll only sleep for half an hour (or max an hour) before she wakes hungry again.

Can anyone help? Is there anything I can do?

Do you mean that she wakes at 5am, has a breast feed and wakes again at 5.30 or 6? Or do you mean that if she doesn't have a bottle she only sleeps in 30-60min snatches all night long? I know you need to bf at night to establish and maintain supply. Could you cosleep with her? Lying down bf is pretty easy and relaxing for both of you. I would definitely suggest keeping the habit of a bottle a day however. I have a bottle refuser and it's a real problem.

Thanks for the reply! Yup, I mean that I breast feed every 30 mins to an hour from when she wakes (5, 5.30 etc or it could be from 2am if my partner decides to give her the bottle earlier and she wakes earlier). I haven't tried her without a bottle before bed, but I'm guessing she wouldn't sleep much at all. She'd be constantly waking up.

Cosleeping would definitely be more relaxing, but I'm too scared to try it if I'm being honest. I keep imagining scenarios where she gets hurt

Well if it were me I'd cosleep and bf from 5 till 8am or however long you can both doze happily, assuming the bed is big enough, no smoking, drinking, medication, excessive bedding etc etc (look up safe cosleeping guidelines).

You could try giving another bottle at 5 and see if she sleeps longer but I'd say it would swiftly spell the end of bf as your supply will dwindle fast if you skip all night feeds.

You could try pumping and feeding a good quantity of expressed breast milk in a bottle to ensure that the 5am feed is substantial and not just a snack (but I think it's a mistake to get hung up on quantities tbh).

You could try tickling and talking and jiggling her at feeding time, again to try and make sure that she stays awake long enough to really have a good feed.

You could just accept that this is the way it is for now and just go with it. Grab your own sleep opportunities wherever you can. Things do change fast! Look up fourth trimester to see what stage you're currently experiencing.

Apparently the reason that ff babies sleep longer is that their bodies are battling somewhat to digest the formula, so that isn't really ideal, I suppose. However, we all need some kind of shut-eye so you need to find a way that works for you while still being adaptable.

I have 3mo bf twins and a 3yo and I was tending to one or other of them every single hour last night! (But most nights are better!)

That's amazing that your little one sleeps until 5. Have you tried giving a bottle then too just to see if she goes back to sleep for longer? Not saying do that for the long run but at least you'll know if it's a hunger thing. It may be she's out of her deep sleep and can't sleep without comfort feeds rather than be hungry?