Breast fed baby having a bottle of formula before bed

[mrssunshinexxx]

Hello
Does anyone here have experience of breast feeding minus a bottle of formula on the bedtime feed
I ebf and so many people have said give a bottle of formula before bed it will fill her up and she will sleep longer
But I know she is very young and also I worry that formula would give her belly ache I read a lot about FF babies getting colic and I don't want to do anything that's going to cause her pain. Think I've answered my own question really but just incase anyone has any experience x

I did it with my DC2 from 8 weeks and it worked perfectly.

DH gave him his bottle about 11ish and I could go to bed earlier and have a decent sleep.

No worries with colic or anything like that. I bought ready made so it was easy.

Tbh it was less about DS sleeping and more that it gave me the chance to!

I used to give DD a bottle of formula at 10.30pm; it didn’t cause any tummy issues and she slept until 3am rather than 1am. It also meant that DH could do that bottle so I could sleep.

How old is baby? It can interfere with your milk production.

I tried it once in desperation but it honestly made no difference it's just an old wives tale. Very young babies are meant to wake frequently for feeds.

I'd just keep with your bedtime routine. You could express enough over the day for your partner to do one night feed. Try to nap in the day with baby. They do come through it.

It is just an old wives tale. If you want to do it you can and it probably won’t cause any tummy issues, though it could cause a dip in your supply (may well not though).

TBH if you’ve reached 8 weeks and you’re already talking about ‘the bedtime feed’ instead of ‘feeding all evening’, you’re already winning!

I did it with two of mine, not the first child.
It worked a dream - they’d have a bottle at about 9/10pm and sleep until about 3am which meant I got a good rest if I went to bed early enough. It only didn’t work if they were at a cluster feed point but they don’t last long. Think I did it from about 8/10 weeks old.
I never get why people say it’s a lie and breastfed babies sleep perfectly. I’ve never ever met someone who exclusively breast fed a baby and it slept well. I have met lots of people who mixed fed or formula and they all slept well. They drink loads from a bottle and it’s easier than a nipple to get it out so I think they fill up on it.

Thanks everyone x

Yes I did this with my daughter until she started refusing bottles altogether at 4 months. Now she is EBF. It worked well for us and (until she hit the sleep regression) and she wasn’t waking until 2am for her first feed.

Formula seemed a little harder for her to digest and she seemed a bit windier (could also have been air from the bottle) but she was fine.

Those were the days. Now she’s up every 2 hours after 10pm 😂

I am not sure it’s true but it was very tempting in the early days. I EBF my daughter, never gave a bottle, and she slept through the night (well 9pm-6am which was good enough for me, and then back for a snooze after 6am feed) from 12 weeks. She’s just hit the sleep regression at 5 months so I’m feeling it now.
Of course plenty of people do give a bottle last thing but it does leave a long gap between feeds which will make your boobs sore to start with!

I've no idea if it's true - but both of mine were BF. One a nightmare, still night feeding at 18 months, one properly sleeping through from 8 months, and 'baby' sleeping through from 2 or 3 months - I can't remember just because he was so easy vs his brother!

If you wanted a half-way house where you get to sleep while someone else feeds you could feed expressed milk (although I could never express enough to make that a practical plan)

I did this with my first, it made no difference to his (dreadful) sleep but I did mean that DH could put him to bed which was nice as meant it wasn’t all on me. I think if you do it at the same time every day and still feed on demand it shouldn’t affect your supply

I used to feed my little girl at 8pm and pop her downstairs in her carrycot to snooze with my husband, and I went to sleep. The first time she woke up he gave her a bottle of formula. Then put her in her cot next to us until she woke again then it was back to me. She was never a great sleeper until about 7 months... but it meant I had at least 4 hours sleep in a row! She didn’t have any issues with her belly. My boobs were always heavy at that next feed but never leaky and sore. Think I adjusted to it! We did it from about 4 weeks old.

Thanks everyone don't think going to bother with the formula my husband works away so feels a faff for me to express even though I have a good supply and can get a lot off. But could try that and giving in a bottle and see if it Helps x

I did it more to get her used to taking a bottle for when I was occasionally leaving her with a baby sitter.
And it didn’t affect my production.

I did this out of desperation and EVERY SINGLE TIME it made my baby projectile vomit. I have never heard of this happening to anyone else but I felt like punching people who suggested it to help her sleep longer...

I'm going to defrost some breast milk and give it to her in a bottle tonight

Mine has had a bottle of expressed breast milk from 4 weeks before bed. It still fill her up more as she will drink more from a bottle than the breast. Win win! X

That's what I'm hoping 🤞@NelliePig