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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
irish city girl
member
Night time feeding Question for BFers
irish city girl
member
I'm more of a lurker, but decided to start posting.
I EBF my son who is 5 weeks old. His pedi recommended I start pumping and replace one feeding with a bottle/day. We started doing this and DS will take the bottle without too much trouble. DH has offered to take the 2 am feeding so that I can get some more sleep which is super nice of him. The problem is that when DH feeds DS in the middle of the night DS doesn't want to go back to sleep right away and has a habit of staying awake for about 2 hours. When I feed him in middle of the night he usually falls asleep when he's done eating. Anyone have any ideas about this? Why would he be so awake after taking a bottle, but fall asleep with the breast? Is there anyway to change this? If he keeps doing this, I doubt DH will want to keep feeding him at night.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Night time feeding Question for BFers
Why did your pedi tell you bottle feed? Are you pumping in the middle of the night to replace that feeding?
There's no way we would do this, DH or I. I prefer to just nurse him around the clock.
I'm curious as to why your pedi suggested replacing a BF session with a bottle? You still need to get up and pump even if DH is going to feed DS to maintain your supply.
I find that my son is more satisfied at the breast than bottle. It's just more comforting I think. If you don't need to bottle feed then I would continue to nurse and introduce bottles later.
Oh my... there is nothing wrong with what she is doing.
Hmmm...random thoughts...
Does your DH do exactly the same thing you do when you do a night time feeding? In other words, do you both keep the routine identical? If that's not the issue, I'm thinking you LO is used to the snuggly, comfort of nursing instead of the less snuggly bottle....maybe? You could try replacing a different feeding with the bottle and see if he reacts in a similar manner regardless of the time of day. Also, my LO will do this sometimes if she is almost full, but not full enough which can obviously happen when bottle feeding.
Good luck!
I didn't say there was but it sure sounds like they aren't happy with it. I wouldn't want to be up for 2 hour in the middle of the night. I was just curious why he recommended that.
Mr. & Mrs. as of May 23, 2009
Parents to Baby Jack as of March 4, 2010
and Bobbi Claire June 7, 2012
Agreed. I EBF and pump and we do a similar thing because I work. Plus, we actually started doing it way early (1.5 weeks) because I wanted DH to be able to feed her as well and she's had absolutely no nipple confusion. Instead, she can nurse and then I can give her a bottle during the same feed if I choose. The flexibility is great!
Saying "There is no way we would do this." implies disapproval. Not everyone who BF's is going to do it around the clock and that is OK.
And it sounds like she wants to solve the issue so her DH can continue to do that nighttime feeding.
Didn't mean to imply that I dissaprove. I just know that right now with a newborn I do whatever it takes to get the most sleep and wouldn't want to pump in the middle of the night.
Regardless of the reason why your pedi suggested replacing a bottle feeding...My thought, based on my own LO, is that the bottle feeding is much faster and less comforting than BF. If DH is doing the same routine as you, such as keeping the lights off or low and keeping the baby stimulation to a minimum then the problem is probably what I stated above. Like PP stated, DH could try to hold LO close under him while bottle feeding like you would to BF and burp him after every ounce to prolong the feeding time to be much closer to your BF time. If this fails your best bet would be to try the bottle feeding during the day.
Baby's know when it's the real thing and they are little individuals with preferences. My LO acts completely different for his daddy than he does for me. He's 14wks now and we've even noticed this with naps. Naps are a battle for daddy and pretty routine with me.
In regards to your question, my LO goes back to sleep much easier with the breast because it's soothing and he feels close. Also, often I will lie down next to him & feed him. He gets a non-disturbing burp and he's back off to sweet dreams. I think another reason is that the bottle is more disturbing. Often when the LO is crying in the night and I go to him he's still half asleep- I just pop the boob in his mouth and he's off. With the bottle sometimes it's a longer wait before it's ready/warmed up, and also he has to be held outward to feed properly.
Something I suggest and it was really helpful for me: Have your DH get up and bring the little one to you. We stumbled onto this when I was sick. I would hardly wake up, The Love would bring LO into the bed, put him next to me, he'd nurse and then The Love would scoop him up, burp him and put him back into bed. It was minimally disturbing for me, and your DH will have the added bonus of being able to get back to bed sooner.
Good luck, I hope this helps!
-L
Wow, I did not expect this to be controversial. The pedi suggested this so that DS would get used to a bottle and it would give me some more freedom. I love breastfeeding, but have found that having the occasional break from it is very helpful. I enjoy DS much more when I get a break once in a while.
It was also important to me that DS be willing to take a bottle. It makes it hard to go out once in a while if he does not. My mom and MIL breastfed and waited to long to introduce the bottle so neither DH nor I would take a bottle which was pretty restricting for them. They also suggested introducing a bottle whenever it was okay'd by the doctor.
Thank you for the suggestions. I think we will have to make sure our routines are the same and switch which feeding DH gives DS if it doesn't get better.