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December 2011 Moms
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Bottle feeding BF baby

maiastarmaiastar
in December 2011 Moms
I am starting to give my BF baby a bottle of breastmilk before bed every night now, hoping that she will eat more before sleeping and therefore, maybe sleep a little longer before waking again. I usually nurse her to sleep but she will fall asleep quickly and I was thinking maybe she's waking so much more frequently because she is not eating a good amount before bed.  My question is this: When I give her the bottle she will start to dose off to sleep like she does when I nurse her.  Should I try to keep her awake until she eats more? or should I just stop feeding her once she's dozing off?  She is 4 months old and still seems to want to eat every 2 to 3 hours.  I can't tell how much she normally eats because I BF...so I am just wondering if I should try to keep her awake to eat more, but I don't want to overfeed her either...any suggestions?
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Re: Bottle feeding BF baby

  • MrsT2008MrsT2008 member

    my only real suggestion is to feed her earlier to see if that helps her stay awake to finish a bottle.

    Does she still want to eat every 2-3 hours overnight?  or just during the day?  during the day that is very normal.

    How much are you trying to give her and how much is she eating before dozing off?

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  • MrsRucinski85MrsRucinski85 member

    Ana always mostly slept thru the night for me but we had a time on and off for like a month where she stopped - I started giving her a bottle before bed bc I thought that she just wasnt filling up enough nursing (like your LO she would doze off while nursing)
    She would start to eat the bottle and then doze off; so I stimulated her to keep her awake during the bottle. IDK if thats the right thing to do or not but when she was fully toped off I would then let her pass the bump on out and she would stay asleep. So it worked for us.
    I know what you mean not wanting her overfull but I dont think she was bc I guess I just "knew" her limits - like if I nursed her before I would only offer an ounce or two not four ozs. Or if she had a bottle within an hour or two before bed I would only offer an ounce or two bc I knew that would be just enough to top her off but not too much that she is uncomfortable. ya know?

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  • maiastarmaiastar
    Yes she wants to eat every 2 to 3 hours during the day and night. She was only eating about 2 oz before dozing off. I had made a 6oz bottle. Thank you MrsRucinski- I will try that tonight. She usually cluster feeds 3/4/5 and then nurses to sleep at 6:30. What I had noticed when i pumped was that i was only getting about an oz to 2 oz at 3/4/5....so i am assuming that when she nurses to sleep she was only getting 3oz at the most, then again im not 100% sure because im bfeeding
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  • MrsT2008MrsT2008 member

    imagemaiastar:
    Yes she wants to eat every 2 to 3 hours during the day and night. She was only eating about 2 oz before dozing off. I had made a 6oz bottle. Thank you MrsRucinski- I will try that tonight. She usually cluster feeds 3/4/5 and then nurses to sleep at 6:30. What I had noticed when i pumped was that i was only getting about an oz to 2 oz at 3/4/5....so i am assuming that when she nurses to sleep she was only getting 3oz at the most, then again im not 100% sure because im bfeeding

    you can't really judge her intake from the breast by what you can pump.  Babies are far more efficient at extracting milk than a pump is.

    I would try giving her the bottle at 5 instead of 6:30 and see what happens.

    and honestly, if she's feeding every hour at 3, 4, and 5, I wouldn't be pumping in between because that may contribute to the clusterfeeds at 4, 5, and 6:30 - if she's eating and then you're pumping to empty, your body can't really make enough in whatever is left of the hour between feedings to satisfy her.

    AVT - 12.2.11
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    LCT - 5.15.14 ~ 9lbs, 22.5 inches
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  • babyzepbabyzep member
    We were having the same problem with LO so I started giving a bottle before bed.  Sometimes I let him nurse for a few minutes but then I unlatch him and give the bottle.  Usuallly he takes 5oz. from the bottle.  He doesn't fall asleep while taking it.  He gets sleepy and if he looks like he is falling asleep, I remove the bottle and then give it back to him.  I also burb him every 2oz. and this helps keep him awake.  I then take her up to bed sleepy and put her down.  She has been STTN since I started this.  It has worked wonders for us!  Good Luck
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