Night feeding for FF babies question

Ladakim · June 2012

We are transitioning to all formula soon and I'm worried because I'm used to popping my baby onto the breast whenever he wakes at night. He's never taken a pacifier and just rocking him back to sleep is rarely an option. If he's up, he wants to eat.

For ladies who FF...how often does your FF baby wake at night? If they do wake, how many ounces do you give them in a bottle at each waking?

livinirie84 · June 2012

I'm curious about this as well for when we make the switch. Do you make a bottle ahead of time?

hurly03 · June 2012

I think you'll be happy to hear that most bottle fed babies are sleeping through the night - so you won't need to worry about it much!

When I do feed him at night (we do a 9pm dreamfeed and his next feeding isn't until 5am), it's a full feeding - 4.5oz breastmilk or 5oz formula.

Now if I could just figure out allergies and teething pain, we'd be back to STTN...

hurly03 · June 2012

And yes, we make his nighttime bottles ahead of time. We keep them in the fridge them stick them in the bottle warmer when he wakes. That part is annoying, but it's not the end of the world.

EvenAngelsFall · June 2012

DS is FF and has not woken to eat at night since he was 8 weeks old. In fact he almost never wakes at night for anything at all.

If you think your LO just wants to suck, try a pacifier.

secretsout · June 2012

For the most part, he hasn't had a feeding in the middle of the night since he was 4 months old. I started increasing his food slowing during they day, and when he was waking up to eat I'd notice he was eating less and less. Though the last few days he's been waking up hungry (I think--might be related more to comfort due to teething than actual hunger? I'm lost there).

If he is going to be formula fed all day and night, I would just try to get in his ounces during the day and you might not have to deal too much with night feedings. When we were feeding at night, I usually made a bottle before bed and stuck it in the fridge. We still have night wakings here and there, but not as a result of hunger.

As for the soothing part of nursing to get him back to sleep, I'm not sure what to suggest. We use a pacifier if necessary.

HaleyCinTX · June 2012

My baby wakes once in the night for a bottle, usually around 3am, and I feed him 5oz as opposed to his standard 7-8oz. We want to slowly ween him off his nighttime feeding, so feed him less. He falls right back to sleep after his bottle, so I am usually not up for more than 30 minutes.

Happily Overwhelmed · June 2012

hurly03:
I think you'll be happy to hear that most bottle fed babies are sleeping through the night - so you won't need to worry about it much!

This. DS has been STTN since I stopped breastfeeding. He's always gone to bed around 8 pm. Early on he'd get up at 5 am hungry and we'd give him 4 oz (but that was around 10 weeks old). Now he sleeps solidly from 8 pm-6:30 am. I always offer him 6 oz no matter what though.

Happily Overwhelmed · June 2012

livinirie84:
I'm curious about this as well for when we make the switch. Do you make a bottle ahead of time?

We sleep on the upper level of the house. We keep a gallon of water on the hallway table and each night take up a bottle with the powder in it. It's so much easier to mix it there, feed him in his room, and lots of times he'll go back to sleep for another hour or so.

sagoon · June 2012

We generally give him a dreamfeed at 9 and my husband will feed him again at midnight (he is a night owl). After that, he'll sleep through till 7 or 8. We make the bottles as we need them. It only takes a couple of minutes (we live in a single story house though, which makes it all really easy).

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