Sharing nighttime duties (breastfeeding)

HorseLover11 · September 2014

Baby girl is here and were one week old now

she is such a chill baby and we really are so blessed but mamma still needs her sleep. I've been doing one pumping session right after our morning feed and get about 2oz. I only do it once per day as I don't want to overdo the pumping and it's hard to squeeze in time with such frequent feeding. I give DH that and formula to give her a nighttime feed. Is anyone else introducing the bottle/formula this early on? I cherish the 6 hrs it gives me at night.

julestony · September 2014

Per our peds recommendation, didn't introduce bottle til 2 weeks. I'm trying to EBF/EP. She isn't totally going for the whole bottle thing yet...in time.

MrsKasel10 · September 2014

MY DD is also 1 week. I try to make sure she does not sleep all day so that she is tired at my bedtime, around 9pm and then she only wakes in MOTN to eat and she falls right back to sleep. I do not plan to introduce formula but she has taken BM from a bottle.

brittneyandadam · September 2014

I had to...I don't make enough milk, so I've been supplementing since her 4 day appt

Timscutie01 · September 2014

DS got a bottle right off the bat because he was in the Nicu for a week. He does great with both now. I have some stored breast milk for when he may need it and we do about one bottle every couple days to make sure he is still comfortable with the bottle.

Gizmo1231 · September 2014

I think everyone is different on what they will tell you. We have had to supplement at times with a bottle and formula, feed with a nipple guard, and bare skin latched. My LO has done well going back and forth but I know some babies don't.

HorseLover11 · September 2014

Thanks ladies!! I will see her ped tomorrow but he recommended the long stretch of sleep for me as I do pump to give DH milk for that feed. She had gone from bottle to boob fine just hard to keep her awake on the boob.

JustCricket · September 2014

if she's going fine from the bottle to boob and it's giving you sanity, I say keep at it.

RedBaramid · September 2014

All babies are different and I agree with PP, if she is making the transitions well then who cares do your thing. We have a paci we use to calm suckle during periods of bad gas pains, we have to use a nipple shield to latch when I get engorged or she is overly fussy, she has had a few bottles of expressed BM, and she latches to me. I consider myself lucky to have such an easy baby right now.

nilvero · September 2014

I've given LO a paci since we got home and a bottle since week two and he transitions fine. If it works for your Lo then keep doing it.

HorseLover11 · September 2014

Thanks ladies!! We met with an consultant in our area who is know for getting babies to sleep thru the night faster and it was so helpful. DH will bathe and feed her and have her down by 9pm and I'll feed at 1am and stretch it as much as I can til 6am and pump 1-2x per day. I'm also cutting feelings to when she's really hungry and stop after 30 as she was getting super lazy and sleepy during feeds. I think this will really help us get on a more effective routine and force her to eat better.

megs2011 · September 2014

My twins had an NG tube and were bottle fed while in the nicu for 30 days then I bottle fed till they were 3 months bc we needed to add formula to my milk to help them gain. They had no issues going to the boob at 3 months.

Everyusernameistaken · September 2014

HorseLover11 said:
Thanks ladies!! We met with an consultant in our area who is know for getting babies to sleep thru the night faster and it was so helpful. DH will bathe and feed her and have her down by 9pm and I'll feed at 1am and stretch it as much as I can til 6am and pump 1-2x per day. I'm also cutting feelings to when she's really hungry and stop after 30 as she was getting super lazy and sleepy during feeds. I think this will really help us get on a more effective routine and force her to eat better.

How old is your baby? I'm a bit confused why you are seeing a consultant to get baby to sleep through the night when LO is pretty much a newborn. My understanding is that babies this age should be fed on demand (and its not unusual for feedings to be every 2-3 hours) and you shouldn't be trying to "stretch out" feedings. Sorry if I am misreading your post, I'm not trying to be snarky but I am genuinely confused! We'd all like a bit of sleep at this point but it's part of having a newborn, kwim?

hizah05 · September 2014

Everyusernameistaken said:

HorseLover11 said:
Thanks ladies!! We met with an consultant in our area who is know for getting babies to sleep thru the night faster and it was so helpful. DH will bathe and feed her and have her down by 9pm and I'll feed at 1am and stretch it as much as I can til 6am and pump 1-2x per day. I'm also cutting feelings to when she's really hungry and stop after 30 as she was getting super lazy and sleepy during feeds. I think this will really help us get on a more effective routine and force her to eat better.
How old is your baby? I'm a bit confused why you are seeing a consultant to get baby to sleep through the night when LO is pretty much a newborn. My understanding is that babies this age should be fed on demand (and its not unusual for feedings to be every 2-3 hours) and you shouldn't be trying to "stretch out" feedings. Sorry if I am misreading your post, I'm not trying to be snarky but I am genuinely confused! We'd all like a bit of sleep at this point but it's part of having a newborn, kwim?

I'm glad you said this. I'm confused too. Cutting feedings and stopping after a certain amount of time? It seems too early for tactics like this. At this age they go through several growth spurts and might be hungry at different times and intervals. If you're comfortable with this, go for it. But honestly, getting only a few hours a sleep in the first weeks/months comes with having kids.

Eta: what I mean with the sleep comment is that I don't think your baby is waking often because she doesn't feed well, it's just what newborns do.

nilvero · September 2014

HorseLover11 said:

Thanks ladies!! We met with an consultant in our area who is know for getting babies to sleep thru the night faster and it was so helpful. DH will bathe and feed her and have her down by 9pm and I'll feed at 1am and stretch it as much as I can til 6am and pump 1-2x per day. I'm also cutting feelings to when she's really hungry and stop after 30 as she was getting super lazy and sleepy during feeds. I think this will really help us get on a more effective routine and force her to eat better.

Ooo, you shouldn't be stretching feedings to five hours when they are that little. And cutting feedings until she is really hungry will cause her to have trouble latching. Newborns eat constantly it's what they do. During my baby's growth spurt he was eating every forty five minutes and at night, every hour.

Ahlome08 · September 2014

I agree with the PPs who said do not stretch feeding or limit time at the breast. My LO is just over 2 weeks old and he sleeps in about 2-3 hours during the day and 3-5 at night (sometimes, not always, and he is def not the norm, we just got really lucky). He also eats whenever he wants for however long. He may eat for 10 mins and be done for a few hours or he may cluster feed for 2-3 hours or more. It's just what babies do in the first few months, especially the first month. Yes, it's exhausting and I don't get but a few chores done and dinner made, but I would rather know he is getting the nutrients he needs than having more sleep/ hands free time.

LaurenWarwick · September 2014

julestony said:

Per our peds recommendation, didn't introduce bottle til 2 weeks. I'm trying to EBF/EP. She isn't totally going for the whole bottle thing yet...in time.

We tried to intro a bottle of BM the other day (at 1.5 weeks) and she was not having it. Maybe we did it too early? It totally stressed out DH, who got really sad and frustrated that she wouldn't take the bottle. He thought he was doing it wrong and it was his fault. Will try again after 2 weeks and hopefully have better luck!

HorseLover11 · September 2014

We had our doc appt today and she has gained .7 oz since birth and this consultant is one of their on call after hour nurses so I do trust their guidelines and all our friends have used them and had babies sleeping thru the night quickly. (The longer stretches were not recommended until she did pass her birth weight). I will say that after trying this for the first day baby girl is feeding so much more efficiently and giving me a longer much needed break bc feeding every 2 hrs was wearing me out. She is also done after the 30 min as she's sleeping. I don't cut her off if she's still actively feeding. I thin I phrased the "cutting feedings" part wrong. I'm half delirious.

HorseLover11 · September 2014

7 oz I Meant so after her initial drop after birth she gained 12 oz above the birth weight. I promise you guys our baby will not starve. The nurse today at the appt was in agreement. I'll keep a close eye on her of course though and do what is ultimately right by her and not my need for sleep.

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