breast feeding with formula @ night?

Devilbirdie · by **Devilbirdie** on Mon Apr 23, 2007 8:27 pm

i breast feed only, but would like a few more hours sleep at night. do you think fomula would help for his last bootle at night?

by **Guest** on Mon Apr 23, 2007 8:50 pm

It definitely helped me. However, my son had issues digesting my breastmilk so now at 6 months he is formula fed (much to my sadness).

Anyway - I would give it a try. Sometimes it is more the comfort/habit than real hunger that wakes babies up. However, it depends on the age of your baby. If under 2 months then they really do need to feed every 3 hours or so. Be aware that not all formulas are created equal so watch for reactions. My son does fine on the lactose free but couldn't handle the soy or the regular formulas.

Cheers,
Lara

Yvonne A · by **Yvonne A** on Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:26 pm

I tried for my third baby, I really needed sleep with a 2 & 4 year old to keep me busy in the day, and she got up so often.... Anyway it did not work for me. I tried a couple different brands and she still got up just as often.

You could also pump out your milk for your spouse to feed babe - best time to pump is in the morning and before feeding you baby. It is nice if your baby will take a bottle, and you have a stockpile of milk in the freezer. You can sleep in sometimes

or go out alone sometimes.

cmy2boys · by **cmy2boys** on Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:30 am

Has not worked for us. Have tried a few formulas and things are actually worse. We started at 3 months and that is actually stopped sleeping through the night. When he was bf for the last feed, he slept up to 8-9 hours. Now he won't go back to bf for the last feed. Has to be a bottle. Honestly, from all the research I have done there really is no data to support that fromula will help a baby sleep better, just coinicidence I think. You could try and keep your fingers crossed.

Shealynphoto · by **Shealynphoto** on Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:38 am

With your baby only being a month old I would not give formula, your body is still working out the need for milk your baby has.
At one month your baby is still waking b/c he is needing to feed.

Are you hoping your hubby would be waking with the baby to feed the formula? Baby may STILL wake every 2/3 house even with formula.

I know the first bit is sooo hard ( my baby still wakes every 2-3 house at night to nurse) but in time it will get better

Good luck with whatever you end up doing, you are mom and know what is best for your baby.

myboy · by **myboy** on Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:32 am

Hi. I had to formula feed my guy after 2 months, and on and off in the beginning. It won't make him sleep any longer really at such a young age. I pumped 1 bottle a day for my husband to feed the baby. He did the feed that came around 10 or 11 pm. I went to sleep around 9 and that way I was able to get at least 4 hours of solid sleep and wake for the mid morning feed. It sure does help a lot and you husband should have no problem doing that feed even if he works the next day. I did a bottle early so I would always have one for my husband so he could have that close time too. Good luck. They usually sleep 6 hours in the night by 2-4 months, so hang in there.

Benjorsam · by **Benjorsam** on Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:13 am

I actually found I got less sleep giving my baby a bottle in the middle of the night. Between having to go downstairs, prepare the bottle, heat the bottle, and take it back up stairs, then try holding it while I'm half asleep then get baby back to sleep and get back to bed myself, it was a lot of work. I ended up bringing him into my bed to breastfeed and I would always fall back to sleep while he was still nursing. He would feed and then fall asleep so I really didn't have to do anything. I don't remember having any long periods during the night where he would not go back to sleep. He always slept well when I nursed him. I'm not an advocate of co-sleeping but it definitly go me through the first few months. I wish I had done this with my other two kids.

Shealynphoto · by **Shealynphoto** on Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:40 am

myboy wrote:They usually sleep 6 hours in the night by 2-4 months, so hang in there.

I'm so sorry but I have to lol that this :lol:

If you mean sleep,not WAKING up but still fusing to feed ok. Thought if you mean no fusing at all ummm can you please tell my two kiddos this :lol:

Every baby seems to do their own thing if we like it or not.

My dd would "wake" to feed every two hours for the first year of her like....oh yes I was one sleepy mommy :lol:

Ok where am I going with this?? Don't worry to much if baby is not sleeping for more then 2 hours, they know what they need

Devilbirdie · by **Devilbirdie** on Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:56 am

thanks everyone fo your response, i think i will stick to breast feeding only.

by **Guest** on Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:00 pm

Devilbirdie wrote:thanks everyone fo your response, i think i will stick to breast feeding only.

I didn't notice how little your baby was (noticed the lilliput afterwards). I think that breastfeeding exclusively if you can and the baby can is a great idea. We only gave formula because there wasn't an other option for us and even then it wasn't until over 3 months.

Cheers,
Lara