I was talking to a girlfriend of mine whose LO is about the same age as mine (8 months old). She nurses 4 times during the day, gives a bottle of formula before bedtime, and will nurse once at night.
Does anyone else do this?
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Why does she give the bottle of formula?
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We tried it- someone told me that babies burn formula slower, and that it would help our baby stay asleep longer. It did not work. We just do a bottle of pumped milk right before bed- the key is making their tummies nice and full, no matter how you decide to do it
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We do this but not to help her stay asleep longer. We do it because we wanted DH to be able to give her bottles sometimes so that she would continue to take bottles and so they can bond. We started formula because she won't take pumped milk from a bottle for some reason so we supplement anyway.
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@hilsy85: i think it's because she doesn't think she has enough of a supply to keep him satisfied at night. she was also on domperidone (like me).
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We tried it out for a while, but it didn't make a difference with how long he slept, and wasn't worth the money. What helped him sleep was night weaning, when he realized he wasn't getting boob at night, it wasn't worth waking up.
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I read in baby wise that it's a myth that formula keeps baby fuller longer. I does take longer to fully digest but it doesn't keep their tummy full any longer. I would rather pump and do a bottle of breast milk so I know she got a full feeding but still give her breastmilk.
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LO rejected the bottle and formula at 4 months so we never gave a bedtime bottle. If she DID take the bottle, we would have given her one at that age.
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@Pink Champagne: @MamaMoose: I don't think she gives formula because she thinks it helps him sleep longer, but because she doesn't think she has enough to pump for a night bottle.
I sometimes debate topping up with formula at night because i worry about my supply!
@Rubies: I have some friends whose LOs rejected the bottle, but started accepting it right before having to go to daycare. LO also rejected the bottle at around 4 months...i was so sad when that happened!
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We have given a bottle of formula at bedtime if I don't have enough pumped milk. I've also mixed formula and breastmilk together in a bottle.
The last three times I've tried to give my LO some formula though he has absolutely refused it!
I also take domperidone and worry about my supply! How has the bedtime bottle going.
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I recently started doing this to
Make sure DS was getting enough to eat. I would bf him and he would fuss like he was still hungry but I would be empty. -
@Sammyfab: I called the drugstore to get a refill on dom, only to find out that i have none left! Wtf! I think they say that after 6 months, it doesn't really have much effect, so i think it's all psychological right now. Ugh, i haven't done the bottle yet...i think it's sheer laziness, and also i have no time to pump! We're attempting night weaning this week so i don't want to make too many changes at once. However, i may top up with some formula tonight if she still seems hungry after nursing.
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@caffeinated: wouldn't theoretically pumping more often help your supply? Since breast milk is more or less supply on demand... If you're having supply issues then of course you would want to try formula, but maybe try getting a bottle's worth earlier in the day? My supply is lowest at night, which is why we do a bottle, but I get up every night at 4 am to
pump since LO is sleeping through the night and I get enough for at least two feedings then. Maybe something to play around with? -
@caffeinated: oh no! I think I have a few more refills and would totally send you some but is that illegal?!? Should I even be typing that out? Haha.
I pump around 9-10 pm before i go to bed (yes, i am old and sad!) I dread having to do it every night but I don't want to go back to nursing at bedtime.
I respond on your other thread. I think she's doing great!
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I don't do formula but I do a bottle of pumped milk because my LO falls asleep the minute the hits the breast so he is never fu! He will wake up 45mins later. So, I give him a bottle of pumped milk to make sure he stays up & drinks all 4oz...& then he does a 5-7hour stretch!
I'd imagine formula would be fine...just make sure to pump for that missed feed so your supply doesn't fall even more.
P.s: I add rice cereal to his night bottle (per my ped's advice) to help with his extreme reflux (because it thickens the milk) & that makes him sleep longer too! -
Starting at about 3 weeks, we would give her a bottle of formula at night to give my nipples a break. We continued with it until I weaned a few weeks ago.
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@caffeinated: @Sammyfab: Are you guys in Canada? My LC recommended that I try Domperidome, but it isn't FDA approved in the US, and that freaked me out. My low supply ultimately meant that we had to switch to formula full time.
(Sorry for that thread jack.)
Anyways, my useful contribution to this thread is that my mom totally did this for my sister. She breastfed exclusively with the exception of a bottle of formula that my dad fed my sister each night before bed. My mom was a SAHM, and she didn't pump. (Was that even a thing back then?) So to get my sister used to a bottle, my dad would give her formula for her bedtime feeding.
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I always pumped, my son never latched, but I was pumping just slightly less than he ate a day. So I gave him a bottle of formula before bed to make up the difference for a long time!
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@Sammyfab: Hahaha, no worries. I think i'll be okay. I got DH to get some Milk Maid's Tea for me and we'll see how that goes!
@skibobrown: Yeah, we're in Canada. Dom REALLY helped me out when i was suffering from low supply in the beginning. Once i got on it, LO went from 15th to 50th percentile. Once i night wean, i'm going to try giving her a bedtime bottle...i really hate pumping because it takes me 30 minutes just to get a couple of ounces!
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When I stopped pumping at work during the day I was just going to nurse morning and night. However when I got home from work she wanted to nurse. By the time bedtime a few house later, I wasn't full again so I knew she wasn't gettig anything. We tried a bottle of formula and or milk and it didn't do much. Now she still asks to nurse at bedtime even though there can't be much there and will turn down a bottle.
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I use to give my LO 2oz of formula after I nurse him for bed time bc my supply is usually the lowest then. And then I noticed that he didn't needn't so stopped and he's able to sleep through the night; but I still get up to nurse around 3:30am. He hasn't had trouble falling back asleep. I'm thinking about night weaning though bc I want to sleep through the night myself!
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I've never done this, she started STTN at about 6 months. I always felt like any time I'd give formula instead of nursing I would just be depleting my supply so I avoided it at all costs.
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