LO has been on an exclusively breastmilk diet. She's now 6.5 months and I'm concerned that she's still hungry. It might explain why she wakes up often at night. I'm considering giving her a formula bottle before bedtime. Which makes me sad. Like I'm not able to produce enough for her thus unable to provide the very best. In my head I wanted her to only have breastmilk and solids for her first year.
Has anyone else had to do this? Any suggestions?
squash / 13199 posts
You can mix solids in with your breast milk to make it thicker and more filling if you think she is still hungry. That way you can avoid formula altogether if that is your main concern
grapefruit / 4800 posts
I would just try and give her a little bit more solids if you think she's hungry. My LO was waking up more at night and I tried giving her lots of food right before bed, lots of milk including pumped milk in case I wasn't producing enough at night and solids and it didn't help anything. I think there was a growth spurt and then she just got used to her schedule of waking up at night.
apricot / 489 posts
Thanks guys. I've been trying to give her more solids but she really isn't ready to eat much at all. She protests after a few spoon fulls. She's eager to eat it at first, but seems to fill up quickly. Or maybe just gets bored quickly, who knows!
pear / 1728 posts
if she gets bored of the food, maybe try a BLW approach? Liv did the same thing, then outright refused them. I tried BLW on a whim and now the chick LOVES. TO. EAT. But I do have to tell you that even with big meals before bed or oatmeal in her bottle of breastmilk before bed, she would still wake up once or twice a night to eat. She hit a growth spurt, then a tooth, then another growth spurt and ANOTHER tooth this week,(she is 7.5 months now) and all that back to back affected her sleep. So it could be something else. Dont supplemet with formula just yet. Id try some infant oatmeal (or rice cereal, but our oedi told us no rice cereal, oatmeal only) in her bottle before bed.
grapefruit / 4049 posts
My EBF baby hated purees too so we went the BLW route pretty soon after 6 months. I just watch her super closely and give her very soft foods. I have been concerned that my baby is still hungry too after BF'ing, so I worked on upping my supply as well (more milk plus, pumping after feeds, drinking more water, etc). I tried to give her formula, but she hates the bottle.
apricot / 489 posts
@livsmama- I'm so uninformed.. what is BLW? I have been giving her oatmeal w/ banana before bedtime for about a week without success. But you're right, it's very possible that it's a growth spurt and/or teething that is bothering her.
@nycalimama- do you still not give her anything pureed? Is it a textural thing I wonder? I'm going to try switching up the foods I give her, just to see if she prefers something else.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
Have you talked to your doctor about it? When my milk wasn't in yet I had to suppliment with formula. I would just nurse until she got fussy (because she wasn't getting anything) and that way my supply would come in and I gave formula after that.
apricot / 489 posts
@artbee- I have spoken to her doctor, yesterday actually. She suggested giving her an additional feeding (solids) during the day. Which I have done today and will continue doing. If that works, great. If not, then I'm back to considering formula! But that's probably what I'd do, I'd nurse her, then kinda top it off with formula.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
@BabyLove: Nothing's wrong with giving her a little formula if you need to. Especially if it makes your LO sleep better.... and then you can both get more rest!
apricot / 464 posts
Is she waking up and eating a ton? Lots of babies still aren't STTN at 6 months (mine wasn't for sure), but not necessarily because they are hungry.
pear / 1837 posts
To kind of echo what @ohapostrophe said, my LO was still waking up every 3 hours at 6 months, and nursing was good for getting him back to sleep, but I noticed that he only really nursed for like 3 minutes before falling back to sleep. Which didn't exactly seem like hunger.
At 4 months, our pediatrician told us that LO was old enough to quit night feedings, and that we should try to eliminate them as much as possible and encourage him to load up during the day.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
I supplemented with formula the first month of LO's life. So far we've been okay with just food and breast milk. I think my LO gets hungry in the middle of the night because I feed her 1-2 times at least. She's turning ONE this month!
clementine / 889 posts
If the additional solids during the day don't seem to help, you can try adding a bottle of pumped milk before bed. Usually evening is the lowest point of your supply during the day, so it could be that an extra ounce or two in a bottle will help. Usually I had so much in the mornings, I would pump before nursing LO. He still was full, and I got some extra pumped milk.
I did have to start using formula around 7 months after my supply tanked. It sucked, but it wasn't the end of the world.
kiwi / 525 posts
I was reading the Contented Twins book last night, and Gina Ford recommends pumping just before the second morning feed to have spare milk for 10pm, and of course to boost supply. She said the last milk to come from the boob in each feed, the hind milk, is the most calorie dense, so it made more sense to pump at the start as the lighter milk then could be used as a supplementary feed at night, while baby is getting plenty of calories in during the day. Hope that helps!
apricot / 489 posts
I would love to try to fit in more pumping sessions. But with working full time, I can really only do that on the weekends. I wonder if I would be able to get enough to supplement for the entire week? I'll give it a try though. As it is, I wouldn't pump enough while at work to give her a bottle in the evening. I pump exactly what she needs during the day.
Thank you guys so much for offering suggestions. I'm going to try it all before resorting to formula.
kiwi / 525 posts
Don't feel you have to exhaust every possible option before you buy a box of formula. Your priority is a happy healthy well fed baby- if formula helps you achieve that, brilliant. It doesn't need to be the last resort. You're still breast feeding, you're just adding a little bit on. Supplementing, not replacing.
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