Adding a bottle of formula to BF'ing, help :)

[Redshoes]

I am unable to get anything off expressing and so if I introduce a bottle it will be formula, and I was wondering how BF'ing Mum's who introduced a bottle, did this with their LO's? Ophelia will be 6months on the 24th. She weighs about 13lb, we're having her weighed tomz, she was small at 5lb 11oz born, 3wks early. How many oz is she likely to want/take too? All this on the grounds she'll take a bottle that is too We still co-sleep and so she has no bedtime, and is unsettled when I move her from the boob on an evening, yet she is tired, and I cannot be sat with her on me all night for much longer, it's not fair on either of us. I'm thinking a bottle of formula would satisfy her for longer, so she'd be less wakeful and the bottle could help signify a routine, as in, bedtime, cot time? I do not mind her sleeping with me when I go to bed, it would just be nice to have a few hours without her on me, as she's only sleeping anyway, and not really feeding, its comfort, I'm a dummy hope that makes sense

If anyone knows how to rent an electric breastpump for free that'd be useful too as money isn't great at mo and just cannot afford to buy one

 

[Bloom]

I could of wrote that post a while ago.

Firstly don't be fooled into thinking that a bottle of formula will make her sleep longer it doesn't always work like that.

DD had a bottle a day of forumla from around 3 months as she was small born and we struggled with weight gain. I gave it to her at 7.30 (hoping this would settle her for bed) it never worked she would still be awake and wanting a small breast feed at 10ish but it did allow me time to eat my dinner and take a shower, and oh got to feed her.

The box of formula should say roughly how much she should be having and you can always up it or lower it if she wants more or less.

If it was me i would just go for a whole new bedtime routine which includes the bottle before bed. She will take a while to get used to it but it sounds like thats what you want. I wish i got tougher earlier as my dd is 10 months and ive only just got her to go bed a 9 because i let her pick her own bedtime. You have to do what your comfortable with. Shes still quite young i was hanging onto the 9 months in 9 months out thing before i would let her cry in her cot.

 

[Fly]

hiya honey
Henry's having two bottles of formula a day now for very much the reasons you have described above...
I use the tommee tippee closer to nature bottles but it might help your little one to introduce the milk in a sippy cup if she can manage to hold it.. then its totally totally different to mummy's boobs...Also get your partner or someone else to give her the formula to drink...

I've found with Henry that it works best (for evenings) to give him a bottle at between 4pm and 5pm.. this means he is full up so i can get on with dinner and spend some time with my eldest.. then he has another 2/3 breastfeeds before going down for a sleep 9pm to 10pm - i get some time then with my partner. Before we introduced the bottle I was just permanently feeding/performing human dummy services from mid afternoon until 1/2 in the morning

I give him a bottle at about 9.30-10.30am because otherwise we do nothing until he falls asleep after lunch.. by then i am starving cos haven't been able to grab breakfast and haven't been able to get out n do stuff.. this bottle i only introduced two days ago and have finally managed to get some washing on, make a cake, spend some time with my eldest and have some time to meself (he asleep now lol)

Goodluck with it hun xxxxxxx

 

[Mildly]

Hi Redshoes

Oscar has two bottles of formula a day (one from birth and then the second introduced at around three months, I think). The trick to combine with breastfeeding and not to harm your supply is to make sure the formula feed is at the same time each day. Your supply will then adjust but still provide enough milk at other times of the day. Our first bottle was the one before bed and really helped us get in a bedtime routine. At the beginning we started it at around 11.30pm and he would then sleep through until 5am. As he has got older, we have brought his bedtime earlier and now his last bottle is 7.30pm ish and he sleeps until 7am ish. Of course this may not be due to the formula - we are probably just very lucky. I do cluster feed him from late afternoon onwards, which works out at a boob feed every hour and a half or so until his last bottle so this probably helps him feel more full too.

I would start her off on a 5 or 6 oz bottle although she is unlikely to drink if she gets full before the end of the bottle.

Sorry no idea about the electric breast pump, might your HV have any idea?

 

[mumtotwo]

Hi
I can't express either - with a manual or electric. Contact your breastfeeding co-ordinator at the hospital to ask about borrowing one to try. Definately don't buy an expensive one without trying it first - could end up being a complete waste of money unfortunately.
Instead of introducing formula we just introduced a new bedtime routine to break the habit of baby sleeping on me in the evenings.
He has a bath then I feed him in the bedroom instead of downstairs. I then put him in the cot when he's tired but awake. I stay with him until he falls asleep but try not to get him back out of the cot. Although he still doesn't sleep through the night he does sleep a lot better than he used to. If you do want to introduce formula then personally I would do it as part of a bedtime routine otherwise you might find baby takes the bottle but still wants to sleep all evening on you! Good luck.