Breast and bottle

[nikkif]

I am having problems with breast feeding and have really tried even when i am in agony but Charlotte doesn't feed "well" and it can take so long to do one feed, she never stays latched on for long, falls asleep and thats just part of the problem. I have tried everything to keep her awake etc but anyway after a lot of discussion we decided to introduce a bottle of formula at night and to do part and part for a while with maybe 3 bottles and see how it goes.

I know this isnt recommended and i feel really guilty and keep beating myself up over it but we hve to do what is best for us and i want to enjoy her being tiny.

For those of you who bottle feed do you take the advice of making up one bottle at a time? That is our plan but we are thinking for the middle of the night feed (which i might introduce by bottle) she wakes up and is screaming for food this will be very difficult by the time we have made up the feed. What do you do?? I want my husband to be able to sleep as he is back at work and needs to concentrate for his job. He is also going to do the 10-11ish feed so i can get some sleep.

Sorry this is a long post!

Any thoughts appreciated

 

[krystal&jack]

don't beat yourself up! I did both with Jack and he's fine with it, he settles well.

as for making up bottles i do mine in advance 3 at a time, if you don't want to make milk up though what you could do is boil kettle, leave to cool for 30 mins, pour however many ounzes you need into a bottle then leave to cool, once you need a feed on a night time you just add your scoops of powder then heat in a jug of water.

hope this helps

 

[nikkif]

Thanks I just feel like i am letting her down. Do you just bottle feed now?

What is the actual reason for letting water cool for 30 mins then adding to bottle? Is it possible to pour straight from kettle to bottle and cool quicker under a tap?

x

 

[krystal&jack]

I still do both just more so the bottle now, i find he settles better with bottle. I guess now i just do the breast as a kinda bonding thing.

Not sure about the cooling down thing, just what midwife advised. I think it's maybe more important to let it cool for 30 mins if you adding powder there and then cos there is a risk of scalding the powder i think. If you just making the water and adding the powder later i can't see there being any reason to wait the 30 mins. Just be careful you don't scald yourself x

 

[Urchin]

I just feel like i am letting her down.

You made the choice to do whats best for her...a happy mommy makes a happy baby, don't worry about anything else...have confidence in your decision.

With regards to introducing another bottle...are you expressing at all? If you do want to keep feeding I would express to keep your supply up.
Also, introducing a bottle may not help her to learn how to latch on well to the breast....keep giving her breast whenever you can, she will get the hang of it. Or maybe consider getting those breast shaped teats...I think Tommy Tippee do a good one.

 

[OopsyDaisy]

I am having problems with breast feeding and have really tried even when i am in agony but Charlotte doesn't feed "well" and it can take so long to do one feed, she never stays latched on for long, falls asleep and thats just part of the problem. I have tried everything to keep her awake etc but anyway after a lot of discussion we decided to introduce a bottle of formula at night and to do part and part for a while with maybe 3 bottles and see how it goes.

I know this isnt recommended and i feel really guilty and keep beating myself up over it but we hve to do what is best for us and i want to enjoy her being tiny.

For those of you who bottle feed do you take the advice of making up one bottle at a time? That is our plan but we are thinking for the middle of the night feed (which i might introduce by bottle) she wakes up and is screaming for food this will be very difficult by the time we have made up the feed. What do you do?? I want my husband to be able to sleep as he is back at work and needs to concentrate for his job. He is also going to do the 10-11ish feed so i can get some sleep.

Sorry this is a long post!

Any thoughts appreciated

Nikkif, from all your previous posts, it seems like we are going through the same thing.

I started off breastfeeding exclusively, but couldn't handle the demanding night feeds, so ended up introducing a bottle of formula to give last thing at night. This means that the LO sleeps through most of the night, and this gives myself and DH a chance for sleep. This worked out well for a few days, but now she's started to take ages at each feed, and I find that all I seem to be doing is breastfeeding. At times like this, when I can't meet the demands, I've had to supplement with a bottle of formula, even though I know this will affect my milk supply, but it keeps me sane. I am now very tempted to switch over to formula all together, but like you, I feel guilty about doing so. I'm just not sure how much longer I can BF for.

 

[cloud9]

You shoouldn't feel guilty about not wanting to b/feed but it really does get easier in time...I am now scared to death of having to make up a bottle of fomula as i have never done it...

Do what is right for you but your milk supply does increase if you keep at it.

good luck

 

[babyroo]

Nikkif and Oopsydaisy I am going through exactly the same as you, I have been supplementing my LO with 1-2 bottles a day for about 2 weeks now. It's usually at the morning and evening feeds when I'm having problems, she is on and off the breast for hours. I too feel very guilty but I had to do it because my nipples were getting in such a state from all the sucking and did'nt want to give up completely. My HV has been very supportive and Jessica put on 11oz last week. I mentioned the constant feeding to my midwife and HV and they both put it down to growth spurts.
She can't be having growth spurts all the time can she? I had 4 different midwifes and health professionals check she was latched properly over the first couple of weeks and they said it seemed fine. Hopefully it will settle for us all soon.

 

[OopsyDaisy]

Hey babyroo, we have both named our DD Jessica!

Following on from my last post, things didn't get any better, and I was in tears most of the time, and loathed the next breastfeeding session. In the end, me and DH have decided it just wasn't working out, and if switching to formula means that I will be happier, then hopefully this will in turn make the LO happier too. It wasn't an easy decision, I had major guilt feelings, and felt like a failure for only managing to BF for 2 weeks, but something had to be done. We have now switched, I have introduced more formula bottles to her feed, but as my boobs are still full with milk, I have still given some breastmilk by expressing some into a bottle. I plan to reduce the length of time I express at each session, and to increase the interval between each expressing to gradually reduce my milk supply without much engorgement. I did think about just expressing and giving breast milk this way instead of formula, but find that it's difficult to gauge how much to give. I hope we have made the right decision as I know that it will be very difficult to go back to BF.