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Sleep!!
Will I ever sleep again?
Oliver is 5 weeks today and I am bf'ing, and he has fed every hour and half for the last 5 weeks. I am knackered!!!
I am seriously considering giving him a bottle of formula in the evening to see if he sleeps a little longer, is that really selfish of me?
Oliver is putting on weight well, is contented and alert when he is awake. I asked HV for advice but she said to just persevere with bf'ing but I am not sure how long I can do this before I crack up from lack of sleep.
I dont expect him to sleep through the night but a 4 hour block sounds like heaven!
YC x
Oliver is 5 weeks today and I am bf'ing, and he has fed every hour and half for the last 5 weeks. I am knackered!!!
I am seriously considering giving him a bottle of formula in the evening to see if he sleeps a little longer, is that really selfish of me?
Oliver is putting on weight well, is contented and alert when he is awake. I asked HV for advice but she said to just persevere with bf'ing but I am not sure how long I can do this before I crack up from lack of sleep.
I dont expect him to sleep through the night but a 4 hour block sounds like heaven!
YC x
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Replies
You must be completely shattered and you need to look after yourself too. Xx
Your breastmilk should be well established by this stage, have you got a pump?
I can express 3-4 o off a breast 3-4 times a day :O so this is more than enough, but unfortunately Imogen won't play ball and is obsessed with my boobs. Bummer.
Eventually he will go longer between feeds, he's still tiny and his stomach is so small and breastmilk gets digested far quicker than formula so he needs it more often, just remember that when he wakes and how wonderful your milk is for him.
Also.. Imogen goes much longer in the daytime.. how long is he feeding for? Are you offering 2nd breast so he takes in more and therefore can sleep for longer? I time my feeds so I can gestimate how long it will be before Imogen needs her next feed, some days its half hour and some days its 4 hrs... just depends how long she goes for.
Sorry this is long and probs not helpful. But I do feel your pain love I really do. Breastfeeding is tough but its so worth it xxx
I tried a hand pump last time to express and it took an age so have an electric one to use this time - am hoping it'll be easier.
Also get OH to give the 1st bottle as if you do it LO will smell your milk and get confused - worked for us last time.
Liz x
I had to combi feed my son as I didn't have enough milk (from 2 1/2 weeks) and we gave formula last feed at night and he used to sleep through till about 6-7am from 6 weeks old (wish he would now..stupid allergies) so we always planned to introduce a bottle for Tegan at some point.. unfortunately milk supply isn't great again so we ended up giving formula at 1 week old. Both my kids have/had no problems switching between bottle/boob and formula/ebm in bottles. My doctor actually said she thinks its better to give a bottle earlier as they will usually take it better at an earlier age, and that its often better to do so to take a bit of the pressure off the mum (she thinks theres too much pressure to bf and thats why so many give up.. I almost fell over in shock when she actually said that..didn't think the health professionals were allowed to do that)
Sleep deprivation is dreadful (we have had awful problems with my sons sleeping) - and it won't do you any good if you are tired all thet ime.. i think the only thing that has kept us sane when my son was particularly bad was the odd weekend off to catch up on sleep while my parents have him. Expressing is also hard work and boring and I was expressing to help build up my supply but have ditched doing it as I can't deal with that and look after 2 kids and bf Tegan.
Its not selfish of you to want some sleep ... you can look after lo better if you are more awake (and you need rest to help with milk supply) - and a couple of oz of formula at night won't hurt. Tegan normally only wakes a couple of times at night.. and my milk hasn't been affected by it - she feeds on me all evening and then has a bottle and I always have more milk overnight (hv says she thinks more milk overnight is a throwback from when humans lived in caves and would feed their babies all night lol) - in fact last night she only woke once (slept from 10 - 3 i think it was and then woke again about 7.30) .. just a shame my son woke 3 times!
I find that knowing I can give Tegan a bottle if she's drained me dry (she does this.. hungry girl!!) takes the pressure off a bit, plus hubby likes to feed her - its good bonding time for them I think.
hope you get some sleep soon.. and hope this makes sense.. typed in instalments around troughing girl!
I am trying to persevere at the moment but have a few cartons of formula in the kitchen for if it does get too much.
xx