bottle feeding nightmare, where to start? HELP!

[murphy76]

Hi,

I hope this is in the right section.

I have been breastfeeding for 3months but although we have tried to get our 12 week old DS to take an occasional bottle, he just wont, at most takes 2oz and once or twice has taken 4oz.

I have decided to quit breastfeeding all together and now want him to take a bottle full time. up until now he has still been waking 3-4times per night to feed, and my experience with my 2yr old DS is that when he was on bottles he fed more each time and slept better at night.

Yesterday i decided to go cold turkey, and he took 2oz, then 4 oz 3hrs later, the 2oz 3hrs later again, then another 2oz 3hrs later. at this point i knew he was going to be up up all night without any food so i breast fed him. he slept for 3hrs but then was up every 1-2hrs during the night. tried the bottle then, he refused, so i just ended up breast feeding him to try and get him some sleep.

can someone please advise the best way to approach this? trying one or two bottles a day has not worked to date as he just holds out as he knows the breast will be coming and we will cave in, hence deciding to go cold turkey.

what i am most worried about is with a lack of food that means a lack of sleep for him, which means he gets upset and OT, and in that state will never take the bottle so its just a vicious circle.

is it smart to just try bottles during the day and breast at night, or should i just go bottles all the way, and if he is up and OT just battle through and eventually he will be hungry enough/realise that its only bottles from here on in?

I dont mind it being tough, as long as i know there is a light at the end of it, and at the minute i am so confused i cant quite see that.

Any help or thoughts much welcome, really need something to cling onto at the minute!

Thanks in advance

[*Kara*]

I have decided to quit breastfeeding all together and now want him to take a bottle full time. up until now he has still been waking 3-4times per night to feed, and my experience with my 2yr old DS is that when he was on bottles he fed more each time and slept better at night.

Bottle fed babies do not sleep better than breastfed babies.  The idea that formula takes longer to digest is true but it's not a big a difference as many expect.

Breastmilk leaves the tummy after about an hour.. most standard milk-based formulas take about 90 mins and comfort milks/whey based formulas are similar to breastmilk at around an hour.  So really, not the stuff that makes for a baby who will STTN. 

At this age, it is expected that baby would eat every 3 hrs, have a DF and then 2 (sometimes 3) feeds before morning.

If you are moving to a bottle simply to sleep better, I do think we should look at options with regards to BFing first as it may just be a case of snacking/foremilk-hindmilk imbalance or needing to do compressions to release more fat into your milk.

Let me know what your reasons are and we will do what we can

[murphy76]

Hi Kara,

Thanks for the reply.

I breastfed my first DS and know how personal a thing it is, and this time we are just at the end of that road. Mentally it could be because I am going to be returning to work part time next month and this is going to include a couple of nights away, so unfortunately it is out of necessity rather than choice. I had hoped the other things I mentioned would be a bonus, rather than the reason for taking this step.

I have really enjoyed it, but now it is over it is all about making the transition as smoothly as possible, and I was hoping a few that have been there before could have posted things that worked for them, whether cold turkey was the answer, will he sleep at all nap or otherwise during this process and reassurance that his tears are not us hurting him.

In the two days since I tried bottles during the day he took 9oz spread out over 4 bttls the first day, and a bit more the second day. I have breastfed at night as he refused the bottle and I was afraid of waking our eldest son.

My husband has suggested we go to my parents all day Friday and Friday night and he stays with DS and just toughs it out as during that 24hrs he'll have to take the bottle from him or starve, but I don't know if this is the answer?

Thanks for any tips or experience anyone can share

[*Kara*]

Please provide any tips and experience you can with murphy76 here: Switching to a bottle - worried about starving our lo

[murphy76]

Thanks Kara