First off - you are at the stage when judging whether your breasts feel 'full' or 'empty' is no longer a reliable guide. For most women at some point around the 3-4 month mark they find their breast 'fullness' subsides (sometimes earlier). This is partly because the first few weeks of fullness are actually a lot to do with other kinds of fluids apart from milk (lymph and blood surrounding the newly developing milk production cells) and also partly because the breasts have yet to adjust to your baby's needs. Infact the changes that naturally happen around this time (feeds getting shorter due to efficiency, babies being more distracted at the breast, breasts feeling softer, no longer feeling letdown) have led many many women to mistakenly doubt their supply and begin supplementing - which is what led to this FAQ:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65905.0Babies at this age sometimes get distractible and fussy during feeds (pulling nipple and thrashing about - yup, sounds familiar) and it doesn't have to mean a supply problem. It's because the world is an interesting place and they want to get back to it.
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/distractible-baby.htmlI wouldn't judge his behaviour at the end of feed but what is his behaviour like 20 minutes later, an hour later - is he asking for the breast again and showing clear hungry cues? Or after he's off the breast does he seem to settle and then waits happily until the next 3hr routine feed?
A waking at a very specific time (e.g. always 2.30) Tracy explained is usually not an indication of hunger (although once he's awake he may fancy some). Hunger wakings tend to happen within a window of perhaps an hour or 1.5hr or even longer and they vary. A very specific wake up time is usually for another reason so you could try using wake-to-sleep e.g. go in before 2.30 and gently rouse him but do not wake him up fully. This should disrupt his sleep cycle enough to hopefully break a pattern.
OK having said all that let's assume your supply is a problem:
perhaps he's not lasting his usual intervals, he shows clear hunger signs well before a usual feed time, he is having weight gain issues, he may not be getting sufficient wet nappies, he is not swallowing well for steady periods and struggles to get a letdown.
If that's the case then you know it's about supply and demand so yes, formula does make a bit of a difference. Try and make sure you've completely exhausted the breast first - breast compression, switching sides and then wait a few minutes before supplementing to see if he settles or still shows hunger cues (and when you do make supplement sure it's a minimum amount not a massive bottle). But do remember because of the way bottle flows and milk pools in the mouth a bf baby WILL take more oz and it doesn't mean they are even slightly hungry. If you think about it once someone brings a bottle to your lips the effort of saying 'no thanks' and trying to NOT feed is actually considerably greater than the effort of just letting it happen and taking the milk.
If he was desperately hungry I'd expect him to try and keep going on your breasts as a small trickle of milk continues (as milk production happens all the time during a feed. Breasts are never completely empty) so the fact that he's not interested says something.
If you do feel that your breasts need more stimulation then get pumping - perhaps after he's gone to bed to compensate for any formula.
Fenugreek can take up to 72 hours before you see a difference so be patient (3 capsules, 3 times a day).
Make sure you are drinking plenty. Not drinking enough during the day is a common cause of supply seeming to taper off as the day goes on. Letdown sometimes slows as the day goes on too and this is natural - a bit of breast compression might help if he seems frustrated.
That's my 2 cents and I'll let Rachel add from her personal experience (you must have been really searching the archives!).
