Breastfeeding/giving bottle question?

Question

While in breastfeeding class we were told not to give bottles or pacifiers until 6 weeks. Well my baby sometimes wants to eat more at night time for some reason and we've used my pumped milk but we use a syringe with a little string that milks comes through with our finger...this way she needs to suck on a finger and not a bottle.

However, this is very tiring especially at night.

If we were to give my breast milk in a bottle instead of a syringe would that put our breastfeeding in jeopardy?

I also breastfeed her every 1.5-3 hrs.

Answer 1

The sucking itself is not the problem it's the fact that the sucking (and also feeding through a syringe) means the baby is not sucking on mum's b*****s therefore stimulating milk production. Even if there is nothing there for bubs to drink, the sucking lets your body know how much milk it needs to make next time.

A small amount of doing this should not jeapardise BF too much but it is important to establish your supply in those first 6 weeks. So if you are going to continue to give her some of the expressed milk, the syringe or a bottle will have the same effect (whatever that may be...,maybe none) on your supply

Answer 2

Have you tried the 5 S's at night?  And, prewarm her crib (ugh, a jail, poor thing) with a hot water bottle, make 'wall's with rolled up blankets so that she's touching.  Really, though, learn to nurse laying down.

How old is she?  We waited 3 weeks to give a bottle and had no problems....but giving a bottle at night is much more tiring than breastfeeding!!!!

Try feeding her VERY often in the evening---every hour.  Really.  Just put in a good movie, put her in a sling, and sit there and nurse.  It's called cluster feeding, and sometimes you have to initiate it yourself.  Feed for several hours on one side per feeding---for a three hour block, only nurse on the left side.  Then, for the next three hours, every times she's hungry use the right side.  This will help to give her more hindmilk which is more filling.  Especially at night.

Answer 3

It depends. Some babies have nipple confusion, others don't.

If it doesn't work, there's always a way to go back though.

If you want to try it I suggest using a nipple-like-bottle (Avent makes one) with the slowest flow possible. This way, she won't find it that much easier and refuse the breast afterwards. Also use it as you would with your breast, making sure she uses the same position with her mouth (wide opened) so she doesn't "lose" her good sucking habits.

If you notice after that that she has difficulty and hurts you while drinking on the breast, you'll have to teach and guide her all over again, though.

Good luck.

(do you breastfeed only when she demands it or do you wake her up? cause if every 3h sounds fine, 1,5h is really really short, unless it's a growth spurt)

Answer 4

...when your baby wants to eat more, why do you not just put her on the breast...??

Answer 5

The night I brought my daughter home from the hospital I was engorged and she couldn't latch on. I was afraid she'd starve so I gave her formula from a bottle and she was fine. She had no nipple confusion what-so-ever. I started pumping or giving her supplementary bottles when we went out and she never had a problem. The only problem that developed later was that she realized that the milk flowed faster from a bottle and eventually lost patience with breastfeeding altogether so now I have to pump 4 times a day and give it to her in a bottle. Quite the pain in the ***.  

Answer 6

It doesn't matter how the baby gets the milk as long as he gets it. How you want to feed your baby is your decision and you have to make it work for your lifestyle. Breast milk is the best for baby so it doesn't matter if it comes straight from the breast or pumped into a bottle!

Answer 7

Baby needs to eat at night. She is cluster feeding to help her sleep. you also make the least amount of milk at night. Let her nurse as much as she wants.

If you want to keep supply up, she needs to nurse. Every time you are bottle feeding is less stimulation on nipples (even if you pump because pump is less effective than baby and does not empty breast as well) . Giving a bottle is fine every once in a while, but i wouldn't make a habit of it!

if she eats out of a bottle at night, she is getting more than she would at breast. there for she may sleep through a feeding and eventually mess with supply.  

Answer 8

I have been told that they don't want you to use bottles until 6 weeks because of nipple confusion and lazy baby nursing. (Easier to suck from a bottle nipple than nurse, therefore not sucking hard enough for the breast) or something like that.  I used the Advent newborn nipples, just because the are firmer and the baby has to suck harder.  My daughter had no problem going between the two.  

Answer 9

She may be too warm.  Undress her a bit when you feed.  Newborns are upside down from us- they sleep more during the day and up more at night.  She will change to your schedule after a while.  Just keep offering the breast and all will be well in a couple weeks.  It's really hard right now- you're learning, she's learning.  It will get easier and you'll wonder why you used to have problems.  

As far as the "she wakes up again":  Two things.  One she may need to be burped more, and the gas is waking her.  Two, as a wise woman told me one day when I said 'He just ate an hour ago!"  She said "Oh, and you've never gone back for a little snack after a big meal?"  

This last bit comes with a caveat: Some doctors are not fond of this suggestion.  Have you thought about feeding in bed?  It takes a bit to master but I loved nursing in bed late at night (especially when it was cold out!)  

Your baby sounds like she's doing all the right things.  So are you.  Trust yourself and her.  Feed her when she asks, and despite how tired you are, enjoy every minute you can.  The good news is this stage won't last very long.  The bad new is..... this stage won't last very long.    

Answer 10

You really just need to nurse on demand.  The reason babies wake up 30 minutes after they fall asleep is because there is a certain hormone that is released into breastmilk that makes them sleepier and it peaks 30 minutes after a feed.  So it you nurse, let her sleep 30 minutes and then nursed again chances are she'd go 3-6 hours.  Breast compressions can also help get a sleepy baby to drink their fill before going back to sleep.

A bottle can cause "nipple confusion" and is really not advisable.

Pumping and supplementing also isn't a great plan as you can end up with an oversupply or a baby getting too much foremilk.

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fus...

Cluster feeding, also called bunch feeding, is when babies space feeding closer together at certain times of the day and go longer between feedings at other times. This is very common, and often occurs in the evenings. It's often -but not always- followed by a longer sleep period than usual: baby may be "tanking up" before a long sleep. For example, your baby may nurse every hour (or even constantly) between 6 and 10 PM, then have a longish stretch of sleep at night - baby may even sleep all night.

Cluster feeding often coincides with your baby's fussy time. Baby will nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry, nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry... on and on... for hours. This can be VERY frustrating, and mom starts wondering if baby is getting enough milk, if something she is eating is bothering baby, if EVERYTHING she is doing is bothering baby... It can really ruin your confidence, particularly if there is someone else around asking the same questions (your mother, your husband, your mother-in-law).

This behavior is NORMAL!    It has nothing to do with your breastmilk or your mothering. If baby is happy the rest of the day, and baby doesn't seem to be in pain (as with colic) during the fussy time - just keep trying to soothe your baby and don't beat yourself up about the cause. Let baby nurse as long and as often as he will. Recruit dad (or another helper) to bring you food/drink and fetch things (book/remote/phone/etc.) while you are nursing and holding baby.

Does this mean that baby needs more milk than I can provide?

No. Don't give baby a bottle -- supplementation will only tell your body that you need LESS milk at this time, and that will not help matters. Also, keep in mind that formula fed babies experience fussy periods in the evening, too -- fussy evenings are common for all young babies, no matter how they are fed. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine spells this out in their supplementary feeding guidelines:

    There are common clinical situations where evaluation and breastfeeding management may be necessary, but supplementation is NOT INDICATED including... The infant who is fussy at night or constantly feeding for several hours.

Why do babies fuss in the evening?

One frequently-heard explanation for baby's fussiness in the evenings is that milk volume tends to be lower in the evening due to the natural cycling of hormones throughout the day. However, Dr. Peter Hartmann, a breastfeeding researcher, has said that in the women he has studied, milk volume is not low at this time of day. Even if milk volume is lower in the evening, fat content is typically higher in the evening (particularly if baby is allowed to control this via cue feeding), so the amount of calories that baby is getting should not be significantly different. Milk flow can be slower in the evening, which may be frustrating for some babies.

Doctors often attribute evening fussiness to baby's immature nervous system (and the fussiness does end as baby gets older, usually by 3-4 months). However, Dr. Katherine Dettwyler (who does research on breastfeeding in traditional societies) states that babies in Mali, West Africa and other traditional societies don't have colic or late afternoon/evening fussiness. These babies are carried all day and usually nurse several times each hour.

So perhaps none of these explanations is a complete answer to baby's evening fussiness. For many babies, the fussy time seems to be characterized by a need to have small quantities of milk at frequent intervals, combined with lots of holding, cuddling and movement. Babies who are offered as much expressed milk or formula as they will take by bottle [note: this practice will decrease your milk supply!] often behave in exactly the same way in the evenings. Baby takes a small amount and dozes (and fusses), then a little more, and so on. Perhaps babies "remember" mom being very active during her pregnancy at these times, and want to be held, rocked, and nurtured constantly again.

Perhaps babies simply need to nurse more often at this time -- rather than consume more milk.

Answer 11

I was told the same thing, wait before introducing the bottle.  I didn't listen and my 3 month old is doing well with both breast/bottle feeding.  We use the drop-ins, no nipple confusion or trouble at all.  Why not just breastfeed again, or aren't you producing enough milk at that time?  If not, pump a lot during that time and you will begin to produce milk then.  Good luck, and don't always listen to the professionals.  They aren't caring for YOUR baby.

Answer 12

If she has a good latch, you'll be fine giving a bottle, especially if you're only once in a while.

Answer 13

I'd put her back on the breast and try and get to the point where you're solely breastfeeding her. If you supplement feeds with bottles/syringes? then its less stimulation at the breast and more likely you'll just need to keep supplementing her feeds. She may be wanting to breastfeed more often to build up your supply, so instead of expressing - just feed her. It may take a night of her feeding what may feel like non-stop - but you're supply will adjust very quickly and the following night should go much better.

As long as she's having lots of wet nappies - she's getting enough milk from you : )

Good luck!

The putting her down and her waking 1/2hr later sounds very much like she's wanting to build your supply up... Feed her on demand for 24hrs and I bet you won't be having the same problem by the following day... the expressing and supplementing is way too time consuming (I've been there), so let her build your supply up... just try it : )

Answer 14

Sorry, rather than using the bottle with string thing, why not just put her on the breast ?   Sorry I'm not understanding the problem.  If you give her from a bottle then you should really express equivalent anyway to keep up your supply to meet her demand - so it seems to me to make sense to just put her on the breast - at least until she is 6 weeks.

Maybe I have misunderstood, sorry.

ETA : Just saw your additional info.  If she is waking straight after 1/2 an hour then maybe try burping a bit longer and putting on the breast again - maybe wind wakening her up.  She is still a baby though and I do promise things will settle into a more manageable routine soon..

Answer 15

FORGET BREASTFEEDING CLASS.I've breastfed successfully for 9 months and i gave her a pacifier the first day she was born.At night lay your baby with you and instead of getting up lay the baby on its side and just feed her.Its completely safe,i do it all the time.its normal for her to eat that much at first later she'll get set hours...she eats more often to make your milk supply larger to fit her needs.Give her a bottle because if you dont she wont know how to use one later...happened to my daughter at 3 months.