Friend wants to bf all day, give formula at night - comments? - Page 3

[Momtwice]

Is she going back to work? Some babies "reverse cycle" and will feed a lot more when they are home with mom, including at night. Another reason the plan may not work.

[cricketsmomma]

Thank you thank you everybody!

[readytobedone]

i just wanted to reiterate that there is no reason to think giving formula would cause the babe to STTN any sooner. studies have shown that neither formula nor cereal do this. and an informal and very unscientific poll of moms (some of whom BF and others of whom combo or FF feed) will show you right quick that the feeding method does not correlate with the sleep habits one bit. DD has been a pretty good sleeper (not a miracle baby who STTN 8 hours at 2 weeks or anything; but we came home from the hospital doing 4-hour stretches and have been at 5-8 since about 6 weeks) and has never had a drop of formula.

[IrisV]

We've used both formula and breastfeeding at night, for many reasons.

I noticed no increase in sleeping longer w/ formula, and alternately (in those early days) I noticed no decrease in gas/fussiness with breastfeeding. The only thing that helps those issues is age. Baby grows out of a lot of these after a few months.

If that's her reason for formula at night, it likely will not work. It is nice, however, to have a partner/dad do a feeding sometimes so mom can sleep.(after the first 6 wks or so when you're not prone to wake up having leaked all over the bed...)

But even so, a few bottles here and there does not constitute a routine, and I'd temper the alarmist warnings of dropped supply and 'nipple confusion' problems with the assuption that maybe your friend is relatively intelligent and will figure this out..

My son is 5 months and we're still breastfeeding just great despite breaking all the 'rules' about supplemental formula in those early weeks.

[dynamicdoula]

Personally, I think she can do whatever she wants. I don't understand the point of opening it up for a discussion which will only lead to judging her... and will not change her mind. *shrug*

[threadbey]

really, i'd focus on the easy for mom issues.

like everyone said, i cannot imagine the horror of having to prepare and feed a bottle in the middle of the night. (or, i can imagine it and that's why i find it horrifying...)

like one great post said, i sleep so well after bfing, fall asleep so easily. i doubt i would fall asleep easily after listening to hungry crying, dealing with bottle, etc.

also, it took my breasts a long time to regulate to the point where i wasn't in pretty serious pain and really really WANTING to feed the baby before he even woke up. he would sleep a little longer, my breasts would learn to go a little longer. maybe this would be resolved in a few days with the cold turkey at night method, but i doubt it since it took a good long time to adjust to the eventual sleep through the night.

and, yeah, the studies and annecdotes about ffing not necessarily causing longer sleep periods.

but, hey, this poor woman may have a lot going through her head. maybe she's planning to/needing to go back to work very soon after birth. maybe she's had problems brought on by sleep deprivation before (more than just "it makes me grouchy"). sleep deprivation can be a serious issue and just dealing with it because it's best for baby may not end up being all that great for baby (if mom ends up severly depressed, for instance, which can be brought on/aggravated by sleep deprivation).

i guess i'd recommed gently bringing up the main points that run through these posts and getting her in the mind set of try it out and see how it goes.

it took me about 3 months to be really happy with bfing and now i'm SO glad i did it (not that i really seriously considered stopping...) and part of that is that i know it's best for baby, but a lot of it is the convenience for me. no waste, little mess, totally portable, totally perfect. i've done so many fun outings and trips that would have been a nightmare if i was carrying formula!

and now that ds pretty much always sleeps nice and long at night, i don't even dread the few nights he doesn't because it is SO easy to feed him back to sleep (and i don't even co-sleep, it's still easy).

ooh, and totally about the nasty formula poo. we use cloth diapers, so that's a major plus for me. i'm delaying solids as long as i can!!!