Thinking of supplementing with some formula...

[nfowife]

Okay, I nursed DD for 13 months, and she never had formula except as a newborn in the hospital with severe jaundice.
Fast forward to now, I have an 8 week old DS and nursing is going really well. He has almost doubled his birthweight (was 7 at birth and 13 today at his 2 month appt.). However, I am EXHAUSTED. He is a much more demanding baby in general than DD was. I feel like I am nursing him constantly and barely pay attention to DD. Plus his night sleep is not good. He will give me a good 3-4 hour block from about 7:30 or 8 to 11:30 or 12 and then after that, it's up and down almost hourly to nurse back to sleep, and then he is very hard to settle into sleep. DH is gone right now for 2 months and I am barely functioning. I'm thinking of giving DS a bottle of formula instead of nursing around his midnight wakeup- do you think this will help him to get another good block of sleep? In some ways I can't believe I am considering this but in other ways I am just so freaking tired that I feel like I am about to die from the lack of sleep. I know formula isn't evil, but I just have "NO FORMULA" ingrained in my head. I can't pump (no time, energy, or output!). Should I try it for a night? Who knows if DS will even take it, probably not with my luck. DS is also very colicky and fussy, which doesn't help.

[Wife_and_mommy]

Oh gosh.. you sound like me a year ago! DS was a much crankier baby than dd was. Or maybe I was just too tired. Either way, I doubt giving him formula is going to be helpful. You'll have to spend time washing and fixing bottles. I can't imagin how hard it is to be without your DH for 2 months but try to hang in there. This time of seemingly non-stop nursing does end!

As for DD, I used to use the nursing time to read books to her or we'd watch a dvd she loved together. She was/is very independent so even if I was only watching her play while I nursed, she was usually fine. You could also try having her nurse her baby dolls. If she hasn't tried that yet, she will soon! It's very sweet. :)

Hugs to you. Hang in there as you weather these first months. It's hard but so worth it when you catch them loving each other with smiles and giggles. :)


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I love them most when they are sleeping.--Me
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[egoldber]

Well, it may help his sleep or it may actually hurt his sleep. Any change in diet may make a fussy baby even fussier. I can see having someone give a bottle so that you can sleep. But unless someone else can do the bottle, personally I'd rather just nurse than have to give a bottle in the middle of the night. Sorry you're having such a rough time. Having an 8 week old and no back-up is dreadful. :(

With the fussiness and the up and down though, I'm wondering if maybe he has reflux? Its worth talking to your ped about.

[nfowife]

Beth, I did think he had reflux in the beginning. I have a scrip for him for prevacid because axid (like zantac) did nothing for him. But the prevacid granules are such a pita that I only gave it to him once- I know it takes a good 2 weeks on prevacid to see results. My pediatrician will not prescribe the other form of it (solutabs) because it isn't indicated for the under-1 set, even though it seems many many kids as young as my DS are on that form and do fine. It's so frustrating!! Maybe I will just suck it up and try to give the prevacid to him for 2 weeks and see what that does, it certainly can't hurt I guess! I thought more recently that it was more colic than reflux because he doesn't spit up and the gas issues seem to be getting a little better as he is getting older, although he does majorly prefer to be held upright as often as possible.
He also screams NONSTOP every time we are in the car, until he falls asleep. This could take 5 or 25 minutes. I actually borrowed a friend's different brand infant carseat today to see if it's the carseat that is bothering him because I am so sick of the constant crying in the car.

[randomkid]

ITA. I would look into possible reflux or dairy sensitivity. My DD was very fussy and had many feeding issues. Turned out she had a milk protein intolerance. Changing her to hypoallergenic formula really helped, but she still was a terrible sleeper.

I also agree with PP about nursing over formula. I had to use formula with DD due to so many BFing issues it was ridiculous. I had no choice and was devastated. Having said that, there were many nights that I wished I could just get up and nurse her. Mixing formula, getting a bottle from the kitchen, warming it, having to hold it for her, then having to wash bottles the next day was really much more inconvenient than just nursing (which I was able to do in part for 8 weeks). He may not sleep longer, then you are just adding more work for yourself. Oh, BTW, another joy of bottle feeding - I was so sleep deprived that, more than once, I fell asleep while feeding DD and the bottle came out of her mouth without me knowing, or she would fall asleep before she finished the bottle (I'm also asleep, propped up on pillows). This leads to a formula soaked baby, pillow and whatever else may be in the path. Nothing like cleaning up that mess in the middle of the night! Just some things to consider before you decide to try the formula.

OTOH, I suppose you could always try the formula and see if it makes a difference. If not, go back to nursing. Just be careful not to compromise your supply.

Could you try a pacifier at night? Sounds like maybe it's just comfort he needs. That could also indicate tummy upset. My DD would want a bottle when her tummy was bothering her, but we found that it was really just for comfort. Once we switched to the hypoallergenic formula, the extra feedings stopped.

Hugs to you! I completely understand the sleep deprivation and feel for you that you have no help.

[eliasmom]

Oh you poor thing! Your DS sounds like DD at that age... and DH was away a lot for business.

It is true that feeding formula at night may not help but it could be worth a try. IMO, it does sit "heavier" in their tummies and *may* help them sleep longer. I don't think it hurts to try it at night if it makes things more bearable for you, especially while your DH is away.

You could premix a bottle of formula before bed and stick it in the fridge and then you would only have to warm it if DS won't take it cold. (If that seems to work, I recommed the Playtex nursers w/the drop in liners because it majorly cuts down on bottle cleaning/prep.)

Hang in there!

[egoldber]

Ugh. Amy was also a carseat screamer. It was dreadful BUT it did get remarkably better after about 12 weeks. Thats also about when her night nursing got immensely better. If its any comfort, Amy was up 3 or 4 times a night at 8 weeks. By 12 weeks it was 1 or 2 times a night. At around 16 weeks she was going 10 PM to 7 AM. I hope it works that way for you too!!!

[Momof3Labs]

Can you nurse sidelying during the night? I know that not everyone intends to co-sleep, but this is about survival, mama! Even if it gives you one slightly longer block, you may feel better in the morning.

Also, are you going to bed when he goes to bed? I *know* that it is hard to do that because that's such a good time to get stuff done, but housework and dishes can wait - take care of yourself!!

[luvsviola]

For the car seat screaming--

My DD (9 weeks today) does much better in her decathalon during the day than her snugride. She still screams when I put her in, but then relaxes when the car is moving and she can see out. At night, she screams no matter what.

Do you use a pacifier at all? I know my milk supply gets lower throughout the day because if I pump at 8 am I get 5-6 oz. or more but at midnight, I get less than 2. So if you could just hold him off a little longer on the hourly feedings with a pacifier, he might get more milk and sleep longer. The other thing that helped with night sleeping for us was to put her in her swing.

Good luck!!!!!

[Piglet]

I am NOT a co-sleeper, but I would totally second the idea of temporarily nursing in bed while DH is away. We had to do that with DS2 until he was 2 months old and it was a lifesaver! When #3 comes, I think that it will be a necessity again. It's one thing when all you have to do is care for 1 child and you can catch a nap during the day, but caring for an older sibling and a baby is SO hard on so little sleep!

Hugs,

[nfowife]

Thanks for the support guys! I am holding off on formula for now. We do co-sleep but DS doesn't really sleep well in bed with me for some reason, he tends to toss and turn quite a bit unless tightly swaddled, and when he is swaddled I rather he be in the cosleeper. Also I am dairy free right now already. I know it will pass, but it is tiring! I also know I need to go to bed earlier. Sidelying nursing doesn't work well for me for some reason, I just can't do it comfortably, but I'm not sure why. Couldn't do it with DD either.
Good news is that I got my ped to prescripe the prevacid solutabs so we are picking that up tomorrow. I am going to give it the full 2 weeks and hopefully that will help too, we'll see!
That which does not kill me will make me stronger....right?

[mommyoftwo]

Linnea was on prevacid for a long time and I totally know what you mean about the beads. We ended up going to a pharmacy that took the capsules and turned them into a liquid form. You have to find a pharmacy that does compounding but it was a total godsend. It really does sound like acid reflux and/or food intolerance to something in your breastmilk.

[megs4413]

i'm so confused. dd was on prevacid but it was just liquid...what are these granules you speak of?

[nfowife]

They are these little packets that you have to mix with an oz. of water and then use a syringe to give to the baby. In the mixture are these little "balls" of prevacid that must dissolve in baby's tummy. The rest of the liquid is flavoring. It is a LOT of liquid to get a newborn to take, it ends up being about 6 1 tsp. syringes full of liquid! Just too much. And the little balls stick to the bowl, syringe, etc. so they don't even get the full dose.
Good news is the solutabs are sooo much better- seriously why do they even bother with the packets at all? You just put a tablet in a syringe, mix with a tsp. of water, and that's it. So much easier to give! I did get a prescription for the compounded liquid version, but my insurance would not cover it as there are other cheaper forms available- it would cost me $150 per month!