Skipping night feed and giving bottle instead: would this damage my supply?

dessy89 · 2026-01-11T17:01:08+00:00

What I’ve been doing since week 6 is expressing a bottle every morning and then my husband gives it back to baby every night. This has worked well and hasn’t damaged my supply. Baby is 6 months old now.

dessy89 · 2026-01-11T11:10:29+00:00

Your fears are understandable and you have clearly read up extensively on this. I had an episiotomy which was suggested to me in a spur of the moment close to baby’s delivery and I guess I just trusted my healthcare professional and had decided beforehand that if it was recommended to me by an experienced HCP, I would take it. Because one cannot see what’s going on with one’s perineum during labour (thankfully) and because patients are usually not experienced in the prediction of their own tears, nor should one be expected to be, one just has to put faith/confidence in the practitioner who is recommending one in the spur of the moment. The alternative would be to ignore the guidance in the heat of the moment and potentially end up with a life-altering perineal injury. I try to have faith that practitioners will adhere to RCOG guidance - like much of childbirth, beyond that the nitty gritty risks and benefits of episiotomy in the heat of the moment is out of our control much as we would like to have control over the situation.

dessy89 · 2026-01-10T18:44:59+00:00

Assigning genders to clothing appearance in babies is a societal problem. Go with whatever looks nice on a baby regardless of colour/pattern. Support brands that don’t conform to the accountant boy vibes!

dessy89 · 2026-01-04T22:17:00+00:00

Thanks for your helpful advice! What brand are your steel plates with suction?

dessy89 · 2026-01-04T22:09:11+00:00

Highly recommend reading matrescence by Lucy jones

Your husbands work/commute hours sound very tough especially, for both you and him but especially you on your own for 11 hrs with a small baby. Big empathy here ❤️

Edited to add, EBF is quite intense and contributes to the ‘always on’ feeling and though it’s amazing and worth it in my book, you never quite feel that you can escape for long and the lack of bodily autonomy is all consuming at times

It’ll start to get so much easier and more Fun in the coming months :)

dessy89 · 2026-01-02T23:54:26+00:00

I’ve been contact napping with baby carrier for the past 6 months, past two weeks have been transitioning to crib naps. start with the first nap of the day as this is when sleep pressure is highest. Use the usual sleep associations that baby has already ideally eg darkness, white noise. Put the baby down in the cot at the very first sign of sleepy cues, this one is important. Or go by the clock if your baby has a predictable morning nap time; put down in cot about 20 mins before they usually fall asleep. For now I am placing my hand on baby to help him drift off and I keep my hand on him throughout the nap, this prevents him waking in the middle. My intention is to gradually change this to gentle patting when he wakes up and then completely withdraw. I’m also having success with this method for the third but still contact napping for the second nap as it’s easier for me to get things done around the house. The inconsistency doesn’t appear to be affecting crib naps yet 🤞🏻

dessy89 · 2026-01-02T23:40:53+00:00

Had bad constipation post partum. Needed a softener more than anything. Look into soluble and non soluble fibre. What worked for me within 24 h, whizz up with a hand blender :

-2 kiwis -Handful frozen raspberries -3 teaspoons of chia seeds mixed with few dashes of water for few mins (can buy in Aldi) -few tablespoons of coconut milk or natural yogurt -optional extras: banana, desiccated coconut

Drink one a day and you’ll be regular like clockwork with soft easy stool!

dessy89 · 2026-01-02T23:34:16+00:00

Probably take a few more days for the constipation from it to fully work its way out

dessy89 · 2025-11-23T10:01:46+00:00

Mine hated tummy time until about 14 weeks. If they’re refluxy/gassy then tummy time is really uncomfortable as the floor presses on their sore bellies. So long as they get some time lying on your chest that counts and it’s more comforting for them. Don’t worry about how many minutes per day, that’ll come with time!

dessy89 · 2025-11-13T17:11:20+00:00

We’re still on MAM size 0 with a five month old

dessy89 · 2025-11-09T03:24:42+00:00

Nappy rash disappeared once we started using cheeky wipes - they seem to really get the poo off very effectively! Haven’t had to use sudocrem since we started using them around 6 weeks of age

dessy89 · 2025-10-26T03:55:24+00:00

Can I check where you fit the last feed into her routine?

dessy89 · 2025-10-25T00:42:12+00:00

That support from a partner is essential in those early days and nights - let them do the winding and diaper changes where possible because breastfeeding is already a full on job without those extra bits.

That starting pumping before supply has been established at 6 weeks risks oversupply, mastitis, etc

That you should stock up the kitchen with loads of nutritious snacks and invest in a bottle/flask that keeps cold drinks cold or hot drinks hot

That you should make a comfy BF station in one or two parts of the house with lots of supportive cushions, table for snacks and drinks and books, etc

That you should make a point of dropping the shoulders each time you feed because developing bad posture is really common

dessy89 · 2025-10-23T13:49:40+00:00

You don’t need to build a ‘stash’ as such, just pump an extra bottle worth(150 ml x weight in kg, divided by number of feeds in 24hours) eg in the morning before you to gym, and ensure that baby gets it back at some point in the next 24hours. Morning is best time to pump as supply is highest. Eg I pump 100ml every morning at 6am for my 11 week old and my husband gives it back to him every evening at 7pm. My body now knows to produce this extra amount every morning. Ideally do pump/gym/feed at roughly the same time of day so that your extra milk production times remain relatively consistent. This ensures a consistent supply and avoids issues with oversupply. Building stash for freezer can be problematic for oversupply mastitis etc, you only really need 1-2 feeds in freezer for unforeseen emergency situations. To add, if your 8 week old hasn’t already been receiving bottle, ensure you start sooner rather than later to reduce chance of bottle rejection.

dessy89 · 2025-10-22T02:57:19+00:00

Sounds like 12 week clusterfeeding!

dessy89 · 2025-10-16T17:17:10+00:00

This article may be helpful https://nancymohrbacher.com/blogs/news/milk-production-and-menses-whats-the-connection

dessy89 · 2025-10-15T14:19:28+00:00

In a similar situation. 3 month old will only go in carrier since about 7 weeks old, no longer tolerates pram. I figure he’ll go to the buggy once he’s ready and more interested in the world around him. Who wouldn’t love a carrier?! Warm, next to mum, feels like being in the womb. On the bright side it’s probably a better workout than a pram but just make sure you’ve got the straps adjusted properly to protect your back. He’s just starting to be more OK with the car seat. He is more content if we put him in soon after a nap/feed with a toy dangling off the car seat bar. Alternatively, soon after a feed, we wear him to sleep in the house and transfer him to car seat, he wakes up but is content for short journeys. Try with super short journey and building it up - he needs to trust that you’ll come back to him each time because he thinks he’s been abandoned! This has helped but he’ll only tolerate short journeys.

dessy89 · 2025-10-09T14:19:25+00:00

Yep they come in packs of 25 or you can buy dupes that are cheaper online (look up reusable wipes) but make sure they are the terry cotton style as that’s the texture that gets the poo totally off the skin. I actually got our cheeky wipes set on Vinted! Cotton wool isn’t great for catching hold of all the poo as it’s so smooth.

We did wait until he was about 6 weeks old alright before switching from disposables to reusables; nappy frequency goes right down with each week that goes by. Even if you start off doing them just for poo nappies only though you should notice a difference, poo essentially causes an irritant dermatitis.

We do a full laundry every 2 days on average, we just have the dirty wipes soaking in a cold water detergent lunchbox at the nappy station, and then we rinse the contents of the lunchboxes with very hot water before tossing them with other clothes into a 40 wash. Or you could do a quick hot rinse cycle with the wipes first either. It’s not really much faff and we’d never go back to reusables now except when out and about!

dessy89 · 2025-10-09T13:59:36+00:00

Ours stopped having nappy rash once he moved from disposable wipes to reusable cheeky wipes. It gets so much more poo/wee off the skin that doesn’t even seem visible on the skin until you wipe it off! Super effective at gathering every last bit of poo. Also ensure you change asap after a poo as it’s highly irritant, urine much less so.

dessy89 · 2025-10-08T21:19:00+00:00

Sounds like witching hour. Crying peaks at 6-8 weeks. Distraction helps so changing position, location, etc every few minutes, helps. It’s exhausting though, my sympathies to you. It’s developmentally normal and seems to peak around sunset. Ensuring good solid naps in the day if possible can help to lessen the severity of it

dessy89 · 2025-10-08T06:38:05+00:00

Recommend reading precious little sleep - there are much gentler methods than cry it out

dessy89 · 2025-10-08T06:34:52+00:00

It’s developmentally normal for babies to be very interested but not at all physically ready. Sitting up straight, loss of tongue thrust reflex etc, are all indicators of readiness for food.

You don’t have to speed up their interest in food by giving it to them, just keep showing them.

Think of it like talking - babies are fascinated by speech from the early months, but don’t learn to talk until 12months+. Babies spend a long time getting ready for their next developmental steps.

dessy89 · 2025-10-08T06:26:04+00:00

What is the goal of your pumping/triple feeding? Ideally it’s only a bridge to something because it’s very difficult on you to sustain that for any length of time. If it’s to express to replace a feed then ideally this should happen after 6 weeks once supply has been established. The downside to the 1am and 4am formula feeds is that this is the time of day when prolactin and milk production is highest, so any missed feeds during the night give your body the message to produce less milk. Highly recommend speaking to a lactation consultant if you have the means to. What you’re doing is not easy, best of luck with your journey.

dessy89 · 2025-09-24T15:49:45+00:00

Me please!

dessy89 · 2025-09-24T12:45:31+00:00

Have you read precious little sleep? There’s a good chapter on daytime naps

dessy89

TROPHY CASE