Can I take a night off from EBF once a week?

[alwaysfaithful18]

I’ve got a 2 week old baby and have been EBF. I’d really like to have one night of 8 hours of sleep. Is it possible to pump throughout the week and let my husband feed one night with bottles while I sleep?

Would that affect my supply? Or is this just a silly idea?

 

[fuschia24]

@alwaysfaithful18 I waited 6 weeks but yup, thats what i did

 

[andyprior]

@alwaysfaithful18 I waited until 8 weeks but actually pumped more after a good night of sleep - my body really needed it! You may want to get two hakaas near the bed to help release pressure if you wake up leaking since if you do sleep through normal feeding times you'll be engorged. I wouldn't make it a regular occurrence until your supply regulates though.

If you can, pump an extra bottle and switch off so you can sleep 5-6 hour stretches more regularly. That'll probably help your body more over time!

 

[walterjabe]

@alwaysfaithful18 I wouldn’t recommend going that long until after 10-12 weeks, unless baby sleeps that long on their own.

But, since a full cycle of sleep only takes three hours, you could certainly manage two four hour stretches with short break to nurse in between, with your husband bringing the just changed baby to you in bed, and then taking them away after you’ve finished nursing so you can get back to sleep.

 

[hle86314]

@alwaysfaithful18 At 2 weeks old you’re still very much establishing a solid supply I’d recommend not going that long. But if you can get a bottle a night you can go 1 5 hour stretch each night and have you husband feed during that stretch

 

[eve_marie]

@alwaysfaithful18 For me that would have been one night feed, one night might not have affected my supply much. If it was multiple feeds I wouldn’t recommend.

If you skip more than one feed to sleep you’re going to wake up very uncomfortable. Even one feed might make you more uncomfortable than you’d like

 

[cheduna]

@alwaysfaithful18 During the day I pump or BF every 2/3 hours and then I sleep from 8pm-4am. I’m engorged in the morning but whatever mama needs to sleep

 

[mirrey]

@cheduna Not sure why anyone downvoted you. Sleep is super important to be a functioning human, much less with a new human in the mix.

You do you and what works for you

 

[crafty]

@alwaysfaithful18 Besides the supply issues you could have if you went a full 8 hours without removing milk, you would almost certainly get mastitis pretty quickly.

I remember the horror I felt when my doula told me that a “full night of sleep” looks like 2 hours here, an hour there, 4 hours here, all added up throughout the day. I was so so exhausted. Eventually she and my IBCLC set me up to safely cslep (sorry to blur but my comments have been filtered in this sub multiple times when I talk about this).

In the beginning I was getting a lot less sleep because I was scared but eventually we were all getting longer stretches of sleep (including my husband who took the entire morning while I rested).

I totally understand how hard it is for you. Read (and follow) every single point in the SS7. As you all adjust to your new life over the next few months it does get easier because you get used to it. Ask me 2 years ago if I could function on 4 hours of sleep and I would slap you. Now? (14 months later) I can do just as much on 4 hours of sleep as someone who sleeps 8-9 hours and feel fine.

 

[cart]

@crafty This is how I got mastitis. Ended up cslp too and was the best thing I did!

 

[katrina2017]

@cart What is clsp ?

 

[maxkim]

@alwaysfaithful18 Since you’re still establishing supply, could your husband take over the nightly duties like waking up with baby, diaper changes, rocking, etc. but slide baby into bed with you for side-lying nursing? That way you can nurse half asleep and then he can take baby and put them back to bed afterward?

This is something I’ve wanted to do but truthfully my PPA hasn’t let me yet.

 

[alwaysfaithful18]

@maxkim My husband takes care of the diaper changes in the evening. However, he’s a heavy sleeper and not good at calming down the baby. So I need to put the baby down and I wake up whenever baby stirs (like when her pacifier falls out or when she just wants to be patted). Then when I can’t calm her down, I wake him up for the diaper change and start to feed.

 

[maxkim]

@alwaysfaithful18 I see. Yes, it doesn’t seem entirely feasible for me either so I understand. I’m a much lighter sleeper than husband also.

 

[walterjabe]

@maxkim Yes, my husband did this with all of our newborns for the first several weeks, and never really had any paternity leave beyond a few days of his vacation time.

He’s a heavy sleeper, so with our first I’d often have to wake him to tell him the baby was up, but then he would get the baby, change them, and bring to me in bed for nursing. Then he’d burp them, change again if baby had pooped, and put baby back down to sleep.

After that we started out with co-sleeping, and I’d only need to wake him if baby needed a change at the changing table, if it wasn’t too messy I’d change baby on a pad right there in bed. We kept changing supplies on our high tables, and a dirty diaper container just to the side during the first month.

 

[offgridgenz]

@walterjabe This is what my husband did too! Helped SO much

Basically, have your husband have a shift where you are essentially just the bottle. He does everything else!

 

[soulblaise]

@alwaysfaithful18 This is so, so hard. Coming from a mama whose baby almost never slept while I saw other mamas of newborns who were getting 3 hour stretches, the lack of sleep is debilitating. That being said, 2 weeks is very early to be taking an 8 hour break as your are still establishing supply and baby isn’t taking much in, so their feeds are closer together as someone else mentioned above. I would agree with having your partner take the first stretch of the night and letting you sleep (3 hours or so). Then feed and try to sleep again while baby sleeps the next stretch. If baby refuses to sleep alone you could try shifts with your partner (or, like I did, co-sleep following the safe sleep 7). Also I highly recommend side-lying feeding like others have suggested. We started trying it around 2 weeks and I got really frustrated because it wasn’t working latch-wise. But everyone raved about it so I was determined to keep trying. We kept trying and trying and 3 weeks later we had it down pat! Now it’s almost the only position I feed in (10.5 months) since it’s so relaxing (unless we are at someone else’s house or out and about). At home I just take him to the bed or couch and lie with him and feed. It’s nice to be able to just get off your feet and lay your head, even if you’re not sleeping. I really hope this helps. And just know, things will improve. I vividly remember how hard that newborn stage is, and just know that every week it gets easier and easier. You’ve got this!

 

[katrina2017]

@alwaysfaithful18 I have an 8 month old and I'm still not able to drop the 5:00 a.m. feed. It's so unfortunate that 2:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. is the primary milk making time for our bodies!

 

[katrina2017]

Now I finally know why my baby eats exactly during that time every night… thanks

 

[onehumbleservant]

@alwaysfaithful18 The period you’re in right now is so so hard. But I would not suggest taking 8 hours off, especially at night. How many times per night is your baby feeding right now? My girl was still about hourly at that age, so it’d be a lot of missed feeds.

What helped me was going to bed with the baby to take advantage of her longest stretch. I had my husband hold her during the witching hour even when she just wanted to clusterfeed so I could eat and get ready for bed. My head hit the bed as soon as she was in the crib. Eventually she started giving a longer first stretch (~3-5 hours) and that helped hugely to be aligned with her long sleep. If your spouse is on parental leave, have them take the baby away right after the first morning feed so you can sleep in a bit. I had a colicky baby but she was usually in a better mood in the am and therefore easier to soothe without the breast. Sometimes I got an extra 90 mins this way, sometimes it was only 45, but it all helped. Nap when the baby naps! Newborns often nap way longer than older babies, so take advantage of those snoozes whenever you can. Have your spouse handle the necessary chores. Shower during baby’s wake times. Only sleep when baby is down! I personally couldn’t nail the side lying position yet when my girl was very little, but lots of people love it for being able to relax while baby feeds. When she was a bit bigger and better and nursing I started to love it too. Your comfort may vary but if you don’t have risk factors and prepare a safer sleep surface, you can cosleep while baby nurses in sidelying. Or if you prefer, your spouse could watch you guys. Naps work well this way but so can nights. Some people I know would manage by going to bed with baby. For the first wake (and maybe subsequent too), spouse would change baby/bring baby to mom, mom would nurse in sidelying while spouse supervised, and then go right back to sleep while spouse did the burping, rocking, etc to get baby back down. This can make a huge difference if baby needs resettling.

Hang in there—your baby will stretch feeds and sleep out soon!!