Wanted! Night nurse who can help with bottle feeds

[Mrs Nicklin]

Can anyone help, please?!

I'm looking for a night nurse who can help get my 12 week old baby girl to take a bottle.

She was a great sleeper and feeder until 3 weeks ago. She took a bottle at 2 weeks but we were advised to stop util breastfeeding was established at 4-5 weeks. What a mistake! Now she won't take it at all. Her sleep pattern has regressed so much so that last night she woke up every hour after 2am until I gave up at 6.45. My milk supply is now pitiful and she's not getting enough food, so the cycle is getting worse. For the last two days she has been refusing day time breastfeeds and I'm at the end of my tether...

Any suggestions very gratefully received.

H

[Strawbs]

Have you tried all different kinds of bottles? When I was transitioning my son from breast to bottle we had to try a few - Madela (he did like these), Avent anti colic (hated these) and then we settled on doctor brown which are excellent. Sometimes I think the teat can make a big difference. I know it is hard especially with not sleeping (my son has only just started selling through at 2) but persistence is key. If you are worried though she isn't getting enough can you call your health visitor and get them to pop around to see if they can help or know the details of someone who can? X

[Strawbs]

Ps a friend of mine had this exact problem and found the nuk bottle was the only one that worked. Also can your partner try to do it as you still probably smell of milk so baby may take it easier from someone without any milk. X

[Mrs Nicklin]

Thanks Strawbs.

Yes, we've tried 4 bottle teats now. The nuk is showing the most promise so I'll stick with that and a gently gently approach for a few days.

Tried my mum and my partner feeding. I've had the best success so far though, annoyingly! She hasn't taken a proper feed at all today. Argh!

I feel I meed someone to help break the 'making up for it at night' cycle!

x

[newboots]

Huge sympathies! I'm afraid I don't know any night nannies, and you have probably already thought of this, but it is worth trying different types of formula too. My daughter really hated the expensive Hipp Organic I wanted her to have when I was moving her on to bottle feeding, but guzzled down a full bottle of lowly Cow & Gate, for example.

[Jacks50]

I've heard that this company is really good - http://www.nightnannies.com

Good luck!

[Mae]

I know this not quite what you asked but increased number of feeds doesn't have to mean a problem with supply rather this age is prime time for a growth spurt with increased night feeds to dial up more milk...

Oh and I second Nuk bottles with the brown teats as the only ones that worked for my bottle refusers!

Good luck!

[Mrs Nicklin]

I don't think it's a growth spurt as it has been going on too long. I'll have a look at that site, jacks50.

Thank you all very much!

[colababe]

My son never took the bottle but I got told by someone 'NUK' bottles are good

From Amazon they worked!! He took the bottle after! Worth a try they are brilliant

[nunheadmum]

I used a Night Nanny (www.nightnannies.com) to help with my daughters sleep at 4 months and to try and get her onto the bottle. The nanny we got was brilliant and she really helped improve my confidence and we sorted the sleep in a few days. However my daughter held out on the bottle and the nanny gave up in the end, saying she was just strong willed and would only do it when she was ready.

I would say that it's worth calling them to talk to them - I found them quite willing to talk before committing to coming out / payment. They will probably help you to get things back on some kind of track - but it probably will still be a bit of playing with different bottles and pitting your will against your little girl's and won't be a magic solution. But then, your daughter may be more compliant and they'll be able to do more. Worth calling for a chat. They'll make you feel better even if they don't solve your problem 100%.

[EmilyPie]

My 5 month old wasn't keen on taking a bottle but my husband used a NUK teat on the NUK cup, without handles, as the shorter length made it easier to feed him in a position close to breastfeeding. He now takes the NUK teat with the cup and likes it facing outwards in the sling holding the handles himself. So may be worth experimenting with positions as well as bottles.

Also an obvious one for supply which I'm sure you're already doing but make sure you're eating and drinking enough. I often forget to drink enough water, which can effect things. I'm also ravenous, far more so than when pregnant.

Good luck with it all!! I know what hell it is when you're not getting any sleep so hope things get better soon.

[Mrs Nicklin]

Thank you so much everyone.

I called nightnannies and managed to get a lady to come the next day who used the NUK bottles and managed to train Cora within a couple of hours. It has changed my life. Cora is now putting on weight before my eyes and we are all sleeping better. It was sxpensive, but well worth every penny.

Feeling the forum love big time.

xx

[Strawbs]

Oh this is amazing news, brilliant to read. X

[jenc]

Really pleased they were able to help. Can I ask how expensive is expensive?! I get the impression from the website you're talking around ?200 but is that what you actually end up paying (ie not loads more for various fees etc?) Also, I'm thinking of enlisting the help of a night nanny to get my 8mo to sleep through, is that realistic? Be great to hear anyone's experiences. Thanks in advance.

[nunheadmum]

Mrs N - so glad to hear that it worked so well. Life is so much easier with sleep and a happy baby!

Jenc - it was a few years ago we did it but it cost around ?100 a night and we paid for 2 nights but got quite a bit of extra support via the phone included. That may have been down to the individual nanny wanting to help. But we felt it was the best money we spent over all the baby related expenses we'd incurred - it helped with the problem and gave us a lot more confidence in our skills.

[standswithfist]

the prices are here - really expensive but i'm also suffering lack of sleep and need to do something! In the long term I guess it would pay for itself..

http://www.nightnannies.com/contact/

[devsdev]

For sleep training, my NCT group had a seminar with Nicola Watson at Child Sleep Solutions. Our little ones were all around 2-3 months, so a lot of it was future theory but we got practical information and I certainly found it really useful over the last year. I know another person who used her for sleep training (I can't remember if over the phone or actually staying overnight) and said it was an immense help and included continuing phone support. Not as expensive as nightnannies, but definitely expensive, of course.

As stanswithfist says, if you can generally get a decent nights sleep on a regular basis and learn how to deal with any changing patterns, then it definitely pays for itself!

[jenc]

Wow yes pricey! But like you say a good night's sleep is priceless. Thanks for the info everyone.

[snowboarder]

We used night nannies when my oldest son was 11m old, and I was going totally out of my mind with tiredness. Yes, expensive, but he has slept all night ever since (now nearly 5!). We had a great nanny who stayed over for two nights, all sorted within a week, and naps gradually over the next month. Basically it totally changed my life!

[jenc]

That is what I like to hear Snowboarder! Did the nanny "sort" your son out as it were, or did she get you involved through the night and explain what to do? I guess I don't mind paying if I know it's going to have the desired effect and I'll be able to carry it through after the nanny's gone.

[EmilyPie]

I'm fantasising about the idea. I would pay a lot of money for sleep. But I'd be worried about spending all that money and it not working. That would be seriously depressing! Reassuring to hear it worked for you snowboarder.

[snowboarder]

Jenc - she involved me throughout. After an initial chat on the phone and at our house, she basically introduced herself to my little boy when she arrived at 6pm, sat and chatted while he had his bath and milk, and just told me what she thought we should do. He cried a bit when I put him to bed (previously bf him to sleep) but not too much, and she just reassured me that it was ok, he was fine, just a bit cross and confused. He then went to sleep, and woke at about 11pm, cried - again she just told me what she thought would work - go in, reassure, leave and wait.....and again at 5am. It was hard because leaving a baby to cry was something I swore I would never do, but actually he never got too upset, and there was about a max of 1 hr crying in total. We then flew solo the following night and he only woke once, and then she stayed the third night and he didn't wake at all. Naps took a bit longer and she actually came back a couple of days later in the middle of the day to help, and I cracked it with her advice (via text/pcall) over the following month. I was absolutely determined to follow through with the advice or it would have felt like a real waste of money, so I became totally fixated on nap times for a while!! I kind of felt afterwards a bit pathetic for needing someone to help me with this but I don't think I could have let him cry on my own....

So anyway - a success story. And this was now 3 years ago so things might have changed....

[jenc]

Thanks for the info Snowboarder, that's really helpful. I think it's the support from someone who's not so emotionally attached (or sleep deprived!) that'll be helpful for me. They may well be hearing from me...

[snowboarder]

Oh - the other thing I was going to mention was that this was with my first baby and when I had my younger son I was determined that I was not going to ever let things get that bad - and much of what I did second time round stemmed from the night nanny experience - so with my youngest from about 12 weeks I tried to gently encourage him to go to sleep lying in his crib, with me there....and actually by 8m he was great at sleeping. So we never had any crying really with him. So all good and when I hear about some toddlers and even school aged children having sleep issues I think def worth the cash!

[jenc]

Haha, this is my third so you'd think I'd know what I'm doing by now! The other two are great sleepers and by 8m (age of number 3 now) were settling themselves to sleep etc. Not sure where I've gone wrong with this one, maybe he's just more highly strung... Or maybe I'm just more tired so take the easy option!