Incorporating a Nighttime Bottle
Sleep deprivation is one of the hardest parts of early parenthood, especially if you are breastfeeding
Adding a nighttime bottle helps you share the load with a partner or night nurse (NN)
A bottle also allows you to know more precisely how much baby has consumed, which is useful for ensuring they are full once you know their typical habits (and eventually for trying to wean from night feeds by gradually reducing ounces)
The goal is to get longer stretches of sleep without hurting your milk supply
Your milk supply is driven by how often milk is removed. Early on, your body expects removal every time your baby feeds.
There are two primary strategies I’ll explain in further detail below:
Strategy 1: replacing a nighttime feed with a pump session around the same time. Lower risk: protects supply by maintaining schedule. Lower reward: still have to wake during the night, even if shorter.
Strategy 2: skipping a nighttime feed and pumping at an alternative time. Higher risk: may cause dip in supply or clogs/mastitis. Higher reward: uninterrupted stretch of sleep, getting even more benefit from your NN.
In terms of timing, Strategy 1 can usually start once milk has come in and feeding is going reasonably well (often within the first 1–2 weeks). You can later switch to Strategy 2 around week 3 or 4, if you have a strong, well-established supply.
Or you could stick to just direct breastfeeding until week 3 or 4 and go straight to Strategy 2
This was the route I’ve always taken, because I didn’t think it was worth it to still wake up to pump during the night, and not even get to snuggle my baby :(
A formula bottle is the simplest option (no pumping required) - while some women are able to maintain the rest of their milk supply, many experience a noticeable dip
Regardless of which nighttime strategy you choose, prioritize breastfeeding during the day as much as possible for the first few months, pumping only for ad hoc situations (an appointment or important adult-only commitment)
Helps your body calibrate supply
Reduces risk of bottle preference
Baby’s saliva signals your body to produce targeted antibodies
Utilize bottle feeding best practices to mimic breastfeeding: slow-flow nipples and paced feeding, taking pauses and holding the bottle nearly horizontal
For the purposes of illustrating these strategies, let’s say your baby’s feeding schedule is 10pm dreamfeed, 1am feed, 4am feed and 6:30am feed
Strategy 1: Replace a feed with a pump session
Start by replacing the 1am feed:
NN wakes you briefly to pump around 1am, while she bottlefeeds baby with milk from previous night (the first time you try this, you’ll need to do an ad-hoc pump earlier that day to have the very first bottle)
You breastfeed at 4am
If this goes well for you and your baby, a few days later you can also replace the 4am feed with a pumping session
Pumping is more predictable than nursing, since you’re not dealing with a potentially fussy baby, struggling to keep him awake to finish the feed, etc.
In most cases, the pump is more efficient than your newborn baby (it pumps both breasts at the same time), only taking 10-15 mins vs. 20-30 when nursing. Make sure your flange size and pump settings are right.
You can also stay in your own room or bed for this, which can help for falling back to sleep more easily after. Your NN can just quietly grab your milk from your bedside at some point.
On nights when you don’t have a NN, you can just nurse instead of pumping
Strategy 2: Skip a feed, pumping at an alternate time
This is where you’re intentionally shifting the pattern of overnight milk removal - you shouldn’t try this until week 3-4 and only if you’re feeling confident about your supply (and breastfeeding a ton during the day)
Skip the first feed so that your longest stretch is earlier in the night, when sleep is most restorative
So in our example, skip the 1am feed - NN gives a bottle then while you sleep through until the 4am feed (woohoo!!!)
Rather than pumping during the night feed, you instead pump the necessary amount of milk through some combination of the following:
Pump right before going to sleep (helps empty breast so you can go longer stretch at night without pain)
Tack on a pump session to your second night feed (you’re up anyway, so just makes it a bit longer)
Pump first thing in the morning, before or after a morning feed (supply is often high in morning, especially if you’ve gotten decent rest)
An example schedule might be:
10pm: dreamfeed baby and pump ~2 oz
1am: NN gives 4 oz bottle (from previous night)
4am: breastfeed baby and pump ~2 oz
6:30am: breastfeed
Assuming you got to sleep by 10:30pm, that’s a 5.5 hour stretch of sleep!
Tactically, you could use the Hakka while nursing and then use a handpump or electric pump to get a bit more; or just wait until you’re done nursing and use the electric pump on one or both breasts
My strategy was to empty one breast during nursing and then pump the opposite side using my electric pump on the single-side setting
Be careful not to overdo it with the pumping - you want to produce enough for the nighttime bottle (for me, this was 4-5 oz) but not confuse your body into oversupply (unless you’re hoping to build up a frozen stash!)
Expect some temporary engorgement at first as your body adjust to the new schedule; keep a handpump by your bedside in case you need to relieve just enough to get comfortable (don’t fully empty, or you’ll signal more production)
Know that every woman’s body responds differently - some see a real dip in supply if they go too long without nursing/pumping, others have no problem shifting the schedule
If you notice a drop in supply or discomfort, you can always go back to pumping overnight
On nights without your NN, try to keep a similar pattern of pumping and feeding, since your body has adapted to a certain schedule
If this “skipping” strategy is successful with the 1am feed and your body has adjusted well, after a couple weeks you can try to skip the 4am feed too
You’ll need to increase your pumping output at 10pm and 6:30am in order to produce enough for two bottles (i.e. pump both breasts instead of just one)
But your baby will also be going longer stretches between feeds so over time the two feeds may collapse into one overnight feed (say at 3am)
