Should I change to first-stage formula when weaning my 8 week old? I tried to breastfeed but contracted mastitis twice which involved hospital stays in the first three weeks after Anna’s birth. Since then I have successfully been expressing milk and feeding her, but now need to wean her onto formula. I am aiming to get Anna formula fed by three months. I bought Anna formula for hungrier babies as I assumed her frequent feeding was due to a large appetite. I have since read on the website that expressed breast milk contains less hind milk and therefore babies drink more of it. I am now concerned that as I…

Express milk from day one? My first baby is due soon and I’m looking forward to using your routines. Should I begin expressing milk from day one? Expressing milk serves two purposes: it provides extra milk for when your baby goes through growth spurts at three weeks and six weeks. During the growth spurts you simply express less milk, automatically ensuring there is extra for your baby. Secondly, following my plan on p.52 of The New Contented Little Baby Book will tell you when to express in order to increase your milk supply, should it run low. After the birth you should follow the advice of your midwife and health…

How do I put a newborn on the feeding routines? Firstly, thank you very much for the New Year Greetings and the signed copy of The Complete Sleep guide which arrived yesterday. My baby is due next week and I have a couple of questions about feeding before using the routine for a baby at one week. What do I do from day one? Having read Chapter 3 of The New Contented Baby Book, you say that I need to feed for 5 minutes each side every three hours until my milk comes in. Around day 3-5 I should have increased the sucking time to 15-20 minutes and offer both…

How do I know if my 14 day son is having a growth spurt? I would like to know how I can tell if my baby is having a growth spurt. He is 14 days old and for the last 2 days seems to be feeding much more. He was 7lb 14oz at birth and did not lose any weight in the first 5 days, then after a further week he weighed 9lb, so is gaining rapidly. He is already following the 2-4 week routine, is breastfed apart from a bottle of formula at 10pm (where he has taken from 3-6oz – usually 4oz). If he is having a growth…

What do I do with expressed milk for my 11 day baby? I have an 11-day-old newborn and wondered what to do with the expressed milk. Is it fed to the baby or stored for emergencies? I have also noticed that my baby is sleeping well but not always needing the amount of time on the breast that you suggest and not always demanding the second breast. He tends to posset when overfed. He is a bit of a barracuda when feeding – latching on fiercely, sucking hard and fast for 10-15 minutes and then not wanting any more. My nipples are very sore. He is feeding at all the…

1-month-old Grace takes hours to breastfeed I am breastfeeding my month-old daughter, Grace, and she takes hours to breastfeed but still seems hungry. At 7am she takes 1-2 hours. The 10am feed lasts another hour and at 11.30am she keeps on feeding or will fall asleep for 10 minutes. She will happily feed all afternoon and again at 6pm. She does not sleep during the day unless she falls asleep on the breast. The 11pm feed can last an hour and this happens again at 3am. Sometimes she will settle back until 6-7am but other nights she wakes wanting more. Grace also screams all the time unless she is feeding…

My 4-and-a-half week old woke at 9pm and put the schedule out My daughter Grace woke up for the first time last night at 9pm. She is four and half weeks and was due a feed at 10.30pm. Gina mentions in CBB (p.83) that around this time they come into a light sleep and noise can affect them. My husband and I were both asleep at the time, so we’re not sure what woke her up. Maybe it was outside noise, but she couldn’t be settled back to sleep after 20 minutes, so I gave her a half feed (I’m breastfeeding) which did the trick. We then woke her at…

My 3-week-old baby is awake at night and only sleeps well in the day Lowri will not settle in the evening but wants to feed on and off between 9.30 and midnight (or beyond). She then sleeps and wakes for a feed between 2am and 4am. After this she is wide awake until 6.30/7.30am when she falls deeply asleep for hours. She is impossible to wake up. I try and wake her by stripping her off, putting her under the baby gym and rattling toys at her, but it only results in a few seconds awake time before falling asleep again. She then doesn’t sleep well in the afternoon. It…

My 7 week baby is not hungry but he’s not gaining weight Sam’s weight gain has been poor, but he remains a very contented baby who does not appear to be hungry between feed times. He settles well for his naps and at night. He usually needs to be woken for a feed. This week he has just started to sleep through until 6-7am. He is just 7 weeks old. He had regained his birth weight (9lbs 13ozs) at 4-5 weeks with a weight gain of 14ozs, but in the two weeks following he has only gained 5.5ozs. His present weight is 10 lbs 12 ozs. I initially breast fed…

At 7 weeks my baby sleeps through, but is waking at 6am Callum slept through from his 10.30pm feed until 7am for the first time a few days ago. He had woken and grizzled for a short spell at 4.30/5am but settled himself back again. Since then he has managed to get to 6am but then wakes and is genuinely hungry. Is there any way to get him through to 7am? I also struggle to get him to wait for his 10.30am feed. I use a dummy to distract and calm him (as I do at 6pm to hold him off until after his bath), but I am concerned that…