Advice on weaning from breast to bottle

[EDL]

Hi

Looking for advice and tips on weaning from breast to formula.

I will be returning to full time work shortly and will have a window of about 3 weeks to wean my son from breast to bottle for his daytime feeds. This means he will have been fully breastfed for the recommended six months, and I'm hoping to continue bf early morning and evenings.

I've been looking around on the web and have even consulted (eek) GF and it seems that I should allow 5-7 days to drop a feed. Does anyone have any real life experience of doing this stuff and how did you do it? GF recommends cutting bf time down by 5 minutes a day and topping up with formula until he is taking a full bottle feed. My son has always been a 10-15 minute guzzler so he'd be weaned within a couple of days. Sounds too easy?! I should say he's also never had formula, so there's probably a chance he's going to reject the taste?

I have already been through blocked ducts/mastitis once at the beginning of bf so really want to try and avoid all that from not weaning in the 'right' way. I'm also planning to talk to the midwives at peckham bf cafe - just interested in forumites experiences.

Thanks!

[samstopit]

Hello

My experience was that my daughter took a few months to take a bottle. She had been breast fed exclusively for 6 months and was quite happy to chew on the teat of a bottle but was not interested in feeding from it at all! I did manage to get her to drink formula from a sippy cup however and because she was also on solids by this point it meant that I was only breast feeding in the mornings and the evenings before she went to bed. I started to introduce some dairy products into her diet at the same time to make sure she was getting enough calcium, as she didn't take more than 80ml from the sippy cup most days.

I used to try to give her a bottle every night before bed when she was sleepy and relaxed and calm. At first she would have none or only very little so I would breastfeed and then put her to bed. But gradually she took more each night until one night she downed the lot! That was the last time I breast fed her, by which time she was nine months old.

I think my advice would be to keep trying with the bottle every day and try it when the baby is hungry as they are more likely to give it a go.

Good luck!

S

[gwod]

I think you should consider allowing yourself a bit more time, (a mantra that is applicable to nearly all child rearing issues!!) as its difficult to predict how easily you or he will adapt to the change - the last thing you need while you are already coping with the emotions of returning to work, is the stress of weaning to a tight schedule....and possibly risking having unpredicatable bosoms in the workplace!

Also, these dietry changes may temporarily alter his sleep patterns which will be an added drain on you once you have returned to work. I know the recommendation is 6 months of breastfeeding, but remember that this is a bit of an approximation - a couple of extra weeks for you both to adjust will make little or no difference and may actually protect you from mastitsis, sleep deprivation and stress later on which is also detrimental to your health. Good Luck!!!

[nicolemodesti]

Hi,

My son was fully breast fed although we had also introduced a bottle of breast milk from about 1 month. Not sure if you have done this at all? Before returning to work, when he was 6 months, I introduced a formula feed when he was about 5 months. At this stage he was breastfeeding every 3 hours but sleeping through the night. We would breast feed first thing in the morning, mid morn, after lunch, and before bed. I introduced the formula mid afternoon.I would then have to express as you can well imagine. He didn't seem to mind, possibly as he had experience of the bottle. I didn't cut down breast feeding time, not sure that I would have known how!My son was a guzzler as well and would at times have quite awhile on the breast. Over the couple of weeks before I returned to work I replaced the before bed feed with a formula so he was having 2 formula feeds a day.

When I returned to work, I would bf first thing in the morning and before bed. He would have 3 formula feeds during the day, plus his solids. With all my best intentions, I only managed to keep the morning breast feed going until he was 10 months, when he flatly refused my breast anymore!Although I would express in the evening I found that my milk supply had dwindled. Even had a spare breast pump at work that I never needed, although everyone is different.

Not sure that there is a right or wrong way to do this, but do understand your concerns after having mastitis myself at the beginning of bf. Wishing you the best!!

[Gubodge]

The 5 - 7 days per feed is to allow your body to get used to the reduction in feeds and so hopefully avoid mastitis. In my (limited) personal experience I'd say that either he'll immediately and happily guzzle formula, leaving you weeping that he misses your breasts so little, or that he'll resolutely refuse to accept any milk other than yours, at source, leaving you weeping as you head off to work to express in the ladies, convinced that he'll starve. If it is the latter then try not to worry about it. If he's hungry enough and you're not around he'll take the formula, and if he doesn't he can make up for it in the morning and evenings and you could mix expressed breatmilk or formula into his solids to ensure he's getting adequate supplies.

With my breastfeeding councellor head on I'd say, start as early as possible but initially just go for replacing an entire feed with formula. If he's resistant to the taste I wouldn't say dropping 5 minutes worth of feeding would leave him hungry enough to encourage him. And if he still turns it down it may be down to the bottle. A sippy cup might be more successful.

[BellendenBear]

I have just finished weaning from breast to bottle ready to go back to work next week. I started when baby was 6 months and have done it slowly over 5 weeks, still breast feeding in the evening. This is at the same time as weaning onto solids.

I was totally daunted by the prospect of doing this but have to say it had been fairly easy. I stopped a feed at a time and totally replaced with formula (she loved it) and expressed to relieve discomfort. Baby Whisperer advises to express for 15 mins for a couple of days, then 10, then 5 and so on. I was able to add this milk to solids and to bottles.

With solids they start to reduce the milk intake anyway and I found that having her on formula made it easy to slowly cut out feeds but know she was getting enough. GF's weaning book is the most useful I found for helping to move from baby on 4 hourly milk feeds to one on 3 solid meals and 3-4 milk feeds (I am the controlling type and needed to have guidance with this).

You will need lots of breast pads. Good luck!