Guilt!

[Bazoo23]

My daughter is 23 weeks old and exclusively breastfed. She has taken to it so well and we both love it :-)

However I am due to go back to work at the beginning of August so need to have dd on formula by then - expressing not an option as takes about an hour for 5oz - my poor nipples!

The problem is I am overcome with guilt! It breaks my heart to think that my daughter might wonder why I am taking her favourite thing away and I stupidly feel like I am giving her chemicals by giving her formula...

Has anyone else stopped/started to cut down at around 24 weeks?

[lovesteaandcake]

I know how you feel, but you really shouldn't feel guilty. I BF till 9 months & had stopped by the time I returned to work.
There isn't anything to say you must stop because you're returning to work. You could keep a morning & night feed if you wanted?

[tiktok]

No need to stop bf, Bazoo. You can continue bf when you are with your baby, and she can have formula when you are not.

This may be the compromise that keeps you both happy :)

(Don't understand the chemicals thing. Everything, including breastmilk, is made of chemicals!. Formula is cows milk, with various additives. But the additives are not chemicals in the way you mean them I don't think :))

[whatsoever]

Hi Bazoo. I'm slowly swapping DS to formula at the moment, we started the swap at 6.5 months so only a few weeks after you. I'm swapping as I have de quervains tendonitis & back problems and there is anecdotal evidence giving up bf may "cure" me.

Anyway, sorry for that ramble! What I wanted to say was yes, I have felt the exact same guilty feelings as you. I went to my bf support group last week amd cried about it, not even realising I felt that way.

However, this week I feel much better about it. I think you've got to grieve the loss for a while knowing you'll miss the special time that bf was, then just get on with feeding your baby the best way you can.

Best of luck

[Bazoo23]

Thanks for such quick replies. Would my supply be able to adapt to such a dramatic cut down? DD feeds every 2 hours in the day still but sleeps 10 hours at night and I wake up with rock hard boobs every morning! Really dont want to be leaking at work :-(

[Startail]

24 weeks=six months = solid food and gradually less BFing.

Yes, your body will adapt. If you introduce the odd bottle from 5 months it won't notice.

I BF DD long after she started school. Sometimes she feed night and morning, sometimes only at night and sometimes only at weekends. There comes a point you really don't keep track.

[lovesteaandcake]

I think the key is not to make it a dramatic change. Your body is very magical & does adjust your supply according to the demand. I cut down very slowly. I think I stopped one feed at a time, over about 2-3 months. My BF supporter told me to not stop straight away as you also have to look after your breasts & having them severely engorged is not good. Of you feel you are filling up too quickly when cutting back, try taking a little bit off till your breasts are soft again. If I remember, when I was down to one feed a day & deciding to stop, it took about two weeks or so for my milk to stop altogether.

[Bazoo23]

Thanks for the advice. Didnt mean for my OP to come off as slating formula - I was FF and know my baby will be absolutely fine healthwise on it.

Whatsoever - how is your baby adapting to the change?

[Jenijena]

I had a 2 hrly feeder but once he started weaning on to food the feeds cut out quite rapidly. I went back to work when he was 28 weeks and DS had two bottles a working day - but this soon went to 1. I was terrified of leaking - I went cold turkey during the day - but it was fine. You may also find it possible to express as soon as you get in from work and you get more that way.