Getting 6 month old BF baby to take formula

[mush23]

My son has been BF since birth and is a very happy BFer. He will now (after much perseverance) take bottles during the day and be BF morning and night only but only takes the bottle if the bottle contains breastmilk and not formula. He will sometimes take a 50/50 mix if in the mood. Not a problem now while I can express during the day but wont be able to when I go back to work due to nature of my job. Has anyone got any top tips to get a baby to accept formula? Any suggestions at all would be much appreciated as dont want my little one to starve during the day!

[WriggleJiggle]

I don't have any tip I'm afraid, but in my situation when I returned to work the little wriggler worked out pretty early on that night time meant 'mummy' and day time meant either ebm or 'carton milk' if daddy was out with her. She wasn't at all keen on formula or ebm to begin with but she has always been a good feeder so we just figured she wouldn't starve herself. Sure enough, after the first day of hardly feeding at all she didn't object whatever she was fed!

[WriggleJiggle]

Sorry, bit rambling.
Just an aside - I know you say you won't be able to express back at work, but if you really wanted to I think (legally) you can insist on your employer making it possible i.e. giving you breaks at the right time and finding you somewhere to express.

Don't know if that knowledge is useful or just clouds the issue

[mush23]

thanks - its reassuring to know that babies wont starve themselves for too long. Helpful knowledge about the legal obligation on the employer too though as my job is client facing and involves lots and lots of meetings and conference calls I suspect the real problem will be finding time during a day to have 15 minutes out to express......

[MissyBabee]

hello,

have you tried different brands of formula just in case he prefers one over another?

also, are you warming it up? i never do for my DD but sometimes, if the water's still cooling, i.e. warm, she gets it warm and seems to really like it (it's closer to actual breast milk then).

[Spanna]

I don't think different types of formula make a difference. In my experience they dislike/refuse bottles because they prefer breast. I went back to work when DD was 6m. I expressed milk at work for her to take to nursery but she never drank it as she didn't like bottles. She was on solids by then and had a massive BF when I got her home!! When she weaned herself off the breast at about 10m she would not take a bottle or any kind of beaker or cup. Consequently she did not drink milk for several months!! I gave her lots of milky food and puddings instead! She was fine.

[Mojomummy]

my friend had this problem, the only formula he would take was the ready made cartons. I think it's a bit sweeter. HTH

[bluejelly]

I struggled to get my dd to take bottles when I went back, caused me no end of angst, but in the end the CM succeeded where I failed-- and she soon learnt to love her bottles.

[hooOOooleymama]

hi mush
hooley boy took a while to get used to formula (he's 9mths now and happy to have either), at first when I was feeding him he would always go for breast rather than bottle so DP had more luck with it.
If someone else who wasn't lactating did the feeds perhaps he would take the bottle/formula more readily.
Also tried him first on cow & gate which he wouldn't take , switched to SMA and he seems happier with it. I always assumed they'd all be very similar but perhaps not.

[MadamePlatypus]

The thing that made a difference for us was making sure that the formula was, for want of a better way of explaining it 'blood' temperature. I think this is about the same temperature as a cup of milky tea. We started on formula for exactly the same reason - going back to work and couldn't express while there. I tried to think of somewhere at work where I might be able to express, but could only come up with the toilet or the broom cupboard. It took DS about a fortnight before he would take formula.

[mush23]

Thanks - will have a go with the blood temperature formula tomorrow.

[belgianmama]

I froze a stockpile of ebm in preparation to going back to work, so that might be a thought. (EBM is OK frozen for 12 weeks).
And I actually had a friend who marched into her boss's office with her maternity alliance leaflet, demanding her rightful expressing breaks and she got them too.
My big stockpile of ebm was, however, of no use as my very very very stubborn dd totally refused even to try a bottle, irrespective of the content, a bit like Spanna's lo. So my first week at work was a bit of a nightmare with her just waiting for my return and then having a massive feed. (As wel as very very very stubborn she's also very very very patient). After that I decided it was time to introduce solids. She was fine and quite happy on her regime of morning and evening time bf and daytime solids. In time she also learned to use a beaker to drink water. She's 2.10 now, has been weaned of the breast since 23m and still refuses to drink cow's milk.