blw and formula

[dizzybint]

currently breastfeeding 10 week old dd1, very interested in all this blw stuff, thinking ahead to 6 months time. i get the idea of blw working perfectly with breastfed babies because in effect breastfeeding is self feeding, and ideally blw would go hand in hand with continued breastfeeding. however, how does it pan out if dd is switched onto formula at 6 months ish? i plan to breastfeed til 6 months all being well, dd will be starting nursery at 8 months for 3 days a week. am i perhaps best to express to cover time at nursery and continue til 12 months? i do love the simplicity of breastfeeding and hence blw. aitch, i understand from your blog (fab by the way!) that you use formula too? could you explain?

[aitch71]

thankyou dizzybint... another charming name IMHO.

i'd probably ask some bfing mums first of all about how long it takes for them to transfer over to formula, or whether it might even be possible to continue bfing in the mornings and evenings and feed them water and BLW food during the day (i know a couple of friends of mine did that with their kids, although it was with purees in them thair days. HVs said their milk would go but it never did).

my experience with formula was that i never made enough milk, so DD had always had formula so there was no transfer period. does dd1 take ebm in a bottle already? yep, the more i think about it the more i realise i'm not terribly qualified to answer your question.

if i was you i'd keep bfing for as long as possible, as you will not BELIEVE the faff involved with bottles and it's a lot to land on yourself at the same time as the BLW. and a lot to add to the baby, too.

but circumstances might change and you might wish to change to FF (and lord knows i'm not going to judge you for it )and it's not too difficult. there is NO information to be found about it but my experience leads me to think that it's much the same as bfing, so long as you are ffing on demand. the one upside, i suppose, it that you can tell the amount they are drinking.

but i think you really want to keep bfing is you can, which is great for both of you. if not, come back to me but in the meantime i'd ask some bfers about how to manage when your dd is at nursery.

i really hope you don't think i'm giving you the brush-off dizzybint, i'm aware that i'm rambling on but i don't think i've helped...

give me a shout if you need anything, and congratulations on your new baby.

[archiesmummy]

Hiya, Just a quick note from BF;er. I'm very pro expressing and I reccon that if you start now you can get a lot of milk ready for when DD starts nursery (you can store EBM in freezer for 3 months I seem to remember and longer in deep freezer). If it's worth doing I suppose depends on how many days/hours DD is gonna be in nursery. Hope this helps

[dizzybint]

thanks ladies. yes she will take a bottle of ebm, though only from someone other than me. so all should be ok, whether it'll be formula or whether i have the energy to express. am thinking it'll be bf in morning and night, bottles of formula in the day, both at nursery and at home..but we'll see. just wish i could bf right through and do the blw, no formula whatsoever but hey ho. seems at odds with blw to be 'administering' bottles iyswim, however if it's working for you aitch hope it'll work for me.

[FanjoFanjoWhosGotTheFanjo]

If she takes to solids quite well, she might just have water at nursery? How long will the days at nursery be?

(I'm very lazy and so prefer to avoid formula and expressing.)

[dizzybint]

really? hadn't thought of that. she'll be at nursery 2 days a week, about 8 or 9am til 4pm. i imagine she'll be raring to go with solids at 6 months, she already sits with us while we eat, stares intently at our food and puts any rattles and toys in her mouth she can grab hold of. she was born 8lb 14oz and is currently putting on between 1 and 2 ozs a day. so as you can imagine, i'm up against the MIL etc 'she'll be wanting solids soon' blah blah etc. we'll be waiting for 6 months tho. i've emailed her that unicef (?)study thing and asked her what she thinks.

[FanjoFanjoWhosGotTheFanjo]

I've known six month olds that didn't bother with milk in the day, just had it at start and finish. You could probably give bf just before nursery and just after, and as long as she's drinking water and having food, she should be fine.

[aitch71]

yep, that's what i said too. some mums i know breastfed morning and night and the babies had lunch and snacks at nursery. and their milk supply adjusted absolutely fine.

i think if you 'administer' anything to a baby it's going to sound weird, DB ...
because i was mix feeding to begin with i kept ff very much on an 'on demand' basis. we waste a lot of it but i think it helps her to regulate her own appetite, which is of course a good thing for BLW.
now i know when DD is finished eating as she tips up her water cup, makes a puddle of gooey food and splashes in it... she's a very effective communicator.

[dizzybint]

thanks so much for your help, i see what you mean about ff on demand rather than just 'administering' it as so many people seem to. roll on 6 months!

[vitomum]

DB i would just add that i also introduced 'solids' and formula to ds when he was 6 months. One repurcussion from doing the 2 things simultaneously was, i now think, that the formula just totally filled ds up and he ended up with no appetite for solids till nearer 9 months. Maybe that's not necessarily a big thing but just something to bear in mind when you make your decision. Good luck with the BLW. My ds was weaned in the olden days before it was invented (18 months ago). At least whatever way it goes you will be spared the hell of pealing plums to puree and agonising over whether to introduce a small lump into your potato and leek puree.

[dizzybint]

good point thank you. so much to think about isn't there? at least she doesn't start nursery til 8 months so i have a little time to play with, and she'll only be there 2 days and with me or dh the rest of the time.