breast to bottle

[sr7stacey]

My little girl is 4 months now and has been exclusively breatfed but its really getting me down now as having to express before we go out etc so need some advice about getting her onto formula, weve got a good routine atm, up and fed at 8am then 11am, 2pm, 5pm, bath at half 7 then 8pm feed, normally goes to sleep at half 9ish then i wake her at 11pm then straight back to sleep and will go till 8 feed then so just advice on which feeds to drop first etc?
many thanks

[pipoca]

Why do you have to express before you go out?

[lilham]

Going to ask the same thing. Expressing and feeding EBM is the worst of bothworlds (in terms of effort). The beauty of bf is you don't have to think about anything when you go out, as long as you take your LO with you.

[organiccarrotcake]

Gosh, you've been expressing before going out? That takes commitment to breastfeeding :) Well done!

Can you talk to us about why you're not BFing while out? If you were able to would you prefer to?

[sr7stacey]

just find it alot easier when out to take a bottle and takes alot less time/fuss and not always practical to breastfeed when out plus need to give my nipples a break as she is slowly annihilating them! just really not feeling the love for breastfeeding any more as i feel i have more of a connection with my little girl when i bottle feed so need some tips on how to convert to formula?

[KSal]

I agree with the posters above to an extent, but to answer the questions you asked.... I would swap on feed at a time, say pick one mid morning to start with, and stick with the same one. Don't chop and change the feed you give formula for. Your supply will adapt to this pattern, also that is probably quite a good time in terms of when you're leaving the house.

Once you've got that established, a week or two later swap another one over.

You might get to a point when you've swapped a couple that you want to leave it at that? its is quite feasible to give some by breast and some formula on an ongoing basis as long as it is the same pattern. This is particularly useful at night as you'll be able to night feed by boob and avoid the hassle of making up bottles (which is particularly a pain in the middle of the night).

At around the age of 6 months I was doing all except the bedtime feed by formula... and only dropped that final one at 8 months. My DS resisted dropping that one for a long time....

hope that helps!

[KSal]

Oh and if flavour is a problem, you can try mixing the formula with BM to start with then gradually reduce the BM content to get her used to the taste gently?

make sure you understand the formula preparation guidelines properly - it needs to be made with hot water then rapidly cooled, so actually a pain to prepare when out (unless you use pre-prepared cartons)

[organiccarrotcake]

Oh dear, she certainly shouldn't be causing your nipples any damage :( Have you had a tough time with it?

[MigGril]

deffantly shouldn't be causing damage, have you sort help for this?

Even if you do want to stop it would be good to have a chat with a BF counciler. They can help you with stopping to.

National Breastfeeding Helpline
0300 100 0212

The Breastfeeding Network Supporterline
0300 100 0210

NCT Breastfeeding Helpline
0300 330 0771

La Leche League Helpline
0845 120 2918

Association of Breastfeeding Mothers
08444 122 949

[birdofthenorth]

I swapped the bedtime feed first, then the mid morning one. Currently BFing first thing & mid afternoon; DD has formula mid morning & bedtime. This transition has worked out so far. Some leaking at first but my boobs adjusted after a few days. DD occasionally ferrets for my boobs at bottle time but is usually content with formula. If she was upset by refusing the boob at first I'd give her half her bottle then offer a boob for comfort.

[sr7stacey]

thank u for all your advice,
had a hell of time very sore and cracked like craters! have had to use nipples shields from when she was 4 weeks tried to get her off them but had the same problem again so keep having to use the shields, was under the breast feeding consultant at the hospital as she was the one that helped me with with when i first had her as having an emergency caesarean found it even more difficult, have just made up her first formula feed now for her 2 o'clock feed so will see how it goes, thanks for the idea of combined feeding i was abit confused of how that worked but thats really helped thanks

[organiccarrotcake]

:( that's awful. You've done brilliantly doing 4 months, well done. So are you doing more expressing than direct feeding then? I read your original post as you felt that you had to express because you didn't want to BF in public, but is it that you're expressing to protect your nips?

Just take care as you move over from BM to FF to do it slooowly. Try to not let yourself get engorged as this could lead to mastitis, so maybe drop one feed every few days and play it by ear.

If you do mix feed, every drop of breastmilk is good for both of you. You continue to get health benefits the longer you lactate, and your baby will still get much of the protection from the breastmilk (although some things are reduced). So IF you feel that mix feeding is an option for you, it's really worthwhile.

Whatever you do, be proud of what you've done, especially in the face of such a traumatic time.

www.nct.org.uk/sites/default/files/related_documents/Reasons%20to%20be%20Proud%20FINAL%20WITHOUT%20BLEED.pdf