Weaning onto a bottle, now hardly has milk. A problem?

[WarmBooties]

As the title says, DS is 9 months and have decided to stop bf.

The past 3 days he has hardly had any milk, they say minimum of 21oz don't they? He has had about 10, including the 3oz in his cereal. I just bf him now as I'm very full of milk and I was worried! Though my partner doesn't like me bf as it makes it harder for him to give him a bottle, which is a valid reason.

So is this a huge problem of lack of milk? He does eat a varied diet and eats a lot!

[WarmBooties]

Sorry that's supposed to read 'I have stopped bf'. It looks like he decided to stop!

[showtunesgirl]

What concerns me is this: Though my partner doesn't like me bf as it makes it harder for him to give him a bottle, which is a valid reason.

Why is this a valid reason? Do you actually want to wean or are you weaning because your P wants you to?

Under one year's old, they should be getting their main calories / milk source from BM or formula and NOT cow's milk as it doesn't have enough nutrition.

[UmBongo]

My dd is 7 months and we have recently finished bf. She now takes about 10 oz formula during the day in 3 feeds and eats her mush well. I work on the theory that if she is pooing without trouble and not constipated then she is getting enough liquid on board. She is certainly not fading away!

My basic point is - DON'T WORRY!! We had a 3-4 week battle to get from breast to bottle, cutting down bit by bit after she had finally decided to drink from a bottle and that they were not the work of the devil. She did go through times when she wasn't drinking enough, but things have now settled a week after finally going to full time bottles.

Good luck.

[tiktok]

WarmBooties, would you feel able to speak to your HV about this?

A total cessation of breastfeeding does not have to be your only option, does it? If it's important for you and your partner that your baby has a bottle, could this not be something he has once or twice a day rather than being wholly bottle fed?

[WarmBooties]

Hi thanks for the advice. No I want to stop bf!! I've wanted too since 6 months! But he was having none of it. Now he is in a biting stage and I'm totally fed up of being scared of feeding him, I'm in pain and do sore. I have another 2 DC so weaning him is my idea as it just makes life easier.

Plus the 3oz of milk is formula in his cereal. He does not drink any cows milk. He used to poo between 2/3 times a day, but now it's once every 2 days and although not constipation, I do see him straining and it's kind of like an adults poo if that makes sense?

I spoke to hv and she was useless! Just kept saying perserve, and I was asking if there's anything she can recommend but literally she kept repeating, perserve (sp?)

During the night he use to have about 3 bf a night (STILL!) but last night offered bottle each time he woke, had none. Had his cereal, then offered bottle at morning nap, and nothing... I'm also wasting all this formula! Hmmmmm I may go to another hv. I'm worried about lack of calories and vitamins!

[WarmBooties]

Yes I wish I could just cut back, but it's the biting, plus I'm returning back to work, so it just makes sense to wean completely.

[showtunesgirl]

Biting is the absolute pits. DD went through a stage of doing this and I found a zero tolerance approach is what made her stop. If she bit me, I would push her towards me so that she couldn't breathe and had to unlatch. Then I would pop her in her cot and walk away. She REALLY wasn't happy about it but she got the message within day or two.

I went back to work recently and am still feeding but DD has just turned one so she's not as dependent on it.

[WarmBooties]

So do you think he knows what he is doing re the biting? Thing is my reaction is to scream and jump- which makes him cry and cry, and I would have thought that would make him stop.but he still carries on!

[showtunesgirl]

Well my DD kept on biting when I made a reaction, she thought it was funny! I found silence the best way of making her stop biting. At first I used to take her off and say No but she thought that was funny too!

In the end, I would take her off, not look her in the eye and put her in her cot. I would take her off at the first sign of biting. She very quickly realised that she wasn't getting what she wanted if she behaved like that.

I wish I had started with zero tolerance as as soon as I started doing that the biting stopped very quickly. Screaming, talking just made her do it more!

[UmBongo]

How long have you been trying to get him onto the bottle? It took us weeks to get dd to actually drink from the bottle. We are on the NUK bottles, but we have tried 3-4 others and loads of different milks, but unfortunately, sorry to say, perseverance was the only answer! Only put a couple of ounces in at a time, less waste that way :-)

Good luck again