Nearly 12mo, want to switch to formula

[happyfrogger]

My DD is almost 12mo and has been EBF. I'm now 15 weeks pregnant and non-stop ill and tired for one reason or another. I'm also back to work and it feels like time to move bedtime milk to formula (although I'd like to keep her 30 minute morning breastfeed for a bit longer). I've not expressed for a long time and I don't think I can ramp it up again - I'm exhausted. I want to switch to formula in a sippy cup for bedtime but the one night we tried this was a disaster.

Any tips? She has always had a really nice 20 minute wind down feed and fallen asleep on the boob, I'm frustrated to stop this but I am personally struggling and would like (need) to be able for my husband to do this on the nights I can't get back in time and for when I am just too exhausted.

She has some water in the sippy cup with meals and throughout the day, but not very much. So she can use it, but doesn't seem to have great quantities.

My fear is that we will have tears for a couple of weeks and she won't get any bedtime milk in her. By which time I'll worry she'll just start missing this feed altogether (which I think is too soon) and my milk will then struggle to catch up again so they'll be no going back.

Any suggestions?

[Twentytotwo]

At 12 months she can have full fat cows milk as her main drink if she's doing well with her eating.

[happyfrogger]

Oh sorry, forgot to mention - she has tested positive for a diary intolerance. (Which is odd because she seems to be fine with aptimil on her weetabix) but anytime she eats cows milk, cheese, creme fraiche, yoghurt etc in cooking, she gets tummy ache and is seriously unhappy, not nice nappies etc. We give her soy yoghurt every day instead.

[ilovepowerhoop]

you can get alpro-soya milk for age 1+ which she could maybe have instead. What formula were you going to give her if she has a dairy intolerance?

[happyfrogger]

I'm not so worried about whether it's formula or soya, more how I get anything into her other than boob! I think they'll be serious protesting...

[ilovepowerhoop]

could you try practising during the day with milk in the cup and when she gets more used to milk in a cup try it at night-time

[caramelgirl]

We did it over a week whilst on hols.
I aimed to break association between me,mmilk and story. So my husband took over all interaction apart from the milk and read some great stories in v animated way. He was then quite clever at making it harder for her to see pictures whilst attached to breast. So when, on the night of her first birthday, he offered her a cup of milk- whilst I was still pottering hiding in the bathroom after her bath, she was quite pleased. Only thing was that she was going to bed awake, not falling asleep on feed. As the cup became quite liberating and she started running around with it a bit.
Once back from hols I took over milk cup and story. Think I let her choose a new cup and help me to shake milk up to mix it as incentives.
Goodluck with it and congratulations on pregnancy.

[happyfrogger]

Thanks, caramelgirl

We tried once before (just one night) with DH doing the milk in a cup and she screamed the house down. We've just tried the same this evening and the same again - much much unhappiness, despite her sipping fairly happily most of today.

My concern is how long do I leave her crying next door with DH before I 'give up' and go and breastfeed her? What if she ends up having no bedtime milk for the next week if we carry on like this?

[caramelgirl]

Well I'd feed for the next five days or so but just not be "present"-have your dh do all the talking, putting to bed, cuddling etc.. that way is not cold turkey on breastmilk.
We had no screaming when we did switch to cup as she was already associating daddy with bedtime milk by then.
That said, once I make a decision on behaviour I try to not give in/go back no matter what- as don't want her learning to cry more and more to finally get result she wsbts. So for instance, when I wanted yo drop hour long (! ) dream feed I shortened it by one or two minutes a night. And even picked her up for short milk free cuddle for a week. Not keen on crying!!!

[happyfrogger]

I'm amazed - last night after the battling with the cup and her having hardly any, DH put her in her cot and within 2 minutes she was fast asleep - until her usual 6.15am wake up - great - she didn't wake up hungry!

Tonight, DH is giving her milk from the cup and he reports via the baby monitor... "she is happily taking loads from the cup"

I AM AMAZED!!!

[caramelgirl]

Brilliant! Well done all of you!