Is there any chance that my ebf 7mo DS will take neocate. Starting to panic!

[HelloBear]

My DS has been prescribed neocate as I start back at work in August when he will be 9mo. So I'm trying to get him to take it now in preparation. He HATES it. Spits it out and refuses to open his mouth. I tried to do 3/4breast milk and 1/4 neocate still the same.

Is it unlikely that he will ever take it? I really want him to take it as the thought of expressing is exhausting!

If you had success was it just through perseverance? How long did it take? Shall we just continue to offer it to him every day?

Any ideas?

Yes he will! Babies' taste buds are not developed like ours and they like familiar tastes so the more you offer it the more the taste will grow on him. I had the same worries when DD started on neocate but it all turned out fine

Ask your dietician for neocate spoon for weaning, its a completely tasteless powder that you mix up with anything you like to make a kind of baby rice. Its got loads more calories than neocate lcp so if you are really struggling with the milk at least you know he would be getting something nutritious whilst you're at work and wont fade away! I used to mix it into baby food as a supplement but you can mix it with apple juice, rice milk etc

Yes - I weaned mine on about the same age. It took about a fortnight to get onto 100% neocate. I started mixing about 1oz neocate and 7oz bm and then just upped the ratios over the weeks.

Thanks for the responses, it's reassuring to read that if I preserver hopefully he'll take it. At least we have 2 months to play with.

hidden thats really good info about neocate spoon, will def go to dietician if we have no luck.

Perhaps I put too much neocate and not enough bm today. Will do more bm tomorrow!

Although I've never had to use Neocate with DS1, I have read a great many success stories on these threads. Also, as a breastfeeding supporter, I have listened to many mums telling me how they worry that their babies will not take bottles/sippy cups before they return to work.

Does your baby accept bottles or cups of 100% breastmilk? I am wondering if it is the taste of the Neocate or the feeding method that is the problem.

I have a DS2 who is the same age as your baby, and he totally refuses to take even 100% expressed breastmilk, so it's clearly not the taste which is the problem with him. In your position, I'd be inclined to start offering just breastmilk in a sippy cup or bottle before you even start to think about introducing traces of formula. That way, you can get your baby used to the alternative feeding method. However, as I said, I have no personal experience of introducing Neocate!

Some mums find that their babies are more likely to accept expressed breastmilk or formula from their partners or friends. (If you are the one offering your DS a cup or bottle, he is more likely to refuse it, because babies are clever little things, and of course they know when their mum's breasts are only a few tempting inches away!)

Babies get most of their nutrition from breastmilk or formula until they are at least 12 months old but, depending on how your baby eats, you may even find that you don't need to give much alternative milk during the day (especially if he is being given Neocate Spoon in food). Some babies go for long periods during the day without milk, then make up for it during the night. (However, if you are working full time, you might struggle with night time feeds unless you are happy to co-sleep so that you can continue to get some rest while breastfeeding.)

What sort of childcare have you got organised? A busy nursery is more likely to require that your baby fits the established pattern of standard meals and bottles, but a childminder or nanny could be more flexible.

Good luck with this. Returning to work can be hard enough without the added worry you are facing.

green thanks for your answer.

I think some of it is the feeding method, he's taken a bottle a couple of times from my DP but with some protest and not a whole bottle (of expressed milk).

I should have introduced a bottle from the beginning but I suffer from mastitis so bad that even missing one feed early on would result in engorged boobs.

My panic is that weaning is NOT going well. He is not dropping any feeds and is a big boy so feeds every 2 hours (sometimes less).

I know the best thing would be for others to give him a bottle but the problem is that would mean only trying on weekends and that reduces the opportunities for us to get him used to the bottle. So I'm trying.

I managed to get about 5mls down him today with a dash of formula in bm. So will stick at that to get him more useful bottle before increasing the formula.

I think you a right, he's thinking why have a bottle when boob is so much nicer!

Wow that was long!

I moved my dd from ebf to neocate at 6.5 months. I went cold turkey! Poor dh bought every bottle available, kept going back to boots for more, she refused every one! But I persevered, worst day of my life, I tried syringing it in, spoon, cup, everything. I was ready to crack and ebf again but she cracked before I did...MAM bottles in the end and never looked back from that first feed
I really feel for you, it is soooooo hard. And neocate smells like pork scratchings...dontcha think? Good luck!

metell I would crack, no doubt about it as he screams his head of even when a little hungry and gives me his puppy dog eyes look to say 'feeeeeed meeeeee!!!'.