Problems changing from bf to ff at 8mo - HELP!

[VenusInfers]

Hi there

my LO has been bf since birth. He's happy to take a bottle of EBM from anyone and has been known to take a bit of ff from the childminder when we were getting him used to her. So with 3 wks to go until I'm back at work I thought that it would be relatively easy to swap a couple of daytime feeds to ff so that I could run down my milk. Oh, how wrong can a girl be...

So LO just doesn't want to know. Took a ff the first day then threw half of it up 1hr later. Has refused subsequent ff offers, even of pre-made stuff and different brands.

So what to do? I'd like to end up with just a morning and evening bf and the change the night time & other daytime ones to ff. I now have less than two weeks to do this. Real problem is that although I am still pumping and freezing EBM there is just no way I can have enough ready for my first week back at work.

I should say that LO is eating pretty well, but is a big baby so is struggling to get enough calories without the milk at the mo.

No experience but how about mixing the formula with bm to start with - say 1oz formula: 4oz bm then changing the ratio bit by bit til he's used to the taste.

A good point by WhatagradeA,

Although if he is 8 months you may find he is feeding from you for comfort rather than hunger and he doesn't really need much milk during the day, although you do say he needs the calories from the milk.

My DD is 8 months and although we switched from EBF to combination feeding at 14 weels then to FF fully about 4 weeks ago I find she doesn't usually need any milk during the day now, just her 3 meals. She does take some milk with breakfast and just has water to drink at lunch and dinner, then a bottle a bedtime.

Maybe he could get extra calories from a yoghurt after his meals, or cheese with his dinner etc then you might not need to be so concerned about his calories and that will give him more time to get used to formula?

I think if you persevere he will get there.

Good Luck, x.

Thanks WhatagradeA and LauraKB, that sounds promising. I'll try mixing up the milk first and see how much he takes, tho that will be a long process and I don't have a lot of time.

Interesting that he may not actually need the milk much any more. He gets yogurt or full fat soft cheese at most meals so not worried about him missing out on calcium.

If the mixing doesn't work I'll try just cutting out one milk feed and replace it with water and see how that goes.

Anyone else got any experiences to share or suggestions to give?

At 8 months on solids etc only needs one bottle / BF during the day, and actually if you plan to EBM then only need one bottle in advance, ie pump at work on Monday for the Tuesday etc.

Otherwise agree with the advice re: mixing.

Okay, so this is the plan. Going to try cutting out the 3pm feed today. It's the one he seems least bothered by, so hoping that a bit of fruit and some water will be enough to keep him happy until his dinner at 5.30pm.

Lord, I hope this works...