switching from breast to bottle

[Bella36]

Please help! I have a five month old baby who has been breast fed since birth, I have just started to introduce some solids, my problem is I want to stop breast feeding at six months and switch to bottle, I am really unsure about how to introduce formula milk and am also worried as my baby will only fall to sleep after having the breast, he also is still waking 3-4 times through the night and wanting to be fed.

Just wondered what your reasoning was for wanting to stop. Not to judge, just so we can give the best help possible.
Do you want to stop completely, do you have a deadline or are you happy to stop gradually?

Hello, will your baby take expressed breastmilk from a bottle?

Hi Bella. My DS is 7 months now and mostly feeding from a bottle after being breastfed since birth. He was always a very hungry baby and I even introduced solids early which was when we turned a corner with him and he stopped waking every 3 hours for a feed. At first he wasn't too keen on the bottle but a little perseverance got there in the end. We used a Nuby teat. He'd never been given much breast milk from a bottle as I was always constantly feeding him so never had the energy to express. He does still like to nuzzle in thou, especially at night but we're slowly getting there. I stopped bf coz I was so knackered and also have a lively 2 year old to look after. I figured after six months he's got plenty nourishment and I'm a better mother for it coz I'm not a crabby, tired cow anymore

Good luck

Pagan, Thanks for your reply, I feel much better knowing that im not the only one who feels knackered BF all the time, my baby is also hungry all the time. Which formula milk do you use? how do you gauge how much milk to give, my health visitor said they need about 1 pint a day.
being new to this what does DD / DS mean?

I use Aptimil. TBH I don't get too fussed about how much he gets. If he wants it he gets it if he doesn't then fine. I've no idea how much is the 'correct' amount - it would just be another thing to get worked up about. He seems happy, smiley and contented and that's all I care about. He probably gets through about 16oz a day on average (I believe a pint is 20 oz). He likes his solids though.

Hi, I don't know if this thread is still going, but I thought I add to it anyway.
I'm after some advice to get my daughter onto the bottle. She is now six months old and taking some solids, but she still feeds as much as she ever did from the breast. She used to take a bottle up until about three months ago but I was ill and so unable to express milk, and she went without a bottle for about 2 weeks. She has never had a bottle since then, and we have been trying to get her on the bottle for two months now, and nothing has worked. We've tried everything different teats, temperatures, different people feeding her, Different shaped bottles, holding the bottle at an angle to make her think it's the breast, even the health visitors, midwives and other health professionals have run out of ideas. She even went 25 and a half hours without a feed, without me being there, but that didn't work either. I am stuck and don't know where to go next. I need to get her on the bottle because she is permanently with me at the moment, and don't get any time to myself. Please does anyone have any suggestions, I would really appreciate some help. My email address is [email protected]

mandi, I totally understand as my dd was exactly as you described. I never got her to take a bottle (sorry, that was not what you wanted to hear) but if I had to try again, I would use a Habermann feeder recommended by other mnetters: see this thread . Also, you could try a cup - at 6 months, your dd is old enough to lap from one. Hope it goes well.

Hi Mandi. Can't offer any advice, only lots of empathy - we're going through the same thing. Tried lots of different teats, ebm, formulas, heat of milk, different people etc. I don't know where to go either, desperate for a break but kind of think that we will have to wait for her to pick her time, feel like we've tried everything we can ..... good luck to you.