BF-ing mums - when/how did you wean, and did formula play a role?

[barkfox]

My EBF DS (1st DC) is coming up to 5 months - his weight is healthy and he's a happy chap, although we are currently going through what I assume is the 4 month sleep regression (waking every 2-3 hours again, feeding more at night etc).

Frustratingly, DS also developed very itchy eczema on his face recently, which I think is spreading to his shoulders. This has made me think about food allergies, among other things.

The advice we've been given is to try and hold out to 6 months to wean. I've read the HV info and understand it's to do with both a mature gut, and the ease with which you can introduce various foods. Baby led weaning sounds interesting - I know someone whose DD is doing it, and seems to be having great fun.

Couple of things I would really appreciate thoughts on. 1 is age of weaning - does anyone really hold out til 6 months?? just that no one I know has! I know advice has changed relatively recently, so those of you holding out til 6 months, how are you planning to go about weaning?

And formula. I have no plans to stop BF-ing when I wean, I've no reason to - but is there any harm in introducing a small amount of formula at 6 months, when weaning? The benefits would be to me, really - I currently express a night feed, and also DP take a bottle of boob milk with him when he takes DS out for a trip without me. I can continue to express, it's not a huge problem - it would just be useful to have the option of formula, and I want to know about any health risks (or benefits).

If we can offer yoghurt and other dairy products, but without giving cows' milk as a main drink, where does this leave me with formula?

Obviously eczema/food allergies are worrying me a bit - I know dairy can be a trigger.

Long post, sorry - I guess I'm just after general thoughts and experiences. All v welcome, and TIA.

My ds is a little younger than yours, but he a has had the ocasional bottle of formula already. I don't see any harm in formula from 6 months though - it's better than plain cow's milk.

The six month guideline has been in place for 7 years I think, and in real life people I know have mostly weaned between 4-7 months. I'm not fanatical about 26 weeks, but I do intend to do BLW, as it seems a sensible choice to me in terms of avoiding puress and health benefits. So I'm going to wait til ds is sitting well and can feed himself, whenever that may be. I do intend to continue breastfeeding til a year too.

I weaned my now 3 year old at 6 months, and we BLWed. It was easy and natural and we'll do the same with DD when she's 6 months. I went back to work at the same time and I expressed for DS's day feeds for a couple of months but mostly we coslept and he fed a bit more at night. Don't really know why I didn't introduce formula - combination of bloody mindedness and no real need to I think.

ooh barkfox I'm in exactly the same situation and have been meaning to ask that question about formula for ages. I don't mind expressing milk for when I go out but it's a hassle and I hate it when it gets wasted, which it often does (eg I defrost a bag and then DS sleeps all evening). I'm certainly planning to stick with EBM to 6 months, but I can't see any good reason not to offer formula rather than EBM if I'm out if he's having cow's milk in other things. I will carry on breastfeeding, it's just for the odd time I won't be there. I probably would express if it was going to be a regular thing, but for a one off I guess formula won't hurt. I feel slightly like I'd like to be able to say he only had BM, but he had formula in his first week anyway, so I don't even have that. Oh I don't know! sorry for ramble. will be interested to see what others say.

Once you introduce solids you're not exclusively breastfeeding anyway, and there's no virign gut to worry about, so I can't see what possible problem there could be with formula.

I didn't wean until 7 months -- mainly because I was moving continent at a little over 6 months and our paediatrician said not to bother until I got back and unpacked.

My baby was a little prem and small (bout the 9th centile)

I never needed formula and just started blw when I got back to Britain. Mind you, I had mat leave until she was 15 months.

BLW went well but she didn't really take in quantity until 9/10 months. I continued feeding and it was as frequent as a younger baby for months and months and months -- I reckon about 18/19 months the frequency ebbed and I needed to push her to that as well.

I did try her with bottles but she wasn't having it so I gave up.

I had absolutely no issue with formula once I'd started weaning as I figured she was taking in some food so formula once a day was akin to that.

Still b/f but only once a day (early morning) and she's over two.

To be honest, I've not really discussed weaning with many people so don't know when they started.

Good luck.

Yes, we started weaning at 6 months and did BLW. It was so much fun and I'd recommend it to anyone. :)

I never understood what people mean about 'holding out' till 6 months - it makes it sound like it's difficult to start at 6 months as opposed to 4 months. IMO starting at 6 months is so much easier than starting sooner - you don't have that extra time of having to cart food around, clean up a messy baby and get frustrated with the fact that they're just not ready for solids yet despite the fact that you want them to be (to paraphrase some of my friends who weaned early). Once you start weaning you realise just how convient it is to ebf. :)

Dunno about formula, I'm afraid, as he's still entirely bf at 11 months.

for me it's a case of holding out against the advice of well-meaning relatives, plus friends and acquaintances who weaned early so you feel that you're implying their choices are wrong if you say you want to wait. In my case, i'm pretty sure my baby is not ready for weaning yet, and am nder no illusion that a few spoonfuls of baby rice would make him sleep through or anything. but people around me are knocking my confidence in this.

yes i waited til 6 months as we have a family history of atopic disease. i also waited til about 10 months to introduce high risk foods like gluten, fish, and chocolate

ds1 only had BM til he was 15 montsh so he got a little ( disgusting low allergy) formula, DS2 bf until he was 3 so went straight onto cows milk. we also did BLW

I gave DS vegetables at 25 weeks and felt guilty! We also did BLW and it's lots of fun, DS was very enthusiastic and it's great messy play .

We had problems with BF for the first couple of months for DS had a bit of formula in the first few days (virgin gut gone then I suppose), and after that ebm at bed time. Once he got to six months though, I packed the breast pump away and he had formula at bedtime till 1 year then cows milk. I'm still BF now (nearly 14 months) but he has cows milk at nursery 3 days a week at nursery, and if he's babysat.

I was quite stubborn about him having all BM till 6 months. Once we started to wean however I was happy that he was having other foods so was also happy for him to start on a bit of formula. There really are better things to do than sit with a breast pump attached to your boobs three times a day!

I started weaning DD at 6 months. Am doing pureed route with lots of finger foods too.

Regarding formula. I make up DD's breakfast porridge with formula and am planning on introducing her with cups of formula during the day. She has zero interest in bottles. Am imagining these will eventually help cut out BFs.

I would imagine that there would be absolutely no harm whatsoever in introducing formula at six months (unless it turns out your DC is dairy intolerant).

On another note: What the hell is a virgin gut?

It's a theory that introducing anything other than breastmilk damages the natural lining/flora of the gut I think - so even one ff is harmful.

I started giving DD small amounts of pureed rice, fruit and vegetables alongside bfing from 5 months, didn't affect her atopic eczema which she developed at 5 weeks. Gave one bottle of formula a day from 7 months for about two months when I first went back to work, tried expressing, but as I teach and was doing daily supply in a different school everyday there was no way that I could maintain expressing as finding the time and somewhere to express was near impossible. As soon as I could I dropped the formula as I found out that it can contain all sorts of uninvited chemicals that could harm your baby see here. I then gave cheese and yoghurt to replace feeds in day and cluster fed at night according to DD's demands, before adding cows milk in the day in a cup at 11.5 months. I am still bfing twice a day mostly unless teething in progress and DD is 17 months now, I cut down cows milk drinks during the day as she eats loads now so doesn't need it. I find that her eczema flares up everytime she is pushing out a new tooth, the molars were the worse break out was all over face, chest, back, arms and legs. Now has gone down again since they have cut. The eczema flare up could be related to first tooth cutting possibly? If you are going to add new food to diet leave three days before introducing another new food so that you can observe the reactions to check for sensitivity.

I didn't wean either of mine until 6 months. Carried on BFing dd1 for 14 months (although evening only after 9 months) and dd2 until 9 months.

DD1 never had any formula

DD2 loved it - carried on with it until 2!

I started to introduce solids from 24 weeks (ie two weeks early) as I was desperate to try and get her to sleep better.

I tried her with some bedtime bottles of formula from 16 weeks for the same reason )

Needless to say neither of these tactics worked so if I have another baby I wouldn't do either of these things!

However, I am happy with using formula from 6 months alongside breastfeeding as I never got on with expressing and I find the cartons useful if I leave her with DH for example.

She never took to bottles and has formula from a tippy cup.

We started weaning at just past five months. Never gave formula (just went to cow's milk at a year).

DS had pretty bad eczema but never showed a reaction to any food - dairy, nuts etc - until he was a year, when he reacted to egg. He can have it as an ingredient, though (loves quiche), but eating it straight (fried egg, scrambled egg) brings him out in a rash round his mouth.

I did BLW - baby led weaning when you basically sit the child in front of food and leave them to get on with it - with both of mine. I didn't introduce solids to DD1 until she was 10 months as I waited until she could sit unaided and shove things in her mouth by herself plus she had a few health problems as a baby and I didn't think she was ready for solids until then. DD2 was sat in front of food from around 7 months (again when she learnt to sit unaided) but didn't put anything in her mouth until 9 months. I would love to have given my 2 formula but neither would drink from a bottle and DD1 managed 8 hours without anything as she point blank refused the formula and I gave up after that.... I personally think that we live in a country where formula is safe and an option so why not use it if it makes life easier? I would never have used much formula as I'm veggie and veggie formula milk is very expensive.

DD1 - baby rice mixed with formula @ 11 weeks - formula caused constipation of shocking proportions. otherwise fine.

DD2 - baby rice & EBM this time. first time at 6 weeks, but regularly at 5 months on...was busier so was much easier to BF instead of mixing up mudge. again it went fine.

they didn't get non-bm drinks until about 8 months when i went back to work.

..and then it was straight cows milk in a sippy cup, no formula.

This is all really helpful, thank you. woodlands, we do seem to be in the same boat - I was on cereals at 6 weeks in the mid 70s, on advice of HV, so times have changed, and I guess it must seem very strange to generations of early weaners that we are now told to hold out til 6 months. I'm getting a few 'isn't he on solids yet?' comments, and it is a bit confidence knocking. Especially when weaning earlier seems to be the norm anyway, still.

An attraction of BLW at 6 months, as others have said, is that it looks easier - the list of excluded foods and all that pureeing before then is a bit offputting.

And what with the eczema/family history of such, I'm concerned about allergies, so if there's a remote chance waiting til 26 weeks makes a difference, then fine. Then again, the eczema could be down to anything - as AllSheepareWhite says, he could be teething, he's very munchy and dribbly.

I need to do a lot more weaning research, I think. I realised reading responses that I don't even know what baby rice is...

Anyway, responses v helpful, thank you.

Ah, Woodlands, I see what you mean. I think people tend not to give me advice - not twice anyway as I just quote the official guidance at them, so I suppose I've not come under any pressure from anyone else. And I try to avoid HVs as much as I can.

barkfox, one of the great attractions of BLW is that it's ideal for the lazy mother (as long as you don't mind a bit of clearing up after meals).

i weaned at 6 months as was going back to work, and did not want to deal with espressing on top of everything else, started to replace a feed with formula on a gradual basis and upped the amount of solids. good luck, its a hard time but will be OK .