Advice on starting to wean from BF to FF please

[Jen2727]

Hi all ...
My DD is 16 weeks old and i am starting to introduce 1 x bottle of formula a day with the hope of slowly increasing this bit by bit. I have a couple of concerts to go to at the end of June/beginning of July and the last thing i will want is to worry about my DD not being able to cope without me, hence me thinking about it now! I think i have finally found a bottle that DD will take (Dr. Browns). Up until now i have been expressing every time she has a bottle so that my supply is not affected but surely i need to stop doing this now?!
We are aiming to do the bottle at a similar time each day (around 7pm) so do i just do nothing whilst DH feeds her? And how soon should i then introduce a second bottle? And what about giving her water in between feeds to help her not get constipated? What do i have to do to the water? Also, is baby rice a good idea or not? And when should i start to introduce solids?
Sorry, lots of questions and a slightly confused post, but i hope all you mummys and daddys out there can help!

Blimey what a lot of questions!!!

Okay well as for introducing bottles it depends sort of on how long you want to keep bfing for, and I wouldn't drop more than one bf a week as you will run the risk f getting mastitis. I combine ff and bfing for quite a while with no problems but some mums notice more of a drop in supply than others.

If she is prone to constipation then maybe offer water in between feeds but in theory anyway she should be getting all the fluids she needs from her milk.

I wouldn't worry about starting any form of solids for at least another 6 wks or so, prob best to d/w your hv nearer the time.

Hope that helps!!!

I want to keep breast feeding for a while yet as i love the bond that i have with her but equally i need to be able to leave her so want to make sure she will take bottles properly by May/June time.
After we gave her her first formula a few days ago, she went for 3 days with no poo. She seemed to strain trying to do it and seemed in quite a lot of discomfort but when she did the poo, it looked fine. I was wondering whether this was to do with the formula. She is on Aptamil first milk.

If you want to keep bfing tbh I think you are starting this process a little too soon, may/ june is a long time away in baby terms!!! I would stay at the one bottle at bedtime for now, express if you want to and carry on bfing as normal during the day. Its prob quite nice for your dh to be able to do one of the feeds anyway. Then you also know your dd will take a bottle.

A friend of mine with a similiar aged baby who used to get very constipated was advised to wash his bottom with cotton wool and warm water as app this stimulates things. According to my friend it really wks and goes on the same theory that other animals lick their babies in order to stimulate them going to the toilet!!!!

Also bfed babies often don't go to the loo as much as the milk is so nutritious there is very little waste left!!

Hiya
You're being very well prepared, but I don't blame you starting early, I wish I had. If your DD takes a bottle from your DH then don't worry about introducing a second bottle during day unless you want to start to give up BFeeding her.
If you're going away you could always build up a supply of expressed milk in the freezer (it only keeps for three months) so your DH can give your DD breastmilk when you're away.
I'm off to a concert overnight in June and my DD doesnt take a bottle/cup despite being at nursery during the day 3 days a week. Nursery are hoping to crack her by June in this respect! I'm leaving my DH too it and going away, they'll cope as I'll be miles away!
As for food, the advise is not to do any food until 6 months. It's way easier to wean if you do leave it.

Hope all is going well.

If you only want to do it so you can go out occassionnally and can express, why give formula?

japhrimel i want her to get used to formula as probably by 6 months, she will be mainly formula fed with the occasinal breast feed. Maybe first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I want to be able to have time away without the faff of expressing! I had quite a few problems with breast feeding and almost gave up at Christmas but battled through, so i am quite proud at having got this far!

You may not be able to carry on breastfeeding - not everyone can maintain it when mostly FF.

Re weaning, I think you need to get a Baby to Five book (from your HV) or something similar to learn the basics.

If adding formaula means i won't be able to carry on breast feeding then what will be, will be!

jen2727, if you are adding one bottle of formula a day and your DD is 16 weeks old, and BF-ing is now going well and you have no other problems, you should be able to mix feed in that way successfully.

Yes, a few women do get supply problems, but if you do things gradually when you increase formula (which you sensibly want to do anyway), you should be able to keep doing some bf-ing and your DD will get continued immunological benefits etc.

As a committed EBF-er, I feel you deserve a less terse response than 'why give formula?'. If you've had problems to start with and have got to 16 weeks, well done, I agree you should feel proud.

I was confused as the thread title is "wean from BF to FF" but the PP then said "I want to keep breast feeding for a while yet"

my aim is to gradually wean, not to do the process quickly! Thank you all for your responses ... She is seeming to poo less frequently than she was before we started this process. Will this settle down do you think?