Breast to formula help please

[OpheliasWeepingWillow]

I have to abruptly swap to formula as medication I need is definitively incompatible with breast feeding. Last night dd (8 wks) took a bottle fine but now shrieks like a banshee and will not suck no matter what we do. I ended up cup feeding her as she was obviously very hungry

Pressed send too soon... So now devastated I cannot breastfeed and no idea about formula and baby hates bottle

Try holding dd in a different position for feeding. My dd2 leans against my chest to feed. Initially when we started bottles we fed her in her bouncy seat.

Also bf babies tend to prefer formula warmer than you'd think. My dd2 likes milk that feels warm on my arm. And as babies have to work hard to get milk out of boob, can help to have slow flow teats on bottle and baby in more upright position.

Whilst real shame you've got to stop breast feeding, you did it for 8 weeks which is a fab start for your dd. now a healthy mummy is more important than what milk she's having .

Is the medication long-term? You could always express & discard until you're off the meds?

With regards to the bottle issue try holding your DD away from you a bit, it used to work with my DD - I think if I cradled her she got confused as to why she wasn't getting the boob.

Have you check the medication really is non compatable with feeding?

Check with the BfN drugs in breastmilk helpline www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/drugs-in-breastmilk.html
Many women are often told to stop when they don't havet to.

As for stopping again one of the helplines can help you with this as that is one of the things they are trained for. don't forget if you can't feed her at all then you'll need to pump and dump for a while so you can avoid getting mastistuess as well.

National Breastfeeding Helpline
0300 100 0212

NCT Breastfeeding Helpline
0300 330 0771

La Leche League Helpline
0845 120 2918

Association of Breastfeeding Mothers
08444 122 949

Ophelia - can you check and double check the info about meds is correct?

Many, many times people post about this issue and the situation is not as they have been told. Their meds are fine with bf, or else they are no great risk and bf can continue.

toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT

You can check the meds yourself and share the info you get with your doctor for further discussion. You can also phone the Breastfeeding Network drugsline and check their website www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk

There are very, very few meds that are totally incompatible with bf.

Hallo yes is unfortunate but the med is Zoladex which will shut down my hormones.

I have a pretty relaxed approach to bf and meds eg pharmacist told me because I had a 5mg Valium at dawn I could not bf for 30 days... that's not on Lactmed. Anyhow, can't breastfeed if I don't have any milk...

Thank you everyone - will try temperature and position. Did not think it would happen so soon

Pharmacist at hospital told me I could not breastfeed for a month after a 5mg Valium dose today. Dr said I should just skip one feed. Now am paranoid I have broken baby... LactMed states Valium not ideal as long half life but have fed baby 3 times since and she seems normal.

Surely pharmacist being over cautious?

Crap that was supposed to be new thread...

Anyway, the meds are Zoladex which will kill my milk supply so no choice

Thanks for all the positioning advice and other tips. I've also made an appt with a postpartum doula as am not in uk so no HV etc...

You can still email the drugs in breast milk help line if your not in the UK maybe they could help on the valium.

Thanks - am pretty confident it is ok to be honest just wonder why someone would give such mental advice - a month??? I looked the website tiktok recommended and am not worried

I am worried how I am going to get the baby to take a bottle...

Ophelia - As far as I can tell Zoladex is designed to shut down oestrogen and testosterone. Breastmilk production is controlled by the hormones pro-lactin and oxytocin. I am not a scientist but I can't understand how it would shut down production of breastmilk as it isn't targeting the hormones behind bm production. That is not to say that if it didn't shut down bm production that it would be compatible with actually giving the breastmilk to your baby though.

I really would get a 2nd opinion and either the Drugs in Breastmilk helpline or the Infant Risk Center in the US would be a good bet for evidence based advice.

On the giving a bottle front, this may help get baby to take a bottle.

All the best.