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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Weaning from breast - advice please

15 replies

glasgowgal · 16/03/2006 23:25

Am in the (extremely long) process of weaning from breast. Wanted to know if using a nipple shield might get daughter used to teat in mouh as all other attempts rejected. Also, anytime I express I get no more than 2-3 oz. Will this increase the more I do it or m I just rubbish at it?

OP posts:

mears · 16/03/2006 23:27

What age is your dd? If you are weaning why do you want to express?

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/03/2006 23:34

Will await mears' advice as she is an expert but would say that it often helps to relax as much as possible when expressing, and practise does help.

It also helps to have someone else try and give your DD a bottle instead of you, as she is used to you offering breast only.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 16/03/2006 23:35

That should say

You should await mears' advice.....

Original poster

glasgowgal · 17/03/2006 22:49

dd is 5 months old. Tried formula milk but then wondered if it was that she was rejecting instead of a teat so thought I would express instead- at least until she can take a bottle.

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 17/03/2006 22:51

has she had a bottle before?

i had to wean dd2 onto a bottle at 4 weeks b/c of PND and also b/c i knew i'd have to go to work when she is 4 months.

i now express 2 of her 5 feeds/day and will need to bump this up here in the coming weeks to 3 feeds.

are you expressing at the same time of day?

expatinscotland · 17/03/2006 22:54

also, are you expressing manually or w/an electric pump??

Original poster

glasgowgal · 17/03/2006 23:05

I gave her a bottle a couple of times in the first few weeks which she took no bother and then once I felt happy feeding, left it for a while feeling confident she could do it. she decided she couldn't in that space of time. I have an electric pump and a hand one and tbh I get the same amount from the hand pump as with the electric but don't feel quite so assaulted. I express at night time when she is in bed.

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 17/03/2006 23:10

Let's see.

Can you try expressing at a set time every day that's not in the evening?

I find that I don't get as much at this time, and I'm a 'volume' producer who does express really well.

Are you leaning well forward, relaxed and in a good place when you express?

I find at first it's like feeding, the more you do it, the more comes out.

I HAD to get into a routine b/c I have to go back to work next month and I'm determined to Bf till 6 months even though the last will need to be expressed save morning and evening.

Original poster

glasgowgal · 17/03/2006 23:14

is it really important to lean forward?

OP posts:

mears · 18/03/2006 11:07

glasgowgal - the reason I asked why you need to wean her from the breast makes a difference to how to approach it. Do you actually mean that you want to get her to take expressed milk when you are not there rather than stop breastfeeding altogether?

Original poster

glasgowgal · 19/03/2006 23:35

mears- ideally I would like to move to formula because I am not sure I could express enough.

OP posts:

chipmonkey · 19/03/2006 23:47

glasgowgal, it was mainly on Mears advice that our very stubborn ds took a bottle. I found that walking around with him facing AWAY from me, while I sang loudly, was the best approach. Also they hate the milk cold, so its better to warm it and warm the teat. I also found my ds took Playtex NaturalLatch teats much better than anything else but they won't go on any bottle, you have to buy the system. he did take MAM ultivent teats on an Avent bottle, but then decided against those, which is how we ended up on Playtex!
Also, if the teat flow is too slow, they get frustrated, if they're refusing its better to make things easy for them especially if you normally have a plentiful supply. HTH.
Oh, and if you can't express enough, you can mix and match with formula if you'd like to continue. I managed to express enough at work for my ds, just giving the very odd bottle of formula if I hadn't caught up with him!
good luck!

mears · 20/03/2006 22:07

chipmonkey is right and that was why I was asking the question. There is a difference between weaning from the breast in order to discontinue feeding, and introducing a bottle.

As your DD is 5 months old it would seem a shame to me to discontiue breastfeeding because of worryng about the amount you can express. At 6 months you can introduce solid foods and also encourage drinking from a cup. You can use soft spouts if she doesn't like the feel of teats.Some babies are really good with feeder cups at this age too. Are you going back to work soon? If so you can stock up your freezer with expressed milk. Don't worry if you don't get a lot in one go. Sometimes it is easier to express off 1-2 oz at various times throughout the day than wait and express only once. You can then freeze it in batches of 4 oz for example.

I expressed for a milk bank when I was feeding DD. Sometimes I would have expressed some milk off then DD would wake for a feed. Just because I had expressed did not mean there wasn't anything there for her. The breast is never empty and babies are experts at getting the milk out.

You have the ability to express all the milk she needs. However, if you cannot manage to keep up with her, you could give formula. Depends on how long you are away. It can be done.

Mfer · 21/03/2006 14:12

Am with Mears and Chipmonkey on this - my DS was 6 months so intoduced some solids to fill him up a bit!! - what little breast milk I could express he had and was topped up with the odd bottle of formula when the milk bank was running low - also found Playtex teats were the only ones he would consider - good news was you can express directly in to their liners (milk storage bags) and drop directly into the bottle.

Original poster

glasgowgal · 21/03/2006 22:25

Thanks all. Will try all suggestions.

OP posts:

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