I'm knackered, I think it's time to cut down on the boob and introduce a bottle

[Awakeagain]

Ds is 8 months and I am shattered he is a good sleeper so not tired from continual night wakings! I think bf has finally caught up with me and I just don't have any energy from about 4pm
I'm returning to work at the start of September so will gradually decline feeds until then but happy to do morning and night feeds still if needed
How do I go about switching from ebf to a bottle with formula - also how will my boobs cope?

I'm going to lurk on your thread sorry. I have absolutely no good suggestions. My DS is one and while he eats a good amount of solid food, he is booby obsessed and screams for milk every three hours minimum...

Seems odd that you would be so tired with an 8 month old who sleeps well? I would see the GP first - could you be anaemic? I never found breastfeeding made me tired.

I think the advice is to replace one feed at a time with a bottle. Usually people pick the evening feed so mum can go to bed early while dad gives a bottle and get some decent sleep before the night feeds start. Then after maybe a week, drop another one. Your boobs might feel a bit full and sore after skipping one feed but it should settle down.

Is he waking in the night still? Even if it is once then your sleep is broken which can make you very tired even if the total amount of sleep you are getting seems ok.

Only occasionally
We do have an early start to the day but think if I'm in bed early (9pm asleep) then starting the day at 5.45 (worst) 6.30 isn't that bad
Need to book drs app as they wanted a follow up appointment to mastitis at 7 months but was on hol when they sent my appointment so will ask about anaemia then
I did have low iron in my initial blood tests in pregnancy and always had low iron when I have blood (but not too low that I couldn't give it)

I have a 9 month old who mostly sleeps ok, and I am knackered all the time. I think breastfeeding is tiring. She only has one overnight feed so it's not that. It's just tiring. I have several mates who said they were much less tired when they stopped bf. I absolutely disagree with maja00 on that point.

Before I had my baby I had horrible insomnia for many years and now I can sleep 11 hours a night (if she does - she does occasionally). I thank bf for that, too. I think it is very soporific.

I'm also returning to work in a month but I'm just sticking my head in the sand for what that will mean for breastfeeding (which I have no intention of giving up). I'm a hospital doctor who works manic shifts and don't think there will be any chance of expressing at work, and I tried expressing last week and got nothing. Baby is quite easy going and likes her food so I am just crossing my fingers and hoping she will adapt... she doesn't take bottles though.

Sorry I have not really helped you OP. I will lurk and see if anyone says anything helpful....

I worried about the same thing. DD was 13 months and by this point only on morning and night boob, so I'd been used to gradual drop in supply since about 9 or 10 months i think. As noble says, just drop one at a time over a week or two and you'll adjust fine.

We had 3 horrufic screaming refusal feeds as she had only ever had an expressed bottle a handful of times (and not since 4 months). But the she was suddenly fine on the 4th and took the formula like a dream - I was totally shocked.

You know when the time is right for you both to try something new, so don't feel pressure in either direction. Well done for 8 months and good luck! Sympathies with the tiredness, I found from 8 months just as tiring - awake more, moving more, lots more interaction, thinking about back to work, honeymoon period over - quite normal!

Washing, sterilising and making up bottles seems like it would be much more tiring than getting your boob out tbh. Especially at night.

Sorry, I've just re read my post and I didn't mean for it to sound the way it did!

We did this a couple of months ago: we're now down to morning and evening bf (and overnight), but bottled at 11am and 3pm.

We just did it one by one - afternoon one first and then morning. No issues at all, which surprised me!

DD is 10 months btw.

Good luck!

Meant to say, try formula with weetabix for a week or so, to get him used to the flavour. Then attempt the switch to formula in a bottle when you have you a few days if not a week when you can cope with an upset crying baby if they don't want to take it. Get DP to do the feeds and dont be tempted to go in and rescue, your DS will smell your milk and just want what he is used to the first few times. Make up a couple of different bottles with different teats, we found size 3 and 4 teats so much better, although 4 is fast flowing after boob so it could take a few goes to find the right one.

Stick with it, it's a hard adjustment but it will pass quicker than you think. Oh and we tried it twice, a month earlier we knew after 5 days it was too soon for her. 2nd time, persevered and all was fine.

I love love loved breast feeding, but weaning her off at 13 months has made a very positive change for me in terms of my sanity, flexibility and freedom. And we still have lovely bedtime snuggles and milk.

I think it's worth asking your GP about iron levels, if you haven't - where's the harm? I'm bf a 6 month old and have been feeling not too bad until my iron tablets ran out, now getting more and more tired each day. So off to the doctor to see if I need some more! I think bf is tiring and running around after a baby is tiring anyway, but you might as well find out if there's something that could help.

No advice on giving up bf as I haven't got there yet! Will start thinking about it if when I find a job.

Both mine got a bottle for their last bedtime feed from about 3months, kept bf til 6mo and 9mo respectively. Formula is heavier in tummies (said my hv) so makes for a longer sleep! Had greedy boys so they didn't care whether it came from boob or bottle and I did notice a change in my energy just by having the option of a bottle there, meant the odd night out too. I would have chosen to bf longer but my boys picked when they stopped and maybe that would have been longer if they were exclusively bf, who knows?

Thanks for the replies
Best start looking into which formula to buy - how do you pick

did sma first with ds1 - did not like (unsettled tummy), switched to cow n gate - no probs so did the same for ds2 and he took straight to it. Maybe just depends what suits baby, it's easy to experiment a bit now because you can get little cartons of ready mix before you commit to a big tub of powder.

I have tried all the formulas and the only one my BF daughter has taken is the ready made Cow and Gate milk.
She VIOLENTLY hated SMA!

Spooky confusedmuch!

We only ever tried aptimil and it was absolutely fine. All mum friends use the same and very happy with it. And that is with an otherwise dairy intolerant child, weirdly! Good tip on trying the small cartons if you are unsure.

I would agree that something else is probably up. If your DS is sleeping fairly well then there should be no reason for BF to be making you tired now.

Definitely get your bloods checked out!

I have just successfully switched to bottle feeding from being ebf. LO is 7 1/2 months. At this stage i would recommend dropping a breast feed and replacing a bottle every few days depending how your body adapts. when you drop a feed it will get engorged and takes a few days for you body to readjust . When I dropped my last feed, I did have to express a little to ease the engorgement but only enough so that I'm comfortable. If you express too much then your body will keep on making milk.

We use aptamil . Seems like the one everyone uses in my area. I've tried sma , LO didnt like it and it does taste horrendous so didnt blame her! Aptamil taste better but I guess nothing compares to breastmilk !