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Infant feeding

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

Changing for breast feeding to formula

4 replies

Theangelicone · 24/12/2013 21:32

My LO is 3 weeks old.
I am struggling to breast feed due to mastitis and also embarrassment when bf out. I feel like I am trapped and have to stay in to bf. it has really knocked my confidence!
I have expressed and given formula to LO for the first time today and she has taken the bottle. However she is not taking the whole amount that the formula company recommend. She will go to sleep after a feed and has slept through until I have given her a second formula feed however she is waking up hungry and I don't know if I am doing the right thing giving her a breast feed ( this can literally be 5 mins and then she is fairly happy).
What is the right ting to do when swapping from bf to ff?
Any advice is welcome please. I have tried to talk to midwife and HV but they just tell me breast is best so to top it all I feel extremely guilty!
Please help.

OP posts:
ExBrightonBauble · 25/12/2013 00:49

Firstly don't feel guilty. You have breastfed for 3 weeks which is more than a lot of people manage. You may also find you can continue to mix feed, maybe breastfeeding at night/evenings and using formula/expressed milk in the daytime.

With regard to amounts of formula, the amounts on the packet are a guide only, not a recommendation. Individual babies will take different amounts, and it is important to feed formula on demand rather than by sticking to specific amounts. Just give her however much formula she wants and don't try to encourage her to have more than she wants. The guidelines also assume a fully formula fed baby - bfed babies often take less volume to begin with than those that were ff from birth.

When swapping to mix feeding or fully formula feeding, you should drop one feed at a time. So you might replace the first feed of the day with formula. Do this for a week or so to allow you to adjust, and the drop the next feed and do the same. As you've already had mastitis you should probably take this slowly, as you want to avoid any engorgement as this could lead to the mastitis reoccurring.

You might find that if you keep the evening and night feeds as breastfeeding that you can continue with these whilst giving formula during the day. If you stop feeding at night altogether then it is possible that your milk supply may drop quickly.

You might also find that your baby comes to prefer the faster flow of milk from a bottle. This might make her refuse to breastfeed, so if you want to continue with some bfeeding you could try some of the makes of teats that are meant to mimic breastfeeding.

Finally, you could ring one of the breastfeeding helplines for more advice:

La Leche League
National Breastfeeding helpline

Also have a look at the Kellymom website which has lots of v helpful advice about all aspects of breastfeeding.

lisbapalea · 25/12/2013 18:20

I completely agree with exbrightonbauble that you shouldn't feel guilty as those three weeks are a great achievement, so please try to remember that when you're speaking to the MW's and HV's. I think sometimes it's worth phrasing things in quite an assertive way with them so it's harder for them to talk you into things you're not comfortable with, like "after these 3 weeks, I have made the decision to switch to formula as I believe it is the right thing for my baby and me".

I also achieved 3 weeks sole bf-ing with DD1, but in that time I went through 3 weeks of heartache until switching to FF. I currently have 1-week old DD2, and I am currently conscious I don't want to be in the same position again (in terms of mental health) this time, so, after history repeating itself with various feeding problems, I am actually making the switch sooner, at just one week (I have got another thread on this) rather than too late - DD1 asked me this morning "are you going to cry today Mummy" and I just don't want her to see me getting upset with a feeding battle for days or weeks on end.

With DD1 after the initial 3 weeks I used to give 20mins of breast followed by a formula feed. We kept this combined feeding up for 4 months by which time the 20mins had shrunk down to no time at all and it was clear the breast was more for comfort than nutrition.

I don't know if that's something that could work for you, but I do think combined feeding is an option that MW's and HV's don't discuss often enough, as it can work well for a lot of people.

Theangelicone · 26/12/2013 12:04

Thank you for ur comments lisbapela I'm glad I'm not the only one who has felt that way. I'm getting myself really upset about it. I may give the mixed feeding a go! I agree I think the breast is a big comfort thing for my little one as often feeds are 5 mins!

Have u any recommended formula u used? I'm using apt aptamil and her face as she takes it clearly says I don't like it and I'm struggling to even get an ounce down! Did ur little one react like that? I think I should probably persevere and see what happens. It is obviously very different to breast milk!

OP posts:
lisbapalea · 26/12/2013 14:59

Hi again! We are using aptamil and we did for DD1 too, so I'm afraid I have no advice there. It may be the new sensation of a teat vs. a nipple which might make her look a bit bewildered by it all, in which case she should get used to it after a while when it becomes more familiar? Sorry, that's probably no help at all is it?!

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