Breast to Bottle - dropping last 2 feeds

[Lea2003]

Hi folks

My dd is now 6 months and due to her not putting on weight with b/f we have been changing her over to formula for the last month or so.

My question is that I have only ever fed one side at a time (she has reflux and whatever I gave her off the 2nd boob came straight back up!).

How do I stop the last 2 feeds as I will only be using each boob every other day?

Also my boobs appear to have hardly any milk - dd seems to fuss more and hardly drink anything - could my supply already be on the way out?

Any advice gratefully received.

Lea

If you are using formula then of course your supply will start to decrease as you are not stimulating production. Sorry but not clear on your question. Do you want to stop completely?

Yes,
Am trying to stop altogether now. Sorry I wasn't clear.

Lea

When I stopped feeding my last baby he only had a feed every couple of days (I didn't want to stop so I kept stopping and starting) There always seemed to be something there for him if I fed him but I didn't get engorged. What is your problem? Have you tried just stopping and seeing if your milk dries up naturally?

Penguin

I hadn't tried just stopping but that is what I was thinking of doing. Don't really want to stop but dd was only putting on 2oz a week when b/f - now 6 - 8 oz a week!

Have you spoken to a bf counseller? nct are worth trying. Hvs dont normally know much about bf.

Do it gradually as you are doing, my dd was 15 mths and was on one feed a day, like your dd she had one boob one day and then 2nd the next, one day I just stopped as she wasn't really bothered and away it went. It will still be possible to get milk out, I had milk 3 yrs after ginving up with DS1 if I squeezed.
DD has just been ill and I expressed some small amounts for her. She is 17 mths now.
You won; get any problems I wouldn;t have thought as you have been cutting down a while.
I'd be interested to know if your dd puts on any more weight with formula too....

Go for it with the bottles! B/f is important but so is weight gain and if you are anxious that won't allow you to enjoy these first precious months. If your baby is doing so much better on bottles, that has to be the way to go. Also, she is 6 mths now so you have given b/f a good try. I also agree with kiwisbird, that you can always do the odd breast feed, say once a day, but give the real bulk of milk from a bottle.

Isn't 2oz weight gain a week at 6 months quite normal?

Lea 2003

Sorry if this is missing the point but why is she being weighed so frequently ? 6 - 8 oz is what you'd expect in a young baby but this tends to really slow down at 6 months. It sounds as if you are under undue pressure for some reason. Was the reflux actually diagnosed and other problems ruled out? Breast fed babies do not often conform to those precious HV growth charts anyway.

fwiw I mix fed both ds and dd from aout 6 months - 2 bottles during day , b fed am and pm. Continued with ds until almost 17 months, dd (also with reflux)until around 13 months. If you really want to stop you could just express off any "fullness" for a few days - just enough to relieve the pressure. Even so it could be a bit uncomfortable.

hth

Sorry folks was away for easter. At my mums so lovely rest!
Have managed to finish b/f totally now with no problems.

Dd seems happier now and is still putting on decent amounts of weight. She was down to the 9th centile on the charts and dropping hence the concern. She was waking up several times a night hungry and every 45 mins apart from that which has now stopped so I feel I am making progress!

Wish each baby came with a manual as I have made so many silly mistakes...but think we are finally getting there!

Thanks for you help