9 months breastfeeding - introduce formula or start expressing?

[shakalakadoodah]

I have been ebf my DS who is now 9 months old, he is doing great with solids and I still pretty much feed him on demand although that tends to fall into a kind of routine. But I'm pretty much with DS all the time and now thinking about getting back to work.

I don't have a breast pump to express, but i sometimes do express by hand and I can get a couple of oz's but DS is never very interested in taking it from a bottle. We also have a battle when I try to feed him if we're out and about because he's just too interested in everything now.

So I'm wondering whether it would be worth investing in a pump now or introducing DS to formula during the day. I still want to keep bf though, so morning and evening /bedtime feeds plus aby during the night.

What experiences have other people had and any advice would be really appreciated, thank you

Your bf is well established by now and he'll be eating some solids so don't worry about introducing formula interfering with carrying on bf if expressing is difficult/lengthy. From 12 months they can have cows' milk which is even easier. If you do want to express I'd recommend getting the best pump you can.

Re taking a bottle that's a different story! He might simply refuse and you can try a cup or he'll just want to wait till you're With him to bf. You could just keep trying a bottle every couple of days, slightly warm before you go back.

You could try a cup as he's probably old enough for that now.

If you want to try expressing, I recommend the Haakaa pump as it's cheap and easy to use - you put it on one boob while feeding from the other. Many people get a lot of milk with the Haakaa (I sometimes do, sometimes don't.)

If you want an electric pump I recommend the Ardo Calypso double (it's a closed system and very quiet and efficient). However it is expensive and I'm not sure I'd bother for a 9mo who is only going to have the occasional bottle/cup of expressed milk.

I've got a haakaa, tried it a few times when DS was smaller, was good at first but then I found I could express more by hand.

He drinks water from the nuby cup with an attached straw, would it be worth trying that with expressed milk?

Thanks for the advice, bf has been pretty easy and convenient ime so its a bit nerve wracking to introduce formula.

I reckon you could try ebm in the Nuby cup