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Infant feeding

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

How to approach weaning to formula

6 replies

Etherealhedgehog · 11/04/2021 09:05

DD is 6.5 months and EBF. I'm going back to work in a couple of months so would like to start gradually weaning her on to formula for daytime feeds (plan to keep BF for first and last feeds of the day, and overnight while she still needs it).

She has taken a bottle in the distant past - we supplemented while she was a newborn, and she randomly drank a couple of ozs a couple of months ago when she decided my supply was too low one evening. But despite our best efforts to replicate that, she refuses the bottle 99% of the time. She'll put it in her mouth and toy with it but not actually drink. The only cup she's interested in is the doidy cup and she's nowhere near good enough with it to wean straight to that.

I know you're meant to swap one feed at a time, waiting a few days or a week before swapping the next one. My challenge here is that she still does all naps either on the pram or on me with suckling throughout (and fed to sleep) so at least two of her feeds are currently closely intertwined with naps.

I tend to feed her at least every three hours, sometimes more, but she does sometimes go longer so I suspect if I withhold boob she'll just hold out until the next feed comes around.

I don't really know where to begin tbh. It's impossible to imagine how we get there from our current situation, and between this and starting solids (she doesn't eat much) and trying to improve sleep (still in the four month regression!) it's starting to feel like we have a lot to try and do over the next couple of months Confused

What are your best tips for weaning a baby who is just not interested in the bottle?

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BunnyRuddington · 11/04/2021 09:15

What are your best tips for weaning a baby who is just not interested in the bottle.

Well, my first tip would be don't bother with the bottles at all. Both of mine were bottle refusers but would drink from a cup.

If you are going back in 2 months she won't actually need that much milk, especially if you are still feeding 4 times in the day and a couple at night but I'd have a look in the MN archive, there are loads of old threads on Bottle Refusal with some good tips Smile

Etherealhedgehog · 11/04/2021 11:30

@BunnyRuddington thanks. Can I ask what type of cup they started with for milk and at what age? Right now it's hard to imagine that she'll be ready to take a milk feed from the doidy cup in the next month or so. She shows no interest in a sippy cup but maybe I should focus my efforts on getting her used to that

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BunnyRuddington · 11/04/2021 18:46

You could always try the foist cup in the bath with some warm formula in? That way they get to practice and there is no mess, plus the novelty usually gets them to drink some Smile

Pinkflipflop85 · 11/04/2021 18:49

I went back to work when mine were 8 months old. Neither of them bothered with milk at the childminders! They just waited until we got home and had a mammoth feed!

BunnyRuddington · 11/04/2021 18:59

I went back to work when mine were 8 months old. Neither of them bothered with milk at the childminders! They just waited until we got home and had a mammoth feed.

Both of mine were bottle registers so we did pretty much the same! DC1 was 9 months and DC2 was 10 months.

Etherealhedgehog · 11/04/2021 20:53

Thanks! This may also happen, though she'll be with her dad til 12 months so I'm kind of hoping the fact it's someone familiar will help her continue with the day feeds. Cup feeding in the bath is a great idea, will definitely give that a go!

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