Need to switch from breast to formula

[ready2pop]

I am pregnant and have totally lost my milk supply as a result (posted another thread for how to get it back but nothing worked and it has pretty much gone altogether) so I need to get my DS (9 months) to take formula a.s.a.p.

I tried all day yesterday but he seems determine to starve rather than take it and just spent the day crying. Anyone have any ideas how I can get him to take it? Unfortunately my DH works long hours and my family are too far away for me to get them to try and help.

He doesn't eat much in the way of solid food yet so we don't have that to fall back on either.

readytopop, you don't need to stop putting your baby to the breast, even if you are sure he cannot get sufficient breastmilk to thrive.

Will he take a cup of formula?

An egg cup?

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Thanks but the problem isn't the bottles - he's had expressed milk in a bottle regularly since birth - it is the formula.

Have tried all the various brands but he takes one sip then pushes the teat out and screams.

I am still trying to BF but he sucks frantically then unlatches and screams because he can't get any milk.

Am at my wit's end. He hasn't had any milk yet today.

When I was pregnant with DS3 I stopped breastfeeding DS2 who was 10 months old. He was a good eater and so he had cow's milk and juice/water to drink. He did not drink vast lots of milk but he had plenty of dairy prodice in what he ate - milk in breakfast, yogurts, custard, cheese etc. He is now a strapping 19 year old!

I stopped feeding because I felt hellish rather than milk supply problem.

Are you sure you have no milk - is it possible it is just the change of taste he doesn't like? He may sense your concern and that is why he won't settle? Have you tried feeding him in the bath? I had success with that when I had a BF strike with my DD.

If all else fails you could try cow's milk.

I agree with mears, I would try the cows milk tbh...are they having water/diluted juice at all?

I agree, too - cows milk as a main drink is not supported by official guidance, but a healthy 9 mth on solids is not going to come to any nutritional harm. The guidance is a one size fits all thing, to cover those babies who are fussy about solids still and only eating tiny amounts - cows milk as a main drink would not satisfy iron requirements. But if his diet is good, and he has iron in other foods, then I can't see the problem.

Read up for yourself on this - there's an oldish study (1999) here

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/434229.stm but its age does not mean it is wrong!

Thanks for the link Tiktok - very interesting as I'd asked the HV about this and been told that I couldn't jsut give cow's milk.

Ideally I would like to get him on to the formula as he isn't very consistent with solids, some days he will eat 3 meals, others he won't touch a thing.

Mears - definitely no milk (well very little). I've tried pumping today but hardly anything there.

Well, of course HV is right about official guidance, but it's a shame she couldn't discuss options with you and explain the reasoning behind it....you're a big girl and you can use your common sense, I would have thought

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Do you have any milk left? was thinking maybe you could do a taste test to find the most similar to yours. Hipp and Aptamil were closet to mine.
Then if you have any EBM frozen you could half and half it to start off?

Another suggestion which might be quite random... but maybe if you tried a feeding tube system on your nipple (where they suckle and milk comes from the tube, used by some post-mastectomy mums, or to give additional milk for a low or dwindling supply), he might accept it because it comes witht he comfort, then graduate to formula in a bottle?

Remember that expressing is not an indicator of how much milk you have. I donated EBM to a neonatal unit milk bank but the amounts I could get with an older baby was minimal. I had milk but just couldn't get more than a dribble when expressing at 9 months.

This may be a nursing strike rather than a 'no milk' scenario. Try and stay relaxed over it if you can.

Ds2 won't touch formula either but will have warm water from bottle or cup.
Try this anyway as he might go for it if really thirsty. Then you can gradually find a way to get the nutrition down him x

Hello. Just wanted to say, I have been thinking of using cows milk for my DD. She is a bit older than yours, nearly 11 months. But from what I have read over the last couple of days, I am going to give it a try. The only formula I can get my DD to drink is SMA progress (I BF for 8 months too so she never started on formula until then). This formula is making her very consitpated and unhappy. It is obviously not doing her much good!

I am going to go and buy some full fat milk today (we do have some but only a tiny bit as it is usually only for her cereal etc).

The only thing I am worried about a little bit is the Iron, but I will just look into being conscious of giving iron based food.

And to be honest. I can't wait to get rid of having to boil the kettle all the time, wait for it to cool, mixing formula and of course the cost. Just get to pour straight from the bottle.

AND I have just given DD her morning milk in a beaker not a bottle and she drank it so can get rid of those too!

Just thinking, what about giving some cows milk but also still trying the formula if you are not keen on cutting it out? Then at least he is getting something?

Hi Ready2pop,
Sorry for my late arrival on your thread. Hope you are having some success and have not had a miserable couple of days

I notice that you say your little boy is not a big eater and that it is very variable what he eats. I just wanted to encourage you and say hang in there. My DD (nearly 9 months) went from being not very interested in food to having a pretty healthy appetite. i thought maybe I'd waited too late to start her (at 6 months) on solids, but she just hadn't been showing signs of being interested. For weeks she hardly ate anything, then one week she just suddenly started to get much more interested and more hungry. So I think sometimes there's not that much that we can do to 'make' them get into their foods, they just get there in their own time.

Hope you found something that works. Comiserations on the milk drying up. Mine is nearly all gone too, and I find it sad At least you have another baby to look forward to.