Starting mixed feeding, when do my boobs stop being SO painful?

[mieowcat]

I have decided to begin mixed feeding, as a trial, to see if some formula reduces the vomiting and reflux problems my 6.5 week old is having.
my boobs are so hard and painful, does anyone know how long this pain lasts? my aim is to give up BF in next 2-3 weeks.
since 8am today he has had 2 bf and 2 bottles.

2bf and 2 bottles sounds very little for a six week old in that time frame. If you have been fully bfing up to now you would need to cut back gradually else you run the risk of mastitis. If you don't want to feed him you might need to express a little, just enough to feel comfortable.
Have you thought how you will feel if you wean from the breast and formula isn't the magic solution?

i had believed that formula milk can help reflux as it is 'heavier' so lees likely to be vomited back up? im really struggling, im still bf 70% but he vomits 5x at least after every feed. its so distressing.

Don't know about FF (sorry) but wanted to give sympathy for the reflux -- DS1 had it and it was grim. Have you been to your GP about it?

yeah, they prescribed Gaviscon but its so difficult to get 6 syringfuls into him each day, he gets so upset and gags and chokes and then is sick again. im so upset seeing him vomit all the time, night and day. gp said it usually gets better when they start solids, but thats ages away!

Hi there,

Have you seen your GP to get your baby diagnosed with reflux? They can use medication to help if it is reflux. I'm not sure formula feeding will be the answer to be honest and breast milk is definitely the best milk for the baby from a nutritional point of view. If you do want to cut down, you should wean him off gradually so that you don't develop mastitis. Cutting down the time he spends on the breast and topping up with formua might be better. Good luck!

DS1 didn't have any medication (my HV described it as "a laundry problem, not a health problem" ) and it did get better gradually as he got older -- and it stopped altogether soon after he started solids.

Both ff ds1 and bf ds2 have brought up a bit of milk after every feed, though not nearly as much as your ds. I've found formula coming up in much larger quantities and to stain worse. I would think anything making milk harder to digest would actually make it more likely to come up.

To answer your original question, I found that I didn't want to drop feeds more than 1 a week, eg it would take 4 weeks to go from 5 bf's a day to 5 ff's a day. For the first 3-4 days of dropping a feed I still felt full at the 'feed' time. However this is with an 8 month old so she might be taking less milk than a 6 week old as she is also on solids. i.e. if you do wnat to change to formula milk from breastmilk then for your comfort don't rush things.

However I do understand how absolutely distressing it can be to see your baby bringing back up everything they have just drunk - the saying is 'there's no point crying over spilt milk' - they should add 'unless it's breast milk'!