Advice needing changing from B feeding to Bottle after 2 weeks

[mossycat]

I have been breast feeding for nearly 2 weeks - baby is latching on and feeding well and i feel i have given her a good start. However I am finding the concept of demand feeding difficult and for my sanity want to change to bottle feeding. Its the unpredictability, the time feeding takes and the feeling that b feeding takes over your life and no one can help with the feeds. I also know that i will never be someone who will feel comfortable b feeding in public.

I would be very grateful for any advice on changing to bottle feeding. My main queries are should it be a gradual change and how is this done? and do bottle fed babies feed less often/ for less time or are all newborns the same? Are there any other considerations that i need to take into account?

Any tips and advice would be gratefully appreciated.

don't try to drop all feeds at once as your boobs will be very engorged and you run the risk of getting mastitis. Try and drop one feed first then another (maybe leaving a few days between them- dunno may be best to ask a breasfeeding pro about how many days to leave between)
You could of course mix feed- so maybe change the evening feed to a bottle so that you can get some time out if you wanted to?

Hello and congratulations on your baby. I am still breastfeeding at 4 months but I feel your pain over the demand feeding and claustrophobia - it can be a complete nightmare. Well done for getting this far.

You've obviously thought it through, but just to say about the feeding in public that there are options. It can be really awkward in the early days, but you might find you don't mind as much as you think once you and your baby are more confident. Some places have feeding rooms where you can be private, or I used to feed in the car. You can take expressed milk in a bottle or give the odd bottle of formula.

Anyhow, to answer your questions:

I would make it a gradual change, otherwise you may get uncomfortably engorged and maybe get an infection. Pehaps replace one feed every couple of days?

From experience, bottle fed babies may feed less often because the formula fills them up for longer. But not always - some babies are serial snackers.

Usually a bottle feed takes less time, but if you have sucky baby this means there is a danger of over feeding because they may appear to want more milk when in fact they just want more sucking time.

Some people who bottle feed do it by the clock and some demand feed. There is for and against both. Demand feeding can be a bit of a nightmare when your baby's shouting at you and your desperately trying to cool the bottle down. But feeding by the clock can be problematic if your baby doesn't have that kind of predictable appetite.

HTH

And as hettie said, in cutting down you may find you reach a compromise level that you're comfortable with. There are loads of mix feeders on Mumsnet (including myself in the past) who could advise you on this if you want. It's not easy to avoid reducing your breastmilk too much, but it can often be done.