Help with Introducing formula

[Warney]

I am in a bit of a panic, I am due to return back to wok on the 09/01/06 and have for the last couple of days been trying to introduce formula to my daughter who has been up until now breast fed. My daughter has on average 4 milk feeds a day and 3 small meals. She will drink expressed milk from a bottle but not formula. Does anyone have any tips, as I would like 2 to 3 of her feeds to be formula but to continue feeding her myself first and last thing. Have I left it to late?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, or a large cash donation so that I don't have to return to work!

How old is she? Is there any way you can express at work or at home? If she's eating food, it might be that she'll have water to drink during the day and some EBM as well as you feeding her?

Sorry I should have mentioned her age she is 6 months old, I can express at work but it would be a bit of a pain, however I will use it as a last resort. I don't know whether it's the brand of milk that I am trying or just that it's not mine.

I'm in a similar situation and having a struggle. I've mastered getting ds to take expressed milk from a bottle but he won't take formula. One of my friends recommended I start diluling his breastmilk bottle with formula so I started that last night, 3/4 breast milk, 1/4 formula and he took it so I'll continue with that for a few days then up it to half, half etc. I guess different things work for different babies but it might be worth a try!

Good thinking, I will give that a try tomorrow

Have tried mixing breast milk with formula but she's not having any of it, I am now worried that it will put her off drinking from the bottle altogether. I am going to try just expressed milk in a bottle tomorrow just to make sure that she will still feed from a bottle. How long do I persevere? Has anybody got any advise of how they introduced formula? I am getting worried now as I am due back at work soon.

Help things are going from bad to worse my daughter now wont drink expressed milk from a bottle. Is it cruel to hold out giving her anything untill she takes at least expressed milk from a bottle? Am really beginning to panic now!

we started with 1 scoop of formula and the rest of the bottle filled with breast milk. did this for a few days before gradually adding more formula and less breast.
it also seemed to help if DH fed him and not me, I guess he didnt associate DH with breastmilk.

is expressing after u start work so out of the question?

I could express at work, but I am now worried as my daughter wont take from the bottle at all, is it cruel to hold out feeding her until she takes from the bottle?

given that its SOO important that she takes a bottle quite soon it seems like a good idea to hold out until she takes a bottle.

Also make sure its not YOU giving her the bottle... alternativly you could just get on with it and when you go back to work and arnt there she'll learn pretty soon to take a bottle!

Thanks NannyL

Update, she's now taking breast milk from a bottle, so I am back to square one. Am going to trying a mixture of both again as I am now not sure whether she had forgotten how to drink from a bottle (it has been a few weeks) or she doesn't like the formula.

Have also checked lottery numbers and I am not a winner so have definitely got to go back to work!

ffs, nannyl, at 6 months she's old enough to take a sippy cup if she doesn't like bottles, if she finds it too confusing. And Warney may be able to express at work, at least for a little while. Mine went straight to sippy cups at about 4 months old.

Dear All

Just to say thank you, my daughter is now taking a mixture of formula and breast milk, by Sunday she will hopefully be having one full formula feed a day just in time for my return to work on Monday. We think that she has just forgotten how to use the bottle as we'd not used it for a few weeks. Once she is settled into being with a childminder in the mornings I will start to introduce a sippy cup. I can't beleive that I am going back to work the time has flown, I don't know how I am going to cope without seeing her for 8.5 hours a day.

Thanks again to everyone, I don't know what I would do without this website

Just to say that my DS had the same problem when I was going back to work. I had only managed to get him drinking 3oz max of formula (from a sippy cup no dice with a bottle) at one feed when he started at nursery. He refused to drink more than 1-2 oz (and sometimes nothing) for them for the first week or two (and was bf a lot at night to make up for it plus fortunately he was a little older so on solids already and would eat those quite happily, so he wasn't starving) but then gradually built up to 8oz of formula at once - bizarrely, letting him drink from the sippy cup while standing up seemed to do the trick.