Switching from breast to formula

[Alicia870]

I'd love to ask before I start this that any opinions on how I should persevere with breastfeeding be held aside. No one has beat themselves up about this decision more than me. Breastfeeding is just not working for me. I am tearful and depressed every time my baby needs to feed (she is almost 3 Weeks). I had a difficult and painful pregnancy, and a long traumatic Labour. I've tried so hard to enjoy bf but I think my mental health and bond with my baby needs to be prioritised as I need to be in good form to look after her and feel the bf is just getting in the way.

So my question is what is th best way to wean off into formula feeding?

Hi I didn’t do it so young so I’m not sure, but my baby didn’t like taste of formula and was a bit sucky compared to breast and initially rejected it. So I pumped and mixed half half with breast milk and then gradually decreased amount of breast milk.

Is your baby okay with bottles?

Sicky, not sucky.

I also experimented with different brands of formula and in the end went with hipp as he was significantly less sicky with that one

Thanks- I've already been giving one bottle formula a night and she's fine with it. Just wondering how to manage boobs getting full? Do most people phase out gradually?

Hi op, I have also been in the same situation as you and while I managed to breastfeed easily from a physical perspective, mentally I found it very draining and switched to formula for my own sanity. Safe to say I haven’t looked back and actually enjoy feeding my baby now

So practically, what you need to do is gradually wean you’re baby off the boob and onto the bottle - this is to stop engorgement and risk of mastitis.

Offer a bottle of formula in the place of a breastfeed and then every few days add in another bottle instead of a breastfeed. This gradually reduces your milk supply and signals your body to switch it off.

Before you know it you’ll be on formula fully within a couple of weeks!

Aha they say one feed at a time for a week or so

I used a mix of formula and expressed breast milk. Now my dd just takes formula in a bottle with no issues. At first she got a bit sicky with just formula but then adjusted.

I just stopped. If my boobs got painful I just expressed enough to take away the discomfort. My supply was pretty crappy anyway though and dried up within a few days

No issues with the baby, although he had always been mix-fed due up my poor supply