Tips please - Weaning off breast milk to formula

[BumbleBeeBumbum]

I’m about to start weaning my 6 month old from breastfeeding to formula. I have a few questions but I would also appreciate any general tips anyone has.

• how much formula do I give him for that first feed? I’m not sure how much a 6 month old eats!
• do you give them formula warm/room temperature/cold? Or are your babies happy to have any temperature?
• do you do night feeds at 6 months? And if you do, do you have to boil kettle etc? I’m hoping to breastfeed during the night if he needs it but I know my supply will drop so it might not be possible!
• I breastfeed him to sleep. Is bottle feeding to sleep a thing?
• any tips for when your out the house? Is it best to use premade bottles?

Sorry if they are stupid questions!

I breastfed (well mix fed) for 4months and then switched to formula, baby now 9mo so hoping I can remember!
-from memory my boy had around 7oz at that age, try a biggish bottle and if he pushes bottle away he’s full, if he drains it completely he may want an oz or 2 more. Might take a few try’s if he’s not used to bottles though, my boy stopped and started a fair bit as he was used to more frequent smaller milk snacks with breastfeeding
-he’ll tolerate cool but prefers warm, normally I make my bottles with 90ml odd of boiling water, swirl to dissolve powder then top up to 7/8oz with cold tap (over 6mo he drank tap water anyway so figured this was fine, hot water at the start kills bacteria in the powder). This makes it a perfect temp IMO.
-mine had night feeds until 8mo, normally only 1 though. I used a hot flask of boiling water and tap to do above method quickly at night.
-bottle feeding makes my boy sleepy at night, but not asleep. He’s much quicker on the bottle so not as much time for sleep
-my baby didn’t agree with premade bottles, think the consistency was slightly different and he was refluxy anyway. They are worth it though if your baby likes them (most do I believe). If not I do the hot flask method. Or they keep for an hour (my formula pack says 2hours tbh) so you can sometimes make up just before you leave if that works time wise

If this helps this is my experience:

1. as much as they will eat. Try 4floz maybe and make more if they finish it. Be careful if mixing formula/breast in one feed - I overfed our DD and she puked everywhere! If only doing one or the other you will be fine.
2. try different temperatures to see what your baby likes. Mine fine with cold, others like warm.
3. yes. We have a perfect prep machine and love it. On holiday we make a thermos of hot water for night feeds to do the hot shot.
4. yes, although I found my baby didn’t go completely to sleep, but pretty dozy. I fed her lying back in my arms as she preferred that to upright.
5. we take formula, thermos and cold water bottle plus pre sterilised bottles and make up as needed. If limited on space then either make in advance (

Hey, I'll try answer as many questions as I can and no questions are ever stupid questions btw!

1. my DD is 6 months and drinks 6oz a bottle. Sometimes she finishes it, sometimes she doesn't. I can't recommend how much to start on as it really took us a while to figure out how much fills her up. Maybe start with 5oz/6oz bottles and see the reaction if he's still hungry etc..?

2. mine doesn't like cold milk at all. Not a fan of room temperature either and will hardly drink it. We always give her warm bottles

3. only when my DD is having a rubbish night will she wake up for a feed, but luckily she's been sleeping through the night since 2 months old. However we always pre make the bottles since she was newborn.
   So we follow the instructions on the carton, boil the kettle, wait 30mins for it to cool and no longer, make our bottles and put them in jugs/a pot of cold water to cool it down. This normally takes around half hour (we change the cold water in between) and then we're able to put it in the fridge. You can leave them in the fridge for up to 24hrs when pre making bottles.

4. bottle feeding to sleep is still a thing. In the younger days, DD would always crash out with a bottle in her mouth lol. Now she puts herself to sleep so will only fall asleep on the bottle if she's exhausted! But it's definitely a thing

5. if I know I'm going to be out of the house for a while, eg going shopping or taking DD to playgroup or something. I take a ready made bottle as it's easier and she doesn't always want a bottle when outside.
   If I'm going to someone's house, I'll take one or two made up bottles from the fridge and put it in a cooler bag with an ice pack (so the milk doesn't spoil during the journey) and put the bottles straight in the fridge once I've reached the person's house.
   You can also keep bottles in a warmer bag for up to two hours (check how long a bottle is allowed to be out for once warmed on the formula box) however my DD doesn't always drink a bottle outside so I could potentially waste a bottle.
   I know someone will come along and explain the flask way but I find that so confusing and have no clue how that works lol. Hope that helps

Thank you so much for your answers, I really appreciate them! I feel so lost with this. There doesn’t seem like a lot of support for moving away from breastfeeding!