moving onto formula

[rosegold04]

hi everyone,

so lo is 7weeks old, and she has been ebf since birth. i am struggling with pnd and breastfeeding is taking a huge toll on my mental wellbeing so i am beginning to switch her over to formula.

is it okay to use formula for nighttime (3 bottles) and give her expressed breast milk throughout the day to get her adjusted to the formula? she seemed to take the formula quite well last night, only finished one bottle tho as i think she’s not used to a rich, filling milk. any advice is appreciated!

Of course it is! As long as she’s fed and you’re coping it’s working. It’s so hard being a first time mum and overwhelming! The best thing I ever read on mumsnet was “everyone fed, nobody dead” it’s totally true! There’s no advice with swapping over to formula, if baby’s taking it well then that’s great, there’s all different kinds of formula so if you DC is a bit windy or something it’s work trying comfort milk. Good luck, you are doing great

thank you @Favouritefruits , i know as long as she’s being fed she’s okay! i just wasn’t sure if i was giving too much formula too soon? but it’s so hard to find actual advice on swapping over, and it’s so true being a first time mum is so overwhelming at times!! we managed to get her to take a bottle of expressed breast milk just yesterday and when i gave her the formula before bed she absolutely devoured it! so i think she does like the formula, i just want to make sure she’s not going to only formula too soon for her little gut to process!

It sounds like you’ve decided to stop direct breastfeeding completely and swap to formula + pumping? Do you want to then cut back the pumping and move to 100% formula?
Your baby will be fine on whatever combination of formula/breastmilk as long as they drink it. Formula isn’t richer than breastmilk. Breastmilk is easier to digest and is digested more efficiently so they think babies actually end up needing a smaller quantity of breastmilk compared to formula.
Babies don’t always like the taste of formula compared to breastmilk. But sometimes that’s not a factor and they take to it immediately. You can also mix the two together and gradually increase the proportion of formula.
The most important part here is actually you. If you’ve been doing multiple breastfeeds overnight (as is normal for a newborn) then I don’t think it’s a good idea to cut them all out at the same time - I think you’ll be uncomfortable and may risk mastitis.
When I had my baby a few years ago, the midwives recommended swapping out one breastfeed (or pumping session) at a time, doing that for 3 days and then cutting out another. It gives your body enough time to adjust that way.

@CoffeeatIKEA yeah i’ve swapped to formula & pumping, i usually pump a bit before she’s going to have another feed and give it to her in a bottle/partner gives her the bottle as breastfeeding is affecting me mentally as it is so demanding and draining. i would ideally like her to go onto formula 100%, and she would only have one overnight feed (around 2-3am) so when i wake up from giving her formula at that time my breasts aren’t engorged they are just a bit full, so i pump after she’s had a formula bottle in the morning. i just didn’t want to accidentally be making a jump to 3 formula feeds when her body won’t adjust to it as i’m not entirely sure how her digestive system works yet and i know they are quite sensitive

She might take a little while to adjust to formula but it won’t hurt her. Unless she has a really extreme reaction I wouldn’t give it too much thought.
As long as you’re not getting too uncomfortable dropping feeds and your baby is eating enough then whatever way you make the switch is fine. Swapping out one feed every three days is just a guide.
There’s a hormonal thing that happens with breastfeeding at night. They think it’s key to building milk production. So if you’ve managed to cut out breastfeeding or pumping overnight you might find your supply dries up fairly quickly.
Hopefully you just feel relieved when you swap :) Breastfeeding does produce oxytocin and when you stop all those hormone levels change again. So that might make you feel a bit wobbly too but it does calm down.

You’ve done a great job giving her breastmilk up to now. It really is the best food, especially in the very early days, when you produce colostrum.

There aren’t any rules for changing over to formula, just do what seems to suit her. The early times with a new born are really tough but it does get better.

I moved from EBF to expressed milk to formula in the space of about a week. I used to only pump if I felt uncomfortable and even then I’d only pump to take the edge off and avoid mastitis. I had oversupply so I had plenty of milk, so I think I alternated formula and breastmilk whilst I had enough, then eventually just down to formula. Best decision I made for my mental health, good luck!