Weaning breastfeeding/combi feeding around 6 months?

[PockerMaus]

Hi all

I have a six month old son who has been EBF until now. I've reached a point in my BF journey where I'd like to be able to have my partner have our son for the day (I'll need this soon anyway as I return to work) and debating whether to start combi feeding. I know we'll be weaning my son onto solids soon but he'll also need a similar amount of milk from what I've read so I'm thinking of introducing some formula so I don't have to express milk all the time as I find it hard to build up a stash and my son won't drink defrosted milk.

Just wondering what other people's experiences were like with combi feeding at this age? Did you introduce formula slowly? i.e I was thinking of doing 1 x bottle a day and swapping a feed for this. I do like being able to BF as my son comfort nurses too so I don't want to completely stop. It would just be nice to start sharing the load a bit with my partner now that I've reached the 6 month mark.

My son turned out to have CMPA so introducing formula was a nightmare and I had to continue BF way after 6 months, which I had not planned. Just give him a bottle and see how it goes. You've done great to get this far.

I did go back to work full time at 7 months and I just pumped. Pumping is hard until you get into a rhythm. And by 9.5-10 months, they'll be on 3 meals a day and you can confidently leave them for the day at that point anyway. Paedetrician advised if they're eating plenty, BF morning, late afternoon and evening and overnight was enough at that age.

So going back to work is not the end of BF at all. I live abroad, women usually go back to work after 4 months here and the BF rates are vastly higher than the UK. It's very normal to pump and BF.

Thank you for your reply and sharing your experience :)

I guess my concern at the moment is my son feeds throughout the night around 2/3 times minimum. My night shifts are 4:30pm to 7:30am so I'm hoping he will take a bottle by then (he hasn't really taken to one in the past) and be able to settle other than being BF. I work for the emergency services so it would just be difficult (not impossible I suppose) to pump during my shift as it is very unpredictable.

I guess I'll just have to give it a go and see!

I have combi fed all three of mine. I start by offering a bottle of expressed breastmilk. Once they are used to eating from a bottle ,i add a little made up formula to the breastmilk to get them used to the taste. Just increase the amount over time. They soon are happy with both

I start by swapping one feed a day like the one they have before bed, but am still breastfeeding .My son as he went through weaning i established a routine and each point he would have milk i eventually swapped out each one for a bottle feed.Hes now a year old i only feed him myself once a day when he wakes in the early hours. Just remember once you start swapping out breastfeeds to pump .Over time you produce less so need to pump less ,i am now pumping just once a day

If you’re still feeding at night there’s no need to pump as it’s the feeds in the early hours that affect your supply the most.

I would choose one feed as you’ve said and stick to giving him that one. Once he’s used to having formula at that time, leave it another 2 weeks and then choose another feed to drop.

Try and remember when you offer a bottle that a BF baby takes roughly 1floz per hour normally so LO isn’t going to be drinking the huge quantities of milk that a FF needs to get their nutrients. If your LO takes 2floz, that is considered an adequate feed at this stage.

How old will LO be when you go back to work?

That's interesting, I never thought about the quantities being different! I'm still torn as whether to pump more or introduce formula. He'll be 10 months when I go back :)

Both of mine were BF but total bottle refusers. They would have a cup of milk though of I wasn't there. I didn’t replace any feeds regularly though and went back to work at 10 and 9 months.

If you’re working 4.30 to 7.30 am, you could feed wheb you get home, when you get up and before you leave for work? By 10 months a FF baby woukd only be on around

You might want to discuss your return to work with a BFC on one of the BFing Helplines. She should be able to help you come up with a plan that works for you and LO

DC 1 and 2 were bottle refusers and I never got them to bottle fed. Third baby I started at 5 months, wanted to combo feed but my boobs got the message they weren’t needed and have given up within 6 weeks of starting bottles. I was shocked!!