Upcoming operation. Need to drop breastfeeding fast. Help!

[Irricarnara]

I have an operation coming up and need to stop breastfeeding in a hurry.

My little one is now 8.5 months old and getting on well with solids - apart from breakfast. She will not take more than a couple of spoons of porridge or cereal or other milky based stuff.

I have been trying to get her to take bottles/cups of formula/expressed milk for a couple of months now with no success. I've tried lots of different sorts, feeding positions and locations but haven't really pushed it that hard. If she declined more than one feed a day with a utensil I'd just let her have the breast as I was trying to avoid aversions and dehydration.

Given that I now have less than a fortnight until I'm in hospital and I have failed a gentle approach, we're trying cold turkey. Previously, she would drink small amounts of water from a sippy/doidy cup with meals but both gave her lots of burps. She is now refusing water too since we stopped offering her the breast. Dad will be on his own with her whilst I'm in and I'll be too poorly to pump so I really need to sort this asap to avoid major stress for him and Little - and mastitis for me. Or worse, dehydration, constipation and illness for Little One. Any suggestions?

Bumping for you as I'm also desperate to stop and DD is same age as yours, though I'm not under the added pressure you are!

Please call one of the Bfing Helplines. A BFC should be able to give you information on stopping suddenly, avoiding mastitis and avoiding constipation and dehydration in DD.

If you are worried about dehydration and constipation now do you and DH know the signs to look for?

Is she drinking the formula? Have you tried her with nesquik added so it's a bit more of a novelty? High water goods like brocolli, cauliflower, soup, ice lollies, jelly and melon are all good. If you are expressing for comfort ebm makes brilliant ice lollies.

Are you due in hospital for along stint, or is it day surgery? I ask because I had day surgery when my second was a few months old, and the medics were fine for me to carry on breastfeeding. DH looked after him at the hospital and they pottered around and then came back to me for feeds...and had a lovely fuss made of them

Apologies if you're not in this position, but i just thought I'd flag that it can be possible to continue, in some circs.

Good luck with the op!

Sorry.. Re-reading, it looks from the "too poorly to pump" as if having baby brought to you may not be an option.

Thanks so much for all your comments and support. The EBM lollies were a big hit and we're keeping working on fluid containing food. We'll try the nesquik next. We managed to extricate the sippy cups from her milk refusal and now keep them only for water so she is at least taking some fluid.

Try a straw - the super skinny ones which come in cartons of toddler milk yield best results! I've used this to get water into my two.

So glad she's taking the lollies! [smile[

She's cracked it. Happily holding a bottle herself now and sipping away.

Highlove, I wouldn't recommend cold turkey if you have another option. It was not a fun 5 days.

One thing that did work quite well was dream-feeding her with a bottle. She did wake up, but not until she'd had enough to get her used to the flavour and decide it was OK. Also meant I could get 200ml of fluid into her twice a night which reduced the risk of dehydration considerably. Good luck.

Glad she's coached it and hope you recover from the upcoming operation swiftly