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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Advice on weaning please

9 replies

Girlturnedmama · 29/12/2024 17:54

I have exclusively BF for 6 months and have started to wean onto puréed foods, baby is now having 2 meals a day so I have dropped the BF feeds for those and have tried to introduce formula as I will need to reduce my supply for when I return to work in March and baby has to go to nursery. Baby will not take from a bottle at all I have tried multiple times and bottles, I have tried multiple sippy cups but she won’t take them not from other people either. Have just tried to encourage her to drink from an open cup which worked slightly better but need to have this cracked by the end of Feb, please any advice on dropping BF feeds and getting baby to drink from cup? Ps I have also tried her with water

OP posts:
Autumn1990 · 29/12/2024 22:03

I don’t think you’re supposed to drop bf at this stage of weaning. I didn’t.
Both mine would use a sippy cup at this age. My eldest liked the ikea ones. I wouldn’t worry about dropping bf in preparation for going back to work as children will eat all sorts for other people that they won’t for you. Mine are both at primary school now and will both eat a school dinner, at home they are the fussiest children imaginable.

TinyMouseTheatre · 30/12/2024 08:07

Do you want to stop BFing @Girlturnedmama or do you feel that you have to because you're going back to work?

How old will LO be when they start Nursery? Wink

TinyMouseTheatre · 30/12/2024 08:27

If you do want to stop that's perfectly fine. Just asking as the advice might differ Wink

Original poster
Girlturnedmama · 30/12/2024 11:55

Hello everyone, thanks for your responses,
I do not want to stop BF, I have enjoyed every minute and am reluctant to but don’t want to become engorged in work if I don’t drop feeds before returning, also baby will need to be used to having formula milk from a cup to have at nursery. I’ve tried every pump imaginable and none work and hand expressing doesn’t work for me so formula is my only option. Although I would like to continue to BF in the night and mornings. Baby will be 9 months old when she goes to nursery. I have no choice in this as we can’t survive on MAT leave pay. She will be on puréed food as well but I’m worried if she refuses from any form of cup for hydration how will nursery work.

OP posts:
OtterMummy2024 · 30/12/2024 15:13

Girlturnedmama · 30/12/2024 11:55

Hello everyone, thanks for your responses,
I do not want to stop BF, I have enjoyed every minute and am reluctant to but don’t want to become engorged in work if I don’t drop feeds before returning, also baby will need to be used to having formula milk from a cup to have at nursery. I’ve tried every pump imaginable and none work and hand expressing doesn’t work for me so formula is my only option. Although I would like to continue to BF in the night and mornings. Baby will be 9 months old when she goes to nursery. I have no choice in this as we can’t survive on MAT leave pay. She will be on puréed food as well but I’m worried if she refuses from any form of cup for hydration how will nursery work.

Someone else who can't express - solidarity! I'm afraid I can't help with getting baby to take a bottle (we introduced one bottle day from birth), but I have been slowly transitioning mine from BM to formula. We're now down at 7m to just feeding in the morning before work. As I changed BF to formula, I found my LO naturally spaced out feedings and dropped some of the breastfeeds herself. I would agree with starting the transition now, I found it took me a week to be really comfortable after each dropped feed - and sometimes with illness, being caught out etc I would end up adding a feed back in here and there.

At nine months, you CAN offer food before a bottle, so your little one might be able to fill up with you before and after work (and maybe at night) and get by on solids and water at nursery. Also nursery are often very good at getting babies to take bottles who won't at home, or so I'm told!

Can you feed twice in the morning before nursery to top her up? And immediately at pick up? This is what I did for her first month. Sometimes I would sit in the baby room at nursery and BF mine as soon as I came for pick up, or else in the car before leaving. Then again when we got home. But she was younger than yours will be (5.5m), so it might be even easier for you, and you may not need to give so much formula.

OtterMummy2024 · 30/12/2024 15:18

Re drinking water - mine is just starting to make progress on this, after starting eight weeks ago. She hates the 360 cup or a bottle with water, but we got a little open plastic toddler cup and she's just beginning to actually drink a bit with that. We offer it after she's had something dry like toast fingers or bits of cracker, and she's starting to realise that a bit of water is a nice thing! So I think you can persist with offering water at every solid feed and you might get progress there by the time she's at nursery even if milk is still not happening.

You could also make up breakfast (Weetabix, Readybrek) with formula to get her used to the taste. Might be worth a try.

Original poster
Girlturnedmama · 02/01/2025 08:45

Thank you so much, you’ve made me feel so much more at ease and this was really helpful!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Girlturnedmama · 02/01/2025 08:46

Thank you so much this was really helpful!!

OP posts:
Marzipan23 · 03/01/2025 21:30

I know this isnt what you have asked but do you work close to babys nursery? i'm pretty sure breast feeding is a protected act and you can actually leave work to feed your baby should you want to! worth having a look into

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