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Making the transition from breastmilk to formlula - pls. don't judge, help me!
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Anonymous
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Hello,
When my son was born I breastfed exclusively and then, because of medical reasons, switched to pumping exclusively and feeding breastmilk from the bottle. This has gotten much too difficult logistically so my husband and I have decided to make the switch to formula. As a new parent, I'm unsure how to make the switch. Do I stop cold turkey? Introduce formula slowly with every other bottle? Also, what about my breasts? They are used to pumping every two hours and feel very full and engorged if I skip. How do I go about stopping pumping in the least painful way? Thanks in advance! |
Anonymous
| First of all, don't feel bad at all. Feeding your child is what's most important. I haven't done this yet, but from what my friends tell me you start by swapping out one BM bottle for a formula bottle. Also, if you are really engorged you could pump for relief but don't empty the breast because your body will just continue to produce as much as you pump. |
Anonymous
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I would swap one bottle at a time and drop one pumping session every 3 days, unless you are really desperate to stop immediately. This should help you watch for issues with the formula, and keep you from getting clogged ducts and mastitis.
I'm not sure how long you've been pumping for, and if the standard advice is different if you've only been breastfeeding a couple of weeks. |
Anonymous
| I'm not much help because we haven't introduced formula yet, but I'm glad you asked the question because I'm sure we will before DS turns 1. I do know that some people start out by giving the baby a mixture of formula and EBM. |
Anonymous
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Starting today, switch to pumping every three hours. When that gets comfortable, switch to every 4 hours and go on and on from there.
As for baby, first I would try mixing a little formula in with breastmilk. If he doesn't take it at all, offer the formula straight but only a small amount the first time to see if he tolerates it. Keep upping the ratio or amount. These two things in conjunction will work well. You tried, it didn't work for you. Don't look back. There are a million and one ways to be a wonderful mom. And exclusively pumping SUCKS! I've done it. Don't stress about this. You will love how much more time you have with your baby when you are not pumping every two hours!!!! |
Anonymous
| To avoid plugged ducts, I would start by cutting pumping duration before you start dropping sessions altogether. People also say that cabbage leaves in your bra will help dry up milk, but I haven't tried that yet. |
Anonymous
| I gave enfamil powder to my daughter and she was fine. With my son I am giving enfamil liquid (he couldn't take the powder - we tryed many times, but he was vomitting). Definetely the liquid is better - just more expensive. Regarding the breasts - pump less and start wearing very-very tight bra. Also do not try to drink less fluids.. |
Aimee4
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Member Offline
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First, every baby is different, so they will react differently to formula. My children were easy - they didn't care if it was breast, BM in a bottle, or formula. I never produced enough, so I tried everything.
What is recommended is to slowly add formula to the bottles of breastmilk to get LO used to the new flavor. So on day 1, a bottle would be 3/4 BM, 1/4 formula, day 2 half and half, and if all's well, by day 3 you can go to all formula. If LO seems to be resisting, lower the percentages and *add* formula at a reduced rate. Pump less and less. So stretch out the times between pumpings, and your supply will slowly go down. It will be a bit painful. Should take 1-2 weeks. There's also pills that you can take, but I have no experience with that. BTW, most of the formula companies have web sites you can sign up on and get a bunch of coupons in the mail. With DS1, I used Nestle Good Start because (supposedly) its *closest* to BM. After a while I switched to the generic brand thats about the same from Walmart. With DS2, I got a ton of coupons for Similac so we used that. I like Similac ready-to-pour bottles because they close up. The cans (like Enfamil and Nestle Good Start) you have to transfer to bottles as soon as you open the can. I personally thought powder was a huge pain, didn't always mix well, would sometimes clog the nipple... but it is less expensive. For traveling, there's single use packets of powder that are super easy to use, but you need to bring empty bottles along. We usually used the ready-to-feed travel bottles from Similac or Nestle Good Start and we only needed to bring the nipples along. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| why don't you go back to breast feeding instead of pumping? |
Anonymous
Her original post said she switched due to medical reasons. And, she's not asking if she should go back to breastfeeding- it's asking how to switch to formula. |
Anonymous
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Most of the advice you've gotten here I'd agree with.
Also, you can do a quick google on those types of things that will dry up milk supply. Cabbage leaves is one. Sage is another (as is rosemary, I think), roast a chicken with lots of sage and rosemary. Antihistamines will also affect supply. Check with your ped on what might be safe to take while still pumping (since it will go into your milk), but maybe a few doses of claritin or benadryl or whatever is safe for your baby. I'm a huge proponent of breastfeeding yet I can't imagine how hard EP'ing is. Credit to you for doing it for as long as you have, whether that is days, weeks or months. And, for knowing when it's best for you, baby and your family to transition to formula. No judgements here. |
Anonymous
I disagree with this advice. A too-tight bra is a recipe for plugged ducts. |
Anonymous
| One thing to check before you wean is that your child doesn't need special (hypo allergenic formula). Try a bottle or two of formula for a week or two and watch out for stomach upset/diarrhea. My DD had reflux and needed to be on a very expensive formula (which she pretty much refused to drink also). We couldn't afford for her to be on that full time (well we could but the inconvenience of pumping was not as bad as the financial impact of stopping), so I sucked it up for a year. I'm not saying that you should keep pumping or anything like that, but its something to watch out for. |
Anonymous
| OP, I too EP'd for close to a year. I was very prone to clogged ducts so I wanted to make sure I had a slow weaning schedule. What timeframe are you looking to wean in? If it's more slowly, I can give you my schedule which was very successful! |
Anonymous
| OP, I had engorgement after a stillborn. What I can tell you is that putting cold cabbage leaves or whole packs of frozen peas helps, but mostly from the cooling sensation. Engorgement sucks, but you just have to ride it out. Expect a bad week. You can take sudafed (make sure it is the behind-the-counter kind with pseudoephedrine which helps dry you out) and ibuprofen for the pain. You may look like Pamela Anderson, which can be disturbing. |