How to transition from BM to formula...

kellynkyle · June 2010

For those of you who transitioned from BM to formula, I need a little advice.

We are leaving for a 2 week vacation in exactly 3 weeks. DD has been EBF since birth. She drinks totally out of bottles since I work full time (so far only water in sippy cups).

She drinks approx 16 oz a day (this isn't a concern per pedi due to sustained growth). I have about 60 oz in the freezer.

She will only be 10 1/2 months old when we leave for the trip, so I think it's too early to transition her directly to cow's milk.

What would you guys suggest for how to transition over the next 3 weeks.

I'm going to try her on formula tonight. Assumming I can find one she likes or will drink, what do you think of this plan:

12oz BM, 4oz formula (5 days)

8oz BM, 8oz formula (5 days)

4oz BM, 12 oz formula (5 days)

16 oz formula (5 days)

If you did it differently, how did you do it?

Also, I'm trying to cut down my pumping sessions (I'm down from 4 to 3, but it's uncomfortable). Should I use cabbage leaves now or wait until closer to my vacation?

thanks for any help or advice!

Cajun_gal · June 2010

I'm not sure about going from BM to formula, but we just transitioned Dylan from one formula to another. We did it over about 2 weeks time. Every 2-3 days, we'd substitute one ounce of old formula with new (so 5 ounces old, 1 ounce new for 2 days; 4 ounces old, 2 ounces new for 2 days and so on). We sometimes went 3 days before adding more if he seemed to get gassy, etc. It worked really well, and he's now drinking only new formula. I would think you could do the same with Eileen and this way you could also give her body plenty of time to adjust to the formula.

MMS2007 · June 2010

as for formula type, my dd went to enfamil premium with lipil easily when we started, but my ds didn't like it at first. BM is sweeter, so we had to use similac organic, it has cane sugar in it so it was sweeter and he liked it. now he uses enfamil and likes it.

i EBF until he was 8mo then took one BF session away each week to week and a half. substituting formula into the eating times. this transition worked really well with both of my kiddos.

i didn't use cabbage leaves or anything to reduce production until i was completely done. yes there were uncomfortable times, but because i weaned a session every week to week and a half it wasn't all at once and not too bad. once i was done, i used this cream that worked like a champ, cabo creme. applied several times a day and had to do a few warm baths with some hand expression to get remaining milk out. this took about a week and a half or so.

good luck to you!

mom2ll · June 2010

We switched Lila to milk about about 10.5 months. Our pedi actually brought it up... You might ask. We did it over 2 weeks. We just started replacing bottles with sippy cups of milk 1 and a time...

MrsMGR · June 2010

Joe started milk around 11 months, I'd ask your pedi and see if it is okay to start milk a little earlier. If she eats cheese and yogurt fine, she likely won't have any sort of dairy reaction at all

horn_jm@hotmail.com · June 2010

I have heard that some babies will take more formula than they did bm, so you may want to watch to see if she needs a little more.

CareBear01 · June 2010

I would give him 1/2 formula and 1/2 BM, but in separate bottles so I wouldn't waste BM. (He was 5 mo. when I started supplementing, though). For instance, if it was time for a 6 oz bottle, I would give him 3 oz BM first (b/c I know he would finish it), then give him 3 oz of formula, so if he didn't finish it, I wouldn't feel bad for throwing it out. After I could see he didn't have a reaction (gassy, etc), I swtiched to full feedings of formula, but only during daycare, etc. It was a good, but slow transition. I tihnk some people just go one day from BM to formula, so i dont' think there is a "wrong" way.

kellynkyle · June 2010

Thank you guys for the responses--before I read carebear's response I did mix 2oz of formula and then combine it with 6oz of BM. She did drink it all, but an hour later while she was eating dinner, she projectile vomitted.

She does have a little cold, so it could have been the drainage that gagged her, but there's a part of me that wonders if the formula upset her tummy? Is that even rational?

Cajun_gal · June 2010

kellynkyle:
Thank you guys for the responses--before I read carebear's response I did mix 2oz of formula and then combine it with 6oz of BM. She did drink it all, but an hour later while she was eating dinner, she projectile vomitted.

She does have a little cold, so it could have been the drainage that gagged her, but there's a part of me that wonders if the formula upset her tummy? Is that even rational?

It absolutely could be the formula. Give it a bit more time, and if it continues, go to a sensitive formula instead of regular like Enfamil Gentlease or Good Start Gentle Plus.

CareBear01 · June 2010

kellynkyle:

Thank you guys for the responses--before I read carebear's response I did mix 2oz of formula and then combine it with 6oz of BM. She did drink it all, but an hour later while she was eating dinner, she projectile vomitted.

She does have a little cold, so it could have been the drainage that gagged her, but there's a part of me that wonders if the formula upset her tummy? Is that even rational?

Eh - I would say that was a one time thing. I guess it could be the formula, but I would likely chalk it up to drainage gagging. Let her sleep on it and try again tomorrow and see how she takes it. i think 2 oz is a good starting point to break her in.

Want a personalized experience?

How to transition from BM to formula...

Re: How to transition from BM to formula...

Choose Another Board

Search Boards