moving from breastmilk to formula advice

ateach · September 2013

I am going to begin the slow transition from breastmilk to formula in the next few weeks. We want to try to have another baby very soon (TMI: my cycles have not returned) and I am going to start working part time. I have a very hard time with the pump. My husband does give her one bottle a day most days, so she has practice with that (it takes me 3 pumping sessions to fill it to 6 oz). Does anyone have any advice on how to do the switch. Should I do a mix in her bottle and gradually move it to all formula and then start dropping other feedings? Any other ideas? She generally nurses 4-6 times a day (sleeps through the night) and will be 9 months on the 28th. I am hoping to keep maybe a morning and evening nursing session and that my cycles will return with that decrease. Any advice welcome!

sschwege · September 2013

Have you tried just giving her a bottle of formula and seeing how she does? Maybe you could avoid mixing it all together, since you have a hard time pumping.

Start with the feeding you like the least and drop that one first. I would wait at least a week, maybe more like two weeks then drop another feeding. Your body will tell you how fast you can drop the sessions, some fullness is normal, but if you start to feel too full hand express a little. I am by no means an expert though, you might post this on the BFing board, they are a wealth of information over there!

It took me dropping it down to two nursing sessions with my first for my cycles to return, hopefully it will be the same for you! Just keep in mind that even if your cycles return, it may take a few months for them to regulate. I was charting and I know for me the first cycle I didn't ovulate. The second cycle my luteal phase wasn't long enough to support implantation even if we had conceived. Third cycle was normal and i was pregnant on the forth. Good luck!

Crequito · September 2013

When I made the transition I started by just dropping one feeding for a few days then another and so on and replacing those feedings with bottles of formula. The first few times with the bottle were rough but then she could care less whether she was getting BM or F and whether it was coming out of me or a bottle. I think I weaned DD from BM to F over a period of 4 weeks?

ateach · September 2013

sschwege said:

Have you tried just giving her a bottle of formula and seeing how she does? Maybe you could avoid mixing it all together, since you have a hard time pumping.

Start with the feeding you like the least and drop that one first. I would wait at least a week, maybe more like two weeks then drop another feeding. Your body will tell you how fast you can drop the sessions, some fullness is normal, but if you start to feel too full hand express a little. I am by no means an expert though, you might post this on the BFing board, they are a wealth of information over there!

It took me dropping it down to two nursing sessions with my first for my cycles to return, hopefully it will be the same for you! Just keep in mind that even if your cycles return, it may take a few months for them to regulate. I was charting and I know for me the first cycle I didn't ovulate. The second cycle my luteal phase wasn't long enough to support implantation even if we had conceived. Third cycle was normal and i was pregnant on the forth. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! Were you still nursing 2 times a day when you got pregnant? That is what I am hoping to do! We live in Africa and I am hoping I can still give her those immunities!

momofmanyinthemitten · September 2013

ateach said:

sschwege said:

Have you tried just giving her a bottle of formula and seeing how she does? Maybe you could avoid mixing it all together, since you have a hard time pumping.

Start with the feeding you like the least and drop that one first. I would wait at least a week, maybe more like two weeks then drop another feeding. Your body will tell you how fast you can drop the sessions, some fullness is normal, but if you start to feel too full hand express a little. I am by no means an expert though, you might post this on the BFing board, they are a wealth of information over there!

It took me dropping it down to two nursing sessions with my first for my cycles to return, hopefully it will be the same for you! Just keep in mind that even if your cycles return, it may take a few months for them to regulate. I was charting and I know for me the first cycle I didn't ovulate. The second cycle my luteal phase wasn't long enough to support implantation even if we had conceived. Third cycle was normal and i was pregnant on the forth. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! Were you still nursing 2 times a day when you got pregnant? That is what I am hoping to do! We live in Africa and I am hoping I can still give her those immunities!

I was nursing when I got pregnant all 3 times after DD. In fact, I am still nursing DS 6-8 times/day and I got pregnant. It's definitely possible.

sschwege · September 2013

ateach said:

sschwege said:

Have you tried just giving her a bottle of formula and seeing how she does? Maybe you could avoid mixing it all together, since you have a hard time pumping.

Start with the feeding you like the least and drop that one first. I would wait at least a week, maybe more like two weeks then drop another feeding. Your body will tell you how fast you can drop the sessions, some fullness is normal, but if you start to feel too full hand express a little. I am by no means an expert though, you might post this on the BFing board, they are a wealth of information over there!

It took me dropping it down to two nursing sessions with my first for my cycles to return, hopefully it will be the same for you! Just keep in mind that even if your cycles return, it may take a few months for them to regulate. I was charting and I know for me the first cycle I didn't ovulate. The second cycle my luteal phase wasn't long enough to support implantation even if we had conceived. Third cycle was normal and i was pregnant on the forth. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! Were you still nursing 2 times a day when you got pregnant? That is what I am hoping to do! We live in Africa and I am hoping I can still give her those immunities!

Yes, I got pregnant while still nursing twice a day (morning and late afternoon). My supply went down to almost nothing and DD weaned at 20.5 months, I was 10w pregnant. So definitely possible to get pregnant, how well your supply will hold just varies. I was pretty much done nursing anyway, so I didn't really try anything special to maintain my supply. Good luck!

nlee3 · September 2013

I switched cold turkey when I ran out of stored breast milk. My guy had a hard time going back and forth between the two and spit up more. After the first few days of just formula, he was all adjusted and no more spit up.

Shelly038 · September 2013

When I switched over, we did a gradual switch. I still has some breastmilk frozen but it was depleting quickly. I would have my MIL mix just 2 ounces of formula with the breastmilk...then 4 ounces...then she completely switched over. Good Luck!

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