5 Month Old Refusing Formula

Is there any way to pump more often at work? As a general rule, the more you pump, the more milk you will produce and the less you will need to supplement.

Pumping while at home can also help increase your supply. Other things that can help increase supply are: eating oatmeal, eating kale (you can sneak finely chopped kale into just about everything! chop it fine and freeze it and throw it in spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, or whatever you eat often), and drinking certain herbal teas have helped many women increase their supply.

Those methods don't always work, but most times at least one does. Pumping on one side while nursing on the other (while at home, obviously!) helps many women with letdown and they get more pumped milk than if they were just pumping alone.

I know my answer probably isn't quite what you had in mind, but the less you have to supplement, the less you even have to deal with the transition to formula. You've also already gotten a good response regarding the transition itself :)

Best wishes!
~B.

I know this sounds strange but we went through something similar with my first daughter. She wasn't refusing formula but was refusing a bottle of breast milk. After a month of trying different bottles, different bottle nipples, different people feeding her, different locations in the house, we finally found that it was the temperature of the milk. Maybe it's something as small as the formula not being warm enough? She's used to being next to mommy and the super warm milk. It's worth a shot to try at least.

Ok I have 2 suggestions. #1 start mixing 25% formula with 75% breast milk gradually decreasing the breast milk to none. Dont make too much at first because you dont want to waste your breastmilk, so only make 2 oz. at a time. I would make 2 oz. of formula and then mix in the above ratio with whatever I pumped this works well.
or #2 You can also try a different formula. When I switched my son to goats milk formula recommended by my naturopath he sucked it down like it was the best thing he ever tasted.

Lots and Lots of patience. Maybe try putting a little breast milk on the bottle nipple,so your baby smells,and taste it at first,maybe that will help.Other than that I think time and patience. Anyhow wishing you all the luck.
Best to you and yours.

my 4 kids are gown & hv fmlies of their own. i respect your choice to work, but i must say in my opinion, babies long for and crave warm & cozy mommy love and attention-it's only natural. it's the way it's meant to be. can you reduce your hours some? she's probably missing you. i was able to stay home with my babies for the most part, now that they are adults, i am so grateful i did. those times are treasures. precious jewels for them and me. of course, the pocketbook was hurting, but what a gift i gave my kids. and myself.you cant go back and change things later. she wants you and your breastmilk. for the sleeping at night. maybe she's colic?
and i disagree with your absence for formula. if you give her formula, she might think it's ok. she'll make the connection with you and formula. 2 of my kids were fed formula, 2 were nursed.

Try introducing it slowly, 4/5's breast milk to 1/5 formula and then very gradually work up from there.
Good luck!

My daughter also refused formula after I went back to work. I'll be honest, I tried tasting it, I would have refused it too! It tastes awful! When we were finally able to get her to drink that awful stuff she threw it up every time, so maybe it's ok for her to not drink it. I think children know what's best for them and mom's milk is what is best. I also couldn't pump enough to feed her. Your child is getting very close to the age where you can start adding small amounts of cereal to her diet. You should talk to your pediatrician about this, it may be enough for her to get what you can pump in addition to small amounts of rice cereal. My mother gave me rice cereal at 2 months and I lived. I waited until about 5-6 months with my daughter. Listen to the child, I think you'll know when she's ready for more and it sounds like she might be.

If you are sure it is the taste, mix your breast milk with some of the formula until she is used to the flavor. Add a little more formula each time. If she gets hungry enough she will certainly eat.

A couple of things you can try:

1. try a different brand of formula. Some kids will drink Costco brand fine but hate Enfamil or vice versa

2. Try mixing the formula with a little breastmilk.

I had the same problem with my now 10 month old. I know it is hard but if you can make sure to drink more water than you'd imagine, (my Dr told me 5 litres with both breastfeeding and working out) it would help my milk supply to stay up. He was right. I know work is another issue when you're having to pump, but in the next month you can start introducing solids too which will make a big difference. I tried 7 different nipples and a couple different formulas and in the end-I'm still breastfeeding although I'm ready to be done, been ready for a while now. If it's just the formula and not the delivery method, try mixing breastmilk/formula 1/4, then 1/2 and so on... taking a month to get to full formula, another suggestion is goat milk. It is close to human milk and at 6 months old, you can try that too. Also, if you're doing dairy formula, try soy or vice versa just for a new taste. I do know the frustration you're going through and I wish you best of luck. Seriously, stick with it as long as absolutely possible if baby's having a bard time. And last suggestion, to help you with milk supply there is a natural herbal combination you can get from a naturopathic Dr, it is called Mothers Milk. It is a combination of milk thistle, goats rue (a plant), nettles, anise, and more. I paid $92 per bottle which lasted about 45 days but it was amazing stuff. Literally kept me producing against my body's desire from 3-8 months for my first daughter. At 8 mo, I stopped the mothers milk because I was doing so well with it and within a week, my milk as totally gone. I'm really not saying breastfeeding is the only way but if you're baby's not taking any other formula and you have no other option, these may help. Again, good Luck!

I had this exact same problem with my 8 month old. We used juice to win him over. First I just let him have a bottle of juice with some formula and I slowly used less juice just until he was happily taking straight formula. Obviously drinking tons of juice isn't a great plan, but it only took a few days and we only did it with one or two bottles a day while I weaned him off of nursing.