Help with Introducing Formula

L.,
When I changed over/introduced my daughter Haylee to formula I had to let her get a little hungrier than usual and when I gave her the bottle she drank it. You may want to try it.
Paula

There is not a special way to introduce formula. It is about what works for your child. There are sippy cups with and without handles that have soft spouts that they can chew on and the formula will go in. If she has never had a bottle before, she probably won't take one now. A hard spouted sippy cup might make her suck. It is mostly going to require patience on your part. Good luck.

Someimes baby doesn't want anything from MOM except breastmilk. She knows you have the "good stuff" and doesn't want anything else. Try having Dad or another family member give her the bottle. She may be more willing to try it from someone else.

I nursed all 5 of my children and four of them readily took a bottle. My middle son, however, never took a bottle or a pacifier. We tried several different kinds and brands of nipples, but he just never "took to" any of them. Hopefully you'll have better luck!!

With my 9mth old it wasn't the formula he rejected it was the bottle. It took me three months to get him to take a bottle without question. I finally figured out he actually preferred formula in the bottle instead of breastmilk. He will not drink bm from a bottle but he still nurses fine. My oldest took bm from a bottle fine but I had to work him up to pure formula.
If its the formula she's rejected try introducing it gradually. Ex: step 1- give bottle of complete breastmilk, step 2- give 6oz bm & 2oz form. mixed, step 3- give 4oz bm & 4oz form., step 4- give 2oz bm & 6oz form., step 5- 8oz form. Do this transition however fast or slow you need. Step 1 you'll know she takes the bottle fine. Spend as much time on each step as you need to get her use to the mix. Once she accepts it readily, move on to the next mix ratio.

Updated: The other thing I discovered with my 9mth old is that he likes the water in the formula a little on the hot side. Not hot enough to burn his mouth or throat but warmer than my hand and wrist thought was fine for him. So you may try mixing the formula with different temperatures of water.

I am not understanding why you want to switch now. You have just become a really good nursing pair. Express your milk and leave a bottle or sippy cup, don't be gone too long. Baby needs mama the first 12 mo. You started her on the best food there is, now, don't take it away.

Hi L.. I have just recently done this and here's what I did. Well, after many trials and errors here is what worked for me. My son would not take formula on it's on and having tried it myself I don't blame him. It taste nothing like breastmilk and smells terrible. But, because I was not producing enough to fill him up all day long I needed to supplement. I wanted to feed him Soy/organic powdered formula but it soured my breastmilk when I combined them. So I bought the small bottles of Similac Advanced because they don't last long (48 hrs.) and I started by adding 1/2 oz. to a 3 1/2oz. bottle of breastmilk. I added it right before my son was ready to eat. Gradually, I increased the amount of formula to each bottle every week. My son is 7 1/2 months old and I am still wanting to breastfeed for awhile longer. So currently we are just up to 3oz. of breastmilk and 1 1/2oz. of formula. But, eventually, I will just phase out the bmilk all together. I don't know if this will work for you, but it has saved me and it isn't hard to try. I just considered that you might be having bottle issues. If that is the case feel free to email me and I can share my experience with that, as well. Good luck!

Have you tried:
When she's really hungry?
When she's half-full?
Different nipples?
Different times of day?
Different brands/types of formula? (with breastfeeding, of course, powdered formula is most practical).
Don't 'water down' any formula, though. She needs full strength.
(I'd recommend breastfeeding exclusively as long as you can, but it sure helps to be able to give the baby something ELSE sometimes to give yourself a break! It's been YEARS, but I think all my 4 kids readily took formula and juice. Every kid's different, tho!)

P.S. Your first response is good, too. Never thougth of mixing it with breastmilk! Sending her a 'flower'! : )

I have four children. Two of my children nursed and easily transitioned to a bottle and formula. Two of my children never took a bottle. We tried everything--different formulas, breast milk in the bottle, different bottles, and different nipples--nothing worked. Some babies just want to be nursed. I agree with the woman who suggested that you have dad or another family member give her the bottle. Babies can smell the breast milk. And she will not want formula in a bottle from you. Good luck with this L.!

L.,
I am so saddened when moms on here are so judgmental about another moms decision to begin formula feeding. It is a personal decision and I don't remember reading anywhere whether you asked if you should or not, only how to go about doing so. My brother was formula fed, where as I was not and he has always been much much healthier than me. Anyway...when I began weaning my daughter(who is now almost four months old) I began by giving her an oz at a time BEFORE I breastfed her (otherwise she wouldn't take it)and gradually increasing how many times a day we did that and how many ounces at a time until she was able to take an entire bottle. It took a month and a half of this before she was completely off the breast. It takes a while for their little tummies to adapt I think. It was trial and error with what type of formula to use. She initially spit up alot so I thought I should get the enfamil A.R. since it says for babies who spit up alot but this made her completely constipated as did the regular wal-mart brand formula. She is now on similac advance which seems to work better than anything else we've tried. I highly recommend it. Also, she prefers the latex nipples to silicone cause it is supposed to be more like breast. We use the playtex drop-in bottles and be sure to squeeze out all the air and this really helps with reducing gas. I hope this helps! And remember do what you feel works best for you and your baby.

Are you certain you want to start weaning at 5 months? Are you able to pump some Br milk? If so, I would suggest mixing mostly Br Milk with an ounce or so of the formula to see if she will take it. My son HATED the texture of the spitting up formula- apparently it is quite a bit thicker because they add rice.

If, by chance you are thinking that she might sleep longer if you start on formula- I tried and it did not help AT ALL.

Best of luck to you.

Wishing you lots of Mommy treats- smiles and giggles.

Dear L., I am wondering why you are wanting to try formula? Why not continue breastfeeding? Research shows that it is much better for the baby. If you were wanting some "free time", you could pump and freeze the milk, and use it later in a bottle. My daughter pumps at work, so that she will have milk for the next day as the baby goes to daycare. This works well for her. (She lets the baby nurse at night and any other time she is at home) The other plus about this is the cost. Breast milk is free, formula costs money. I am a mother of 5 grown children and 5 grandchildren! Peace, K.

Why would you introduce formula? That will decrease your breast milk supply. I'm sure you know of the health and emotional benefits of nursing?

Hi L.~
Once a breastfed baby tastes the goodness of her momma's milk it will be hard for any formula to measure up to it. There are so many reasons that breastfeeding is comforting to your baby. Is there a reason you would like to wean? Whatever your reason (which is between you and your baby)is this may be hard to do because your baby is already well established. Also this may be hard if she hasn't had many bottles, some babies refuse bottles altogether. One way I've heard about transitioning between BM and formula is to put half BM and half formula in the serving appropriate for her age and weight until she seems to be taking the formula exclusively. Your pediatrician's office will also be a big help in aiding you through this transition.
P.

I have a 9 month old and started her transition at 4 months. I started by mixing formula with my childs rice ceral at 4 months. Then I would nurse a little feed the cereal and then offer a bottle. I used a couple of different bottles and I found that she really did not like the ones with the smaller nipples like Gerber classic. The best one I found was a product by MAM or Sassy? I think. I also found my daughter did not like some formulas (I only tried 3, but she only ever liked the first type I tried). I now use Similac and if you join their club they offer cupons. My daughter did not like the soy products either. By 7 months she was only getting nursed in the AM and at her 8 month she was totally on formula. Best of Luck

You can try pumping and mixing your nursed milk with the formula. If you use powder formula, use your nursed milk as the liquid to mix. If you use liquid formula, use about 1/2 and 1/2 and slowly reduce the amount of breast milk to finally have all formula. Make sure that dad feeds the baby b/c she will smell you and won't take a bottle from you.

W.