Weaning - Tampa, FL

I would combine and gradually increase the amount of formula in the mix. Some babies don't like formula (my son never wanted anything to do with it, my daughter took to it just fine) so it will give Olivia a chance to get used to the taste. Also you can keep an eye out for any problems with the formula and if you need to switch to a different kind, you'll be able to do so more easily.
S.

Hi J.,
I have a daughter that is 14 months old, I started weaning her off of breastmilk at around four months. I started out by giving her one bottle of formula a day, to get her used to the taste. At first she wouldn't take a bottle from me so I had my mother or my husband give it to her. After about a month she was fine with it. She prefered the Enfamil with Lipil over anything else. Good luck and just be patient of course : )
T.

Hi J.,
first of all you need to ask yourself why you are weaning and make sure it is totally your decisiona and not influenced by others around you. As mother's we don't forget these moments and I work with women all the time that say I wish I had not stopped so soon orhad breastfed/pumped longer. So please make sure you can stop and walk away from this with ease and contenment in your heart. Secondly, if you find it is because you don't want to pump 8x a day just stretch out your pump sessions to everyu 4-6 hours as your body gradually tolerates it.. you don't want a mastitis which you can get by doing abrupt weaning. Lastly, make sure Olivia can tolerate the formula completely, it is so much harder to relactate if she is having digestive problems. From my experience, many parents have told me they find the baby's more gassy with the powdered versions of formula, esp when shaken and it gets all foamy. And check out the formula well, if you go to any of the formula websites you might think twice at least once a month there are lot numbers that are recalled for contamination (so beware of the bargain ones) it is far less money to rent a hospital grade pump than to pay the $120/month for formula.
Best of luck.

i was unable to breast feed but my daughter had colic very bad and we had to swich formula a few time to find something that didnt upset her tummy so much, but we would mix the formual little by little so that by maybe the end of the week she would be used to the new formula. hope this helped some, or maybe try every other bottle milk, formula ect.

H.

Congrats J. on your new little girl! :)
Why are you stopping so early? Good luck. I hope these links will help. :)

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/wean.html

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/bflength.html

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/weanhowto.html

When I weaned my Lily, I combined formula and breast milk 3 parts to one, then half & half, then one part to three. I spread it out for two months to make sure her digestive system could handle it. She did fine.
Hope that helps.
L

Hi,
When I stopped breast feeding I started by getting a small can of formula, and would alternate between that and breast milk. It took a couple of tries ans 2 diffrent types of formula before we found one that worked. It took about 2 weeks before she was on formula completely.
Hope this helps,
S.

I found that mixing breast milk with formula in a 4:1 ratio was the best solution for us. I used the mixture when I had to go out of town and wasn't sure I had enough breastmilk stored. Eventually my daughter would receive a bottle of formula ("straight up") if I had to go out for a few hours. This helped tremendously when I had to wean her a few weeks ago due to low milk supply and her decreased interest in BFing.

Good luck!

T., mom to Katelyn - 9 months

Hi J.,

Congratulations on your baby girl. I guess I never had too much trouble. I just started giving my son formula here and there and gradually started giving him more formula than breastmilk. It was actually fairly easy since he found getting the milk from the bottle was always easier than taking it from the breast. Good luck on the weaning.

I'm an RN too with 3 kids under the age of 3. I've breastfed them all and found that alternating the breast milk with formula is the best. One of my kids tolerated the formula well but the other didn't. That prompted me to keep pumping until she started solid food at at 5 months. Alternating breast and formula gives you a chance to see how your child will react to the formula, plus, you still have time to keep pumping should the formula be too hard on thier stomaches.

My first response is to ask why you are planning to stop pumping. If it's because you're returning to work, it is possible to work out a plan to continue pumping. The WHO recommends breastfeeding for a minimum of six months. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a year. There are so many benefits which support these recommendations. Here's a link to the AAP.

http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/feb05breastfeeding.htm

Hope this helps.

I would recommend that you dont stop giving her breast milk for a minimum of another full year. Why stop? Breast milk is sooooooooo much better and its free. I breast fed my daughter a full 2 years and then started to wean, by 2 1/2 years she was done. Dont stop for the babys sake. She will be a much healthier child.

The more time the infant has breastmilk the better the odds are of not having allergies and ear infections studies show---- Use the brest milk as often and as long as you can. L.

I had trouble breast-feeding my daughter from the start(she wouldn't latch on correctly) and I fed her formula from the bottle and breast milk from my breast alternately. I never did pump. She adjusted quite well since she had been started this way. I would recommend that you start now, so she can adjust to the change in taste. I used the powdered since it was cheaper. By the way, my daughter is 9 years old and although she was not fed exclusively breast milk, she has been an extremely healty child. Good Luck, S.

I just stopped. I think that it took a few days for her to adjust, but I tried to intersperse and she got really gassy. I have friends that have done it both ways. Some say to do every 3rd bottle with formula for a couple days, then every other and then down to only the formula.

Hi J. I found it easier to combine breastmilk with formula when I was weaning, my boys adjusted much better this way compared to when I first tried to wean with just formula. It can take some time but do not get frustrated they will adjust if they are hungry. Also it was easier if for a while at first I was able to have someone else feed them with the bottle as they could smell my milk if I fed them and they became very frustrated. Well best of luck

N.

What a hard transition!! My hardest part was getting him to take a nipple on a bottle. I found it easiest to start mixing breast milk with formula and slowly just put more and more formula until he was totally comfortable with it. It seemed to transition well. Hope this helps...

I had a very had time switching my daughter. Breastmilk is sweeter, and it was hard to get her used to the taste of the formula. What I finally had to do was start adding about a teaspoon of sugar per six oz to the water and disolving it before I added the powdered formula. That got her drinking it. Once she had some time to get used to it, I gradually decreased the amount of sugar until she got to the point where she'd take it with no sugar. You can try giving her some formula now, while you still have a supply of breastmilk, but she may prefer the breastmilk while it's still available. Make sure you give her all the breastmilk - it's better for her.

i mixed breast milk with formula before i went to straight formula. i figured it would be easier on his stomach and his taste buds to transition this way. it worked out great for us.

Hi, J.!
Congratulations with your baby girl!!!
I started to give a formula (Enfamil) to my baby, when she was 2 month old. I gave her a formula while i was steel brest feeding her, and she was ok with that. Later i changed formula for her from Enfamil to Parent's choice, and she liked Parent's choice more. And i stoped to give her formula when she was 1 year old( because formula contents a lot of shugar). Just one more thing, i read a lot about breast feeding and better for babies, if they will get breast milk at list for the first 6 months. And every baby is different, only you can tell what your baby likes more. Just don't worry, everything will be great.
Best wishes,
V..