Talk to me about switching to formula

[specialk]

I know that people are likely to tell me that I should continue trying to BF, but I think we are at the point where I am ready to attempt to wean. I work a minimum of 45 hours a week, and have had a hard time finding time to pump because I am often stuck in extended meetings. I used to make enough to feed DS during the day and freeze some, and now am burning through freezer stash. DS has MSPI, and if I ever have a slip up, I am worried about not having anything to feed him and not having him used to formula. I've unfortunately had a couple when I've gone out to restaurants for work events and asked for something to be dairy free, only to later find out it had butter or something like that. I also am going to have to travel for work soon. He's really fussy, and so my mom and H have been pressuring me to try formula to see if that improves his temperament, though I know that isn't a reason. Basically, I know a lot of people are going to tell me to keep trying to BF but I really am at a point where I think it's causing more stress than benefits. 

If you weaned at a youngish age (DS is four months), how did you do it? Did you cut down on nursing sessions? Mix formula and breast milk?

I am going to call the doctor to ask for advice, but am worried about getting judged or pressured to not switch and not really getting the advice I'm looking for.

[loreleigilmore]

We do a bottle a night. It helps him sleep longer. Is offer it about an hour after a feed to try it out. That's how we do our night bottle.

[imimahoney]

My son also had MSPI and we had to switch to nutramigen. We did it around 10 weeks.

Personally I found the switch to be stressful because he was very adverse to the taste of formula at first. Nutramigen is very funky smelling and tasting. We started with mixing bottles of bm and formula with a ratio of 2.5:.5. Every few days we would up the ratio and then eventually his bottle was just all formula. We also never gave formula before so learning about bottle amounts was very new and confusing for me. I'd say it took a solid week to week and a half for him to be completely on formula.

He also was resistant to me giving him bottles since he just wanted to nurse so that and the bfing hormones really did a number on me. I really really hope your transition is a lot easier!

My son really thrived on nutramigen and was able to have dairy and soy by his 1st birthday. His colic eventually went away but his reflux was there until he hit 7ish months and was really moving by himself. He was also on Zantac the whole time.

[specialk]

Surprisingly, night time is not a problem. It's just about the only time of day. He sleeps 6-8 hours for his first stretch of sleep. It's during the day that he won't sleep and is a beast. We aren't switching to try to get him to sleep more.

[imimahoney]

Oh and when we decide to switch I basically stopped nursing and went to pumping. While in my mind that seemed like the best idea it was hard to not have those last nursing snuggles again. If you are attached to nursing at all (I was more than I thought I was) I would recommend a slower stop to your relationship for your sanity.

[specialk]

Mar 8, 2015 14:39:45 GMT -5 imimahoney said:

Oh and when we decide to switch I basically stopped nursing and went to pumping. While in my mind that seemed like the best idea it was hard to not have those last nursing snuggles again. If you are attached to nursing at all (I was more than I thought I was) I would recommend a slower stop to your relationship for your sanity.

Yeah, I think I am more attached than DS is. He doesn't really look at me most of the time or bond when he nurses.

It will be hard to cut evening and MOTN feeds because DH works evening/overnights and I will be alone with the baby. 

[curbsideprophet]

Do you want to wean completely? It is hard to tell from your post. It does not need to be all or nothing. You could nurse when you are with him and give formula during the day or when you are away.

[imimahoney]

Mar 8, 2015 14:42:46 GMT -5 specialk said:

Mar 8, 2015 14:39:45 GMT -5 imimahoney said:

Oh and when we decide to switch I basically stopped nursing and went to pumping. While in my mind that seemed like the best idea it was hard to not have those last nursing snuggles again. If you are attached to nursing at all (I was more than I thought I was) I would recommend a slower stop to your relationship for your sanity.

Yeah, I think I am more attached than DS is. He doesn't really look at me most of the time or bond when he nurses.

It will be hard to cut evening and MOTN feeds because DH works evening/overnights and I will be alone with the baby. 

Yeah I found the inability to sooth really stressful. Eventually we just found our new normal and what worked well with our son. You will find your new normal too.

 MSPI sucks so much and is so hard on the mother and the baby. 

[specialk]

Mar 8, 2015 14:43:12 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

Do you want to wean completely? It is hard to tell from your post. It does not need to be all or nothing. You could nurse when you are with him and give formula during the day or when you are away.

Sorry to be unclear- I do want to wean completely, but am okay if it takes some time.

[browneyedgirl9]

I started transiting to formula at around 3 months. I wasnt able to pump at work consistently, so gave up on pumping. I nurses DS at night and morning. Then used formula during the day.

Using formula for me eliminate a lot of stress over pumping

[specialk]

Mar 8, 2015 14:45:08 GMT -5 @mrswindycity said:

I didn't wean completely at that age but did start supplementing around 5-6 months for both kids.

What I would personally do is start replacing the bottles he gets while you are at work with formula, and I would do 100% formula in a bottle to see if he takes it (I would have your H or someone to a trial run at home first). That way, you don't have to worry about the more stringent storage requirements associated with formula if you mix it with BM. I'm not sure how often you pump at work, but if you have to pump once a day for a few days to regulate and not feel uncomfortable, I would do that.

I would continue to nurse AM and before bed for a week or so, maybe cutting one out after a few days, just so you don't get engorged, deal with clogs, etc. Then you can replace those with bottles as well (unless you decide you want to keep nursing only when you are together).

DS2 had MPI, and we used nutramigen to supplement. He had no issues taking it on its own, but obviously every baby is different. He was fine eating dairy around 11 months.

This is sort of what I was leaning towards doing, but was worried that maybe doing straight formula would screw up his digestion. Do you think he would get constipated from this kind of a change?

[toutsuite]

Another nutramigen mom here. I felt guilty when we first made the switch at about 8 weeks but it was actually super easy. It was probably the best decision I ever made because I was no longer stressed about what I was eating, how it would effect him, how much he was eating, etc. Nutramigen is pretty much already broken down so it is easy for their bodies to absorb...because of this we had no major digestive issues when we made the transition. The formula does smell though you get used to it.

I got a tip from someone on here to check with your insurance if your baby has to be on a special kind of formula to see if they will cover it. That was the best tip ever and one I will definitely pass on.

[urbancowgirl]

I started weaning at 6.5 months because I wanted to do it slowly (I had a lot of problems with clogs) over several weeks. I dropped one session at a time and gave my boobs a chance to adjust before dropping another. I believe the last two sessions I dropped were the first session of the day and the last. DS didn't have any problems adjusting to formula and I never mixed formula and breast milk.

[Birdie]

If formula is going to work better with your lifestyle and make you a happier mom and your DS a happier baby, then it's what is best. While BM is "best", formula is pretty darn great. It was actually invented to reduce the infant mortality rate, so I think it gets kind of a bad rap these days.

We supplemented from the get go because I couldn't get DS to latch and honestly didn't try very hard once we got home because I was super overwhelmed and hormonal. But we started with a bottle or two a day of formula and gradually worked up to being EFF by 4 weeks.

It took a little getting used to for DS just in terms of digesting the formula. We settled on Target's generic form of Similac Sensitive. However, since your son has MSPI, you'll need to use something like Nutramigen. DS himself did not react differently while drinking the formula vs. BM bottles. I noticed he was a bit gassier after formula (and is now that we've switched to WCM. I think he's a bit lactose sensitive) and his poops were different on formula (they won't be as seedy once you start supplementing). I think the transition constipated him a bit when we first did the switch, but that quickly corrected itself. That could have also been due to the fact that he was so tiny and his bowels were still learning how to do their thing.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

[Birdie]

Mar 8, 2015 14:39:45 GMT -5 imimahoney said:

Oh and when we decide to switch I basically stopped nursing and went to pumping. While in my mind that seemed like the best idea it was hard to not have those last nursing snuggles again. If you are attached to nursing at all (I was more than I thought I was) I would recommend a slower stop to your relationship for your sanity.

And I will add that exclusively pumping suuuuccckkkkssss. That's why we only lasted 4 weeks EPP before switching to formula 100%.

[chickadee77]

We weaned around 3.5 months because my supply tanked for some reason. I nursed when I could (or felt "full"), and then offered a bottle afterward. She would nurse both sides and then suck down six ounces, so I knew completely weaning was the way to go for us. Eventually, I just stopped feeling "full," So that's when we switched completely to bottles. Took maybe a week or two, and she immediately started sleeping longer stretches at night and putting on weight (she went from like 8% to 80% in a month. Pedi hadn't been worried, but it still validated my choice, to me, lol).

[VillainV]

I was DONE pumping at work, so we switched to one bottle of thawed BM during the day, and one bottle of formula (he eats a lot of solids). When the freezer stash runs out next week he'll only get BM at night and on weekends.

Not pumping at work anymore was HUGE in maintaining my sanity. And to be honest, quitting pumping gave me the mental fortitude to stick with BFing the rest of the time, and probably extended our BFinng relationship.

If you're ready to move onto FF or combo feeding, then go for it :-). And congrats on BFing this long!

[Velar Fricative]

Lots of great advice already so I won't repeat, but you've done a great job! I hope he takes to the formula very easily. Different situation for me - I started supplementing at 5 months and weaned at 8.5 months because my supply just disappeared one day and it felt right to wean instead of do what I could to pick it back up, and the anticipation of the transition was always worse than the reality.

[Deleted]

We switched to Nutramigen (form spigot but at only 5 weeks so we just switched and he didn't have an issue. Then I just slowed down what I was pumping and had a few days of painful engorgement but no issues

[anaps28]

I transitioned way earlier around 1 month and moved to the pump and slowly pushed the sessions further apart but I just wanted to point out that Nutramigen does have cows milk protein in it just broken down. Most babies with dairy sensitivity do just fine with it ( DS1) but DS2 we had to go to an elemental formula.

[spankswife]

We switched by doing 25% formula, then 50%, then75%, then 100% formula. (So about an ounce at a time). We did it over about a week.

We switched the same way to whole milk later on, for the most part.

[sparty04]

I started weaning around 10 weeks, just added in a bottle every 4 days. I had planned to completely wean, but then everything got easier and I am still bf twice per day (wake up and bedtime). I do not pump anymore. DS is 4 months now and I will probably stop completely within the next 4-6 weeks. I will just add in two more bottles at that point.

I was engorged and leaky for awhile but it did go away.

[sillygoosegirl]

If my baby's issue turns out to be dairy and/or other intolerances, I think I'll be weaning soon too. Just because the population studies show that breast is best for large populations does not mean it is best for every individual family.

[litasail]

Mar 8, 2015 16:38:18 GMT -5 Birdie said:

If formula is going to work better with your lifestyle and make you a happier mom and your DS a happier baby, then it's what is best.

This.

#ISupportYou and hope you have a smooth and easy transition. Kudos to you for making the choice that's best for your family!

[olivesyou]

No need to justify your decision. Your body, your baby, you do what works for you two! Congrats on making it that far!

When introducing formula I just started with one bottle per day being formula. I started with the middle of the night bottle(s), then added the one right before bed, then the evening, etc. pretty much going backward until the full day was formula. We actually started with the middle of the night bottles bc we had a bunch of the ready to go bottles that didn't need to be refrigerated or warmed up, so we had them right in his nursery. No need to go downstairs or turn on lights.

I never mixed BM and formula, but I guess I could have. LittleOlive had no preference for one over the other so it was a fine transition.