Post by saraandmichael on May 11, 2012 20:48:35 GMT -5
i don't know shit about that, but might i suggest you get a sports bra a smaller size than your normal size to compress your boobs when you're drying out. it hurts so bad and the only thing that made me feel better was hardcore compression.
I would do 75/25 for a couple of days 50/50 for a while and then depending on your stash 0-0 which I'm sure is ginormous and deserving of its own deep freeze, you can dial it down to 25/75 then all formula
Post by friskypanda on May 11, 2012 21:38:48 GMT -5
Transition so she can get used to the taste of formula. So you know what formula you're going to use? I suggest trying a store brand first. Brand name gets expensive, and they don't like switching.
oh yeah, I was wondering if it would be better to go ahead and transition her now and then stay at say the 75formula/25bm ratio for as long as my freezer supply hold sout or if it would be better to keep giving her all breastmilk until my stash dwindles and then transition her at that point. I think the former would be better, but I'm not sure...
Transition 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, etc for until your stash runs out. We went a week in between, but my supply was naturally dwindling, I could hardly keep up with him for the next day while I was at work. With as big of a stash as you have, you could probably take your time transitioning; 2 weeks between 75/25 to 50/50, then evaluate from there. All I know is that you definitely don't want to suddenly go from mostly breastmilk to straight formula - from what I understand, they don't like that very much.
Also, you're not supposed to shake breastmilk like you do with formula bottles (it disrupts the protein chains?), so make sure that however much formula you're going to incorporate you mix up first in the bottle, then add breastmilk afterwards and gently turn the bottle up and down a few times to get it all mixed up.
Even 2 ounces a day is supposed to be beneficial health wise, so you could also transition her and then once she's used to the formula just give her one bottle of BM a day until your stash runs out.
Good job making it a month! I despised pumping and while I felt a little guilty when I stopped, the extra time is so nice and it's nice to have my boobs back.
Post by lazyphoque on May 12, 2012 15:15:39 GMT -5
My understanding is that she'll get more benefit from continuing to have a little breastmilk for longer, so I'd wean her to formula doing the 75/25, 50/50, 25/75 bit and then use whatever you have left in one bottle a day.
And I liked nursing, but if I'd had to pump exclusively, I'd have knocked it off a lot sooner. Don't feel even a little bad about switching her to formula - you gave it a shot and it wasn't for you, and that is all good.