Breastfeeding to formula feeding help

Hey All!!

I've been BFing DD for 5 months now and I said quietly at the beginning that I will be BFing DD until she reaches 5 or 6 months.

Back when DD was over 3 months old I tried her on a bottle of formula and she drank it with no worries. Since that happened I thought GREAT dont need to worry too much about storing too much milk for my wedding BUT I was wrong!! I tried DD on formula again about 2 weeks before the wedding and she refused to take it, so after that I was best friends with my pump again, making sure I had plenty of milk freezed...

I dont want to entirely get DD on to formula but sometimes it would be good if she took formula. I am doing a scuba diving course in January, it goes over 2 weekends from 8.30am - 5pm, so this is one time where I really would love to have her on formula! I am expressing milk at the moment for these weekends..

So I'll cut to the chase - LOL! How can I introduce a bottle of formula to DD without her screaming the house down?? I have tried two different formulas - S26 and Heinz. She liked the S26 the first time but not the second time...

TIA!!

Nan is suposed to be the closest to breast milk may be try that one.

can you mix EBM and formula then slowly reduce the EMB and increase the formula taht way she'll get used to the taste

Thanks Rach! Do you know if you can get sample packets of Nan?

AJP - how much EBM and formula would you do if you were mixing it?

sorry veronica i wouldnt have a clue!! sophies never had formula, im sure someone will come on and recommend an amount!!

Be careful of nans as this is what they use in hospital to fatten up small babies it for some reason will make very big rolly polly babys if your baby isnt underweight... I used Karicare you can get these in one use packs a any chemist. Dont know how to really help as with both my girls they had to be FF buy the time they were 4mths but that was due to my milk drying up DD1 screamed the house down for about a week with me crying too as she was hungry and I had nothing to give but one day she just drank it all but I think she was just so hungry by that stage she didnt care anymore, DD2 was much eaiser and just took it. Have you been using the bottles with the big teats more like a breast as the other long and skinny ones are no good when you 1st start trying but ok once baby gets the hang of things.. I always used the Avent ones...

I would probably start with 3/4 EBM and 1/4 formula and then gradually increase the amount of formula and decrease the EBM. Another thing is, are you the one trying to give her the FF? if so she is probably getting frustrated as she *knows* where her milk is and you are trying to give her something that smells and tastes completely different so it might help to let someone else try to give her the FF. If you got enough EBM stored, would you worry about using the formula at all?

ETA - tali, I think that's a myth about the nan formula, in my experience with it Nan has never made any of my kids *fat*

Tali - I use the tommee tippee bottles. My mum looked after DD one night and she only had the avent bottles and DD refused to take EBM from that. So I went to see what was going on and realised that she didnt like the bottles, so I went out and got the tommee tippee ones and had no problems.

Sherie - Hmm I never thought of letting someone else FF her. I think I will try that! And thanks for the EBM and Formula mix. If I have enough EBM stored then I wont worry about the formula. Try to get her on formula is more of a just incase kinda thing. I used to express 120mls from one side first up in the morning, before my hens night and wedding but since then I am back to 90-100mls. This is probably because I didnt express while I had my dress on, so I am expressing to store EBM plus get my supply back up, but if I cant get enough stored, I will need to try the formula.

If you use a combination of EBM and formula, then you should be fine for the weekend. Try the aktivite drink for your supply too.

Hi, Veronica,

To be able to express 90mls is still fantastic. When she is 6mnths old you will have another option open to you as well - solids. This can take a lot of the pressure off. I wonder if it's worth the effort of trying to get her onto formula. Have a taste of the stuff - it doesn't taste very good!
Now tell us about the wedding (or point me to a thread where you may have discussed it) I'm dying to hear all about it.

Barb

Hi Veronica,
I was having so much trouble getting Livvy to take formula so I got DH to get her up after a sleep, to make the bottle with her watching and give it to her all while I hid in the bedroom. It worked a treat so that may be worth a try.
I completely understand you wanting to have formula as back up so you aren't tied to a pump and you can leave the house without having to worry about being home for the next feed. The freedom is great, I must admit.
Good luck!

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Be careful of nans as this is what they use in hospital to fatten up small babies it for some reason will make very big rolly polly babys if your baby isnt underweight... I used Karicare you can get these in one use packs a any chemist.

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Sorry but that doesn't ring true for me - about making rolly polly babies. My best friend uses Nan and her child certainly isn't rolly polly. You may find some sample packs at the chemists (although I found they were always gone by the time I got there - typical lol). I used Karicare when I first converted my daughter over and she took to it so that's also something to try.

Hey Veronica you can get sample packs of Nan at the chemist. It was the only formula that my DD would take after stopping bf and it is very close to the consistency of ebm. Also it does not make roly poly babies lol! My DD is right on average for her weight and she has been on Nan for 3 months. It was the formula recommended by my MCHN and the one that was only used at the hospital where I had DD. Good luck, little Avaleigh will get there!!

Thanks everyone! I must make a trip to the chemist to see how they can help me. I am going to try mixing EBM with formula and see how she likes it.

Barb - I will create a thread about my wedding as soon as they fix the gallery cause I want to upload photos along with my post!! I will let you know when I have created it. I may just need to create it without photos for now..

I don't know much about introducing formula, but make sure you express regularly to replace the feeds she'd take from the breast otherwise your milk supply will decrease.

I've also heard that the 'gold' formulas can taste really 'fishy' because of the added omega three's.
She may be a little young, but you could also try a sippe cup instead of the bottle as it may be the teat shes resisting?
Have fun on your diving course, and congrats on the wedding!