I need ideas and help from other breastfeeding mom's.

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KetoLovingMama
KetoLovingMama Posts: 69 Member
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I am trying to break my 8 month old from breastfeeding and i am ready to get her on a bottle. Any ideas/ tips on how to get this to go as smooth as possible?

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  • katelyn002
    katelyn002 Posts: 260 Member
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    It might be a bit tough at first because she is use to sucking and it soothes her, however... try when she is really hungry.. hold her off a bit longer so she is hungrier then squirt the milk from the bottle in her mouth, you might want to pump and do half and half at first since some babies dont like the change from breastmilk to formula.... good luck ask me anything if wanted and add me if youd like :)
  • KetoLovingMama
    KetoLovingMama Posts: 69 Member
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    I am going to start tomorrow. I have a pump so my plan was to start with that and then work my way to yucky formula. Just not sure how to do it at night. I do not want her to think oh hey she gives in at night and then at the day time it's back to the bottle.
  • Thriceshy
    Thriceshy Posts: 707 Member
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    I am trying to break my 8 month old from breastfeeding and i am ready to get her on a bottle. Any ideas/ tips on how to get this to go as smooth as possible?

    Is there a medical issue that necessitates premature weaning? If not, why not let ler go four more months to meet the minimum recommended by the AMA, and then you can skip the formula and bottles entirely?


    Kris
  • OnMyWay2STay
    OnMyWay2STay Posts: 144 Member
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    These are ideas that other people suggested to me:
    If she has never taken a bottle, I'd try pumping and give her just breastmilk from the bottle for awhile.

    Also, if someone else is available to babysit, the first bottle (whether breastmilk or formula) may go over better if you aren't available. Oh, and not that someone should NOT be a nursing mother.

    My experience: my son never took a bottle effectively. He would only drink a fraction of what I was able to pump. He would be hungry and want to nurse as soon as I got home. When he was a little older, however, he would eat a mixture of mashed banana and breastmilk if fed with a spoon. If you are going back to work, it is an option!

    I wouldn't make it a battle, personally. Try offering a bottle when she is just a little hungry. Maybe she'll be fine with it. You can start by just replacing one feeding each day with the bottle, and increase that over time. If you can borrow a variety of bottles/nipples from someone you could try different ones. They can generally be sterilized in boiling water. Sippy cups are also a possibility at 8 months, depending on the kind you get.

    And don't worry about people telling you that you need to nurse for a year. That's awesome if it works for you. I nursed past one year while working full time. But that was with my mom babysitting at our house and her being willing to feed him banana/milk during the day. If you can nurse longer, great! If not, do what works for you and your family and DO NOT let anyone make you feel guilty for your choice! Being a mom takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice no matter what feeding method you choose!

    :happy: :flowerforyou: :smile:
  • MrsBrit2007
    MrsBrit2007 Posts: 161
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    We had to switch cold turkey with my son. (He has a blood disorder and became jaundiced at 6 months and stopped eating.) The only suggestions that I have are try getting someone else to give the first few bottles, and try out a few different bottles/nipples. My son was very picky about which ones he'd drink from and we ended up settling on Playtex Ventaire bottles.
    Also, if you can introduce the formula slowly by mixing it with breast milk, that might help.

    Unlike a previous poster, I don't think that you need a medical reason to wean. If it's what you've decided, go for it. Good luck!!
  • JustMichelleB
    JustMichelleB Posts: 290
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    Have you never introduced a bottle to her before? If that's the case, getting her to take it at 8mo may be quite difficult. My youngest never took a bottle, I ended up putting EBM (cold, she didn't like it warm unless it was "from the tap") in a sippy when she was 6mo old (I was working f/t and she was in daycare, I'd nurse her at drop off, lunch, and pick up, and the daycare ladies would try to coax her into taking the EBM in between). She finally weaned at 13mo w/o ever really taking a bottle, and no formula (I have no trouble w/ formual, my oldest took it after weaning herself at 9mo). I remember wishign she'd wean sooner, but in retrospect, it was such a relatively short, finite period of time.

    Best of luck however it goes - i definitely wouldn't be shocked if you baby refuses a bottle from you (you may even need to leave the house when this goes down).

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