5 month old -need advice

[Karenesque9]

My 5 month old boy has always nursed often - every 2 to 3 hours since newborn. In the past month, he wants fed every 2 hours on the dot - or 1.5 hours... He usually wakes up once during the night to feed.

My MD wants me to wean due to recurrent mastitis (long story) so I started supplementing with formula this week. Like 25% formula and 75% breast milk in his bottles. He seems fuller and has actually had some good naps this week. Slept through the night once.

I'm considering NOT weaning after all. I really miss him snuggling and drinking from my breast. BUT- he seems to like the supplemented milk... And has even refused the breast twice for a bottle, we have been giving him bottles since 6 weeks and he has never preferred. a bottle until now...

Should I keep supplementing? Is there any reason why I'm seeing this trend? It's not like it looks any thicker....

Should I ditch the formula and just start solids a month earlier than planned + breastfeeding?

Please please help a conflicted mama decide what to do!

 

[missk1989]

Formula fills them more because it doesnt digest as quickly as bm which is probably why he doesnt need to eat at night. Its up to you what you do. For the first month or so of weaning he isnt likely to decrease his milk intake so if your mastitis is a big problem i would consider the forumla. I supose you could always combi feed. Give formula at night and bf the rest of the day.

 

[Claudia83]

There's no reason you can't do both I supplemented because I never worked my supply up to where it needed to be. I had issues after a c-section with supply, so I just supplemented. We dropped formula at about 15 months and we are still breastfeeding at almost 25 months. I didn't mind combo feeding (bf & formula) because if I didn't have one at hand, I always had the other