boobie weaning

[alice&bump]

well ladies, the time is coming where i'm gona be weaning katie off the boob.

how on earth do i do it tho??

as some of you will know she wont take a bottle, so thats the first problem lol!!

i've been offering her a bottle once a day and she's getting better.

i dont want to wean her off fully til 6 months, i just want to start now so she starts getting used to a bottle.

and what about my boobies, will they get all leaky?

 

[Mervs Mum]

Well as you have a bit of time till you want to get her weaned off you could try pumping off some feeds and increasing the bottles of EBM she's having - that way you are weaning her off boobie but she still gets your milk for as close to the recommended 6 months exclusive as poss? When you're getting more confident in her and the bottle you could then drop 1 feed a day and dont pump. Your boobs will avoid engorgement if you do it that way rather than cold turkey. Then the dropped feeds can be slowly increased over time and replaced with formula. That will also give you time to establish which forumla she likes / you want to use - you may hit lucky and pick the right one first time but if you dont there's plenty of time to get it right! HTH

 

[alice&bump]

i find it really hard to express, but i'll give it a go! and bloodyformula's so expensive i hadnt thought she might not like the one i've got!

 

[Mervs Mum]

Some strike lucky first time but I've read a few other who have had to try a few.

Do you have a pump? I have a spare mini medela you could use to see how you get on - it just needs a mains adapter or you can use rechargable batteries

 

[hypnorm]

try a sippy cup or a doidy cup they are quite good to help with the transition.
i just grandually dropped feeds. Partly to wean my self off too!

Formula is so expensive, one reason why i will be bf'ing for as long as i can.

 

[alice&bump]

yea i've got a pump, it's manual tho so a bit harder to use, i'll see how i get on with it, but if i'm not getting anywhere it'd be great to borrow yours! i'll let you know!

i tried her with a sippy cup earlier and she seems to be ok with it, i think its a case of the milk's in her mouth and she's got to drink it! i'll keep tryin that i think cos it'd be so much easier than having her on a bottle and having to wean her off that too!

 

[Mervs Mum]

Well we've only been using the sippy cup for 2 full days and I can already see an improvment in her technique!

 

[alice&bump]

does she hold it herself? i've just sorta been putting it in katie's mouth and tipping it up, she's not old enough to do it herself yet! she does seem to like the spout on it tho. i think its more of a case of getting used to having something that isnt a body part or a teddy in her mouth!

 

[Mervs Mum]

Well she does grab it and hold the handles but I have to tip it up. I didnt think she was getting anywhere until she must have finished it all and started getting mad!

Good luck with it hun.

 

[missmogaji]

well ladies, the time is coming where i'm gona be weaning katie off the boob.

how on earth do i do it tho??

as some of you will know she wont take a bottle, so thats the first problem lol!!

i've been offering her a bottle once a day and she's getting better.

i dont want to wean her off fully til 6 months, i just want to start now so she starts getting used to a bottle.

and what about my boobies, will they get all leaky?

and yes u probably will leak a bit if u are going to give her formula as your breasts are used to making a certain amount of milk for her and as u miss out feed your breasts will still fill up, but if u cut down slowly it shouldn't be too painfull. if it does get painfull, express just enough to ease the discomfort but dont express too much as your breasts will continue to produce milk anyway.

if u were u i'd definately make a start with the bottles.
i intended to mix feed my son but he didnt like bottles and i ended up breastfeeding him to 11 and a half months. he was a comfort feeder, he just liked to be on my breast, and since i stopped - 27th jan! i feel so free! it was only because he got his top 2 teeth and they were grinding my nipple that i eventually gave in, but i did wish id tried harder with the bottle.
now he only drinks water - has no interest in milk at all - or cheese! strange.
anyway i hope ur daughter is not half as stubborn as kayne was! good luck xxx

 

[missmogaji]

and yes, if u a=start mix feeding u will probably have some leakage as your breasts are used to producing a certain amount of milk for your baby and if she is not drinking it they could become engorged after a couple of missed feeds. that can be quite painfull and if it does start to hurt the best thing to do is express just enough to ease ur discomfort, but dont express too much as your breast will think she is still feeding and keep producing. the best thing to do is cut out one feed every few days. i went from constant feeding through the day and night to stop and i was in absolute agony for a week and a half, including expressing! so please - go slowly! good luck hunn xx

 

[alice&bump]

well i tried her with the sippy cup again and she hd about 1oz! so i'm gona just keep offering her that evry lunch time for a while and try and build up the amount sh has.

she's not got a set routine of when she feeds so its hard to know what she's gettin and when and what not!

 

[1st_baby]

No advice but hope it works out for you

 

[Mervs Mum]

Hebe actually sucked the sippy cup today!

 

[alice&bump]

i think katie did too!! i'm not too sure tho cos every time i move to see what she's doing she moves so she can still see me! it felt like she was sucking anyway! i was so happy!

 

[Mervs Mum]

good stuff!