Did anyone stop bf at 6 months?

[katy1985]

How did you do it? I was thinking of introducing one bottle a day and gradually building that up. When should I give the bottle? How much?

Also I feel guilty for wanting to stop, and I can't explain why I do want to stop, I jut feel my bf journey is coming to an end.

 

[ozysanj]

Hi Katy,
I don't have any response to your question,actually I'm in the same situation.I ve been exclusively pumping since day 1,and I'm planning to stop it slowly and start solids+formula.
So I would appreciate answers too.

 

[daisybby03]

When I introduced formula to my son, he had liquid stools for about 2 weeks..then was find

 

[anti]

I'm in the same boat. My LO is only 3 months old but I want to stop pumping at 6 months and move onto formula. I exclusively pump and it's hard work. Got a freezer full of milk... Probably about 6 weeks worth. Haha. Really looking forward to stopping pumping though. Not sure how my LO will take to formula though. Will do it gradually and see how she gets on. Will start trying around 5 months I think.

 

[katy1985]

I admire people who pump sooo much. Its hard enough work bf, but pumping is like doing everything twice. I don't think I could do it xxx

 

[cacahuete]

I haven't done this, but the best advice I hear is to drop the day feeds first and introduce a bottle for that feed, then wait until your supply adjusts and then drop another feed and introduce your second bottle, etc, I am not sure how many feeds your doing now, but the last ones to go should be the morning and night ones!
I'm going to try the same thing, but just use cows milk now, well in a few weeks when my son is 1!
Best of luck!

 

[Bumblebee117]

I started introducing bottles just over 2 weeks ago and now i am Down to 1 breastfeed a Day! I still Love that One Time i do it but i am happy that my Girl finally puts on weight!

 

[katy1985]

I started introducing bottles just over 2 weeks ago and now i am Down to 1 breastfeed a Day! I still Love that One Time i do it but i am happy that my Girl finally puts on weight!

Which feed do you still do? X

 

[youngwife20]

Hello ladies I exclusvily pumped for 5 and ahalf months had alot of struggles and was pumping while pregnant ( pregnant with number 2 now) anyway ladies dont feel guitly when the time is right to stop you will know. what i did is i stopped slowely. ladies who stop by pumping be careful as it isnt the same for stopping when ur babys sucks the breast ok. stop buy reducing one pump a day in the end i was on 2 pumps a day. then i put cabbage leaves in my bra from the fridge and then i did one last pump and now i havent pumped in 3 days. but do not start reducing pumps or feeds till ur sure the baby is ok on the milk u choose.

firstly try one readymade formula i started with sma she got a bad rash so i switched to aptimal cartons she was fine i started with one bottle at a time started from when we were home as i didnt want her reacting badily when we are out when i was sure she was ok on the apitimal cartons i tried her on the the powdered formula as some babys react bad to that she did fine so now i have completley stopped pumping and ladies i was abit feeling guilty to start with but now i feel amazing i have my boobs back thought i might miss pumping but il tell you what it feels great to have my boobs back and i have no regrets

 

[anti]

Hello ladies I exclusvily pumped for 5 and ahalf months had alot of struggles and was pumping while pregnant ( pregnant with number 2 now) anyway ladies dont feel guitly when the time is right to stop you will know. what i did is i stopped slowely. ladies who stop by pumping be careful as it isnt the same for stopping when ur babys sucks the breast ok. stop buy reducing one pump a day in the end i was on 2 pumps a day. then i put cabbage leaves in my bra from the fridge and then i did one last pump and now i havent pumped in 3 days. but do not start reducing pumps or feeds till ur sure the baby is ok on the milk u choose.

firstly try one readymade formula i started with sma she got a bad rash so i switched to aptimal cartons she was fine i started with one bottle at a time started from when we were home as i didnt want her reacting badily when we are out when i was sure she was ok on the apitimal cartons i tried her on the the powdered formula as some babys react bad to that she did fine so now i have completley stopped pumping and ladies i was abit feeling guilty to start with but now i feel amazing i have my boobs back thought i might miss pumping but il tell you what it feels great to have my boobs back and i have no regrets

Thanks so much for this. I exclusively pump and will start weaning of it at around 5 months as I have about 2 months of milk in the freezer. Great advice you gave. Thanks!!

 

[youngwife20]

your very welcome hun! how much ebm will you be giving per day when on formula im only giving her 1 bottle of ebm at the mo x

 

[anti]

I really don't know. I have about 30 litres of EBM in the freezer and obviously need to use it before it goes off. I'm slowly using some now so freezing fresh and feeding her frozen, only about 8oz a day, just to rotate my stash. Really not sure about how I'll feed her when I combi feed.

 

[erikab922]

I've been exclusively expressing too, but for the last week I've had to give 1-2 feeds a day of ready-made formula as I wasn't expressing enough to feed her (I express pretty much exactly enough for a day so have no freezer stash). I picked Hipp Organic as I heard it was tolerated well by BF babies and my LO drinks it up with no problem. I really want to express until 6 months but I'm not sure I have it in me, I just absolutely dread pumping these days.

 

[anti]

I've been exclusively expressing too, but for the last week I've had to give 1-2 feeds a day of ready-made formula as I wasn't expressing enough to feed her (I express pretty much exactly enough for a day so have no freezer stash). I picked Hipp Organic as I heard it was tolerated well by BF babies and my LO drinks it up with no problem. I really want to express until 6 months but I'm not sure I have it in me, I just absolutely dread pumping these days.

I hate pumping as well but know its best for her. I pump 4 times a day now but not freezing as much as I was before. Think I'll wait till she's about 4 or 5 months old before I start introducing formula. I'm also thinking about using hipp. It's the cheapest as well!!

 

[Bumblebee117]

I started introducing bottles just over 2 weeks ago and now i am Down to 1 breastfeed a Day! I still Love that One Time i do it but i am happy that my Girl finally puts on weight!

Which feed do you still do? X

sorry for replying so late!

I am doing the early morning one and if she wakes at night (which she usually doesn't) I give her the boob too.

 

[ozysanj]

Hello ladies I exclusvily pumped for 5 and ahalf months had alot of struggles and was pumping while pregnant ( pregnant with number 2 now) anyway ladies dont feel guitly when the time is right to stop you will know. what i did is i stopped slowely. ladies who stop by pumping be careful as it isnt the same for stopping when ur babys sucks the breast ok. stop buy reducing one pump a day in the end i was on 2 pumps a day. then i put cabbage leaves in my bra from the fridge and then i did one last pump and now i havent pumped in 3 days. but do not start reducing pumps or feeds till ur sure the baby is ok on the milk u choose.

firstly try one readymade formula i started with sma she got a bad rash so i switched to aptimal cartons she was fine i started with one bottle at a time started from when we were home as i didnt want her reacting badily when we are out when i was sure she was ok on the apitimal cartons i tried her on the the powdered formula as some babys react bad to that she did fine so now i have completley stopped pumping and ladies i was abit feeling guilty to start with but now i feel amazing i have my boobs back thought i might miss pumping but il tell you what it feels great to have my boobs back and i have no regrets

Young wife congrats for the pregnancy.wow you are quick,I can't dare for the second baby till the first one is at least 2y.o )

 

[NellyLou]

Great thread! I have just finally managed to get my lo to take a bottle last week so am now giving her 1-2 bottles of formula a day. I could never pump much at all and even though she was barely gaining weight, she refused the bottle. I am happy to say I am now proudly combifeeding! I plan to slowly increase the amount of formula she gets during the day. I will leave the bedtime and middle of the night bf feeds for a while. Don't feel guilty for wanting to give it up. Xx

ETA: I haven't actually given up any bf feeds so far, just added a couple of formula feeds, so will be watching this thread for suggestions on how to cut bf feeds as well.

 

[MissMaternal]

I had to stop BF at 5 1/2 months as my little girl started to lose weight.

It started at 4 1/2 months, when she wasn't gaining any weight, and my HV advised that we supplement with formula. I was told to replace 2 BFs a day with FFs, and those two feeds were her mid morning feed, around 11am ish, and her evening (not bedtime) feed, at around 5pm. She was still BF at all other times throughout the day at night, and this worked quite well for us, but at 5 1/2 months she still wasn't gaining weight and had started to lose some so we made the decision to switch totally to FF (but still BF in the night). she took to it really well, though after about 2 weeks of switching totally to FF for day feeds, she started to reject the boob during the night and weaned herself off it. Now she is completely FF and is thriving and gaining weight

I know our reasons for stopping Bf are different but perhaps this could work for you, starting with introducing/replacing a BF with a morning/evening bottle, then you could maybe gradually add in a bottlefeed at times in between these feeds, and you may find that like my LO your baby decides to wean herself from the boob.

Good luck xx

 

[CertainTurton]

Hi,

Over the last few weeks I've been introducing formula bottles eg one a day for a couple weeks then 2 and now were on 3 or 4 a day. I actually started with the bedtime bottle as DH needed to be able to do it some evenings. I have also been a bit random about the other bottle times in the day abd it's been ok. I found it hard as she never had a bf schedule it was pretty much every 2.5hrs!! But after a bottle she can go 4hrs!! Anywa I had hoped to keep the nighttime feeds for a while (still about 2x!) but after a few days of really bad random waking indicating she was hungry after the bf I gave in and tried a bottle at night and she gulped it down and slept for her longest stretch in ages (still only 5hrs) so it seems my supply really is dropping down sad really but I made the decision to switch!

 

[DSM]

Hi

My LO is only 1month old today & I've been combination feeding since week 2 as my breast milk seems to run out early evening & then build back up late evening. I also express even when nothing comes out to try increase my supply (it doesn't seem to work though)

part of me is still wanting to see if I can exclusivly BF eventually But part of me is now thinking formula would be easier all round - he is a very hungry baby!!

the other reason im considering bottles is my boobs get so sore still when he latches on, I actually hold my breath!! I am upset that people will think bad of me for stopping so early .................

edit:- Ive decided to keep combination feeding & see what happens