Switching from BF to formula ..let me pick your brain.

[MnGmakes3]

My DD is a month old today and since I'll be going back to work next month we're switching to formula. We've been integrating FF slowly (and please don't kill me, I'm a FTM and maybe this is wrong)... we started with one formula feed at 5pm and then added another a wk later at 1030am. She wakes up almost to the minute for those feedings and in between she's still BF on demand.
My question is- since we have to put her on a schedule do I continue switching out a feed (we added the 2nd one after a week, so this week would be a 3rd FF) or do we just switch all at once?
What's the easiest way to put her on a schedule when she's still waking every 1.5 to 2 hrs in the middle of the night?

 

[zorak]

There is no need to put baby on a schedule just because you are formula feeding. I made the switch for both my boys at 4 months and have always just continued to feed on demand. I make 4oz bottles any time I see hunger cues. Slowly both boys started going longer between feeds and taking larger feeds. It's never a hassle to make feeds, I keep pre boiled and slightly cooled water in a thermos.

Re. Making the switch I'd do it as gradually as you can as much for your own sake. You dont want to end up extremely engorged and sore.

 

[MindUtopia]

With formula, you just feed on demand, same as BF. The only difference is you feed formula. So whenever you would normally feed her, yes, I'd move in the direction of slowly incorporating more and more formula feeds in place of breastfeeds. Which ones you choose to do doesn't really matter, but your nighttime feeds are key for producing your supply for the next day (they are also a heck of a lot easier to offer from the breast, rather than to get up and make a bottle). So if you want to keep some BF going, I would switch out the night feeds last. We started to move to formula around 6 weeks. It wasn't really by choice, but because my daughter couldn't latch well enough to feed enough and then I developed an allergic reaction on my breasts so had to switch to expressing. But the added formula, meant she fed less regularly and I only woke during the night to pump when she woke for a feed, so my supply tanked and dried up by 10 weeks. If you don't really mind and you want your supply to dry up, replacing those night feeds might be one way to encourage it. It might just also be about what's comfortable for you. If you feel engorged, you might need to feed at certain times just to feel more comfortable.

Otherwise, really there is no one right way to do it. I would move slowly as you're doing to give her tummy time to adjust if you are able to continue BF some. But there is no need to devise a schedule just because your FF. It will happen in time that you see a pattern develop and she'll want to feed roughly around the same times each day, but just keep feeding on demand. If she's still waking for a feed every 1.5-2 hours at night, I would continue to feed her as normal, whether it's breast or formula is up to you. The combination of getting older and moving to formula will mean she will likely start to sleep longer stretches at night, and have a more set number of overnight feeds (though the times may still vary a lot). By 8 weeks, my daughter was having maybe 3 night feeds (roughly 10pm, 1am, 4am, give or take an hour), so we would pre-make those bottles in the evening and refridgerate, then warm when she woke. So the times might vary, but I could plan ahead for how much I'd need.

 

[londonangel]

I would reduce breast feeds gradually for your own sake and continue to feed on demand. I have just started weaning my daughter from the breast and am cutting a feed a week. I planned to be until 12 months but dreadful sciatica has put paid to that. I only fed three times a day though so it was easy really.