Switching over from BF to FF- a few questions...

[whitelilly]

My son is 2 weeks and 3 days old and I have been breastfeeding him since he was born. However, I ended up with mastitis due to a chunk out of my nipple and the nipple still hasn't healed.... SO after many tears and guilt feelings, I have decided to put him on Aptimal forumla.

I have many questions though, which I would be grateful for some answers to.

1. Can I switch straight away to exclusive formula? Or do I need to drop feeds? It's just that I can express quite a lot of breast milk and I don't think my supply will dry up if I keep expressing.

2. But...Am I more at risk again of mastitis if I don't keep expressing???

3. Making bottles up- do you make bottles up for a whole day and heat them or do you make fresh?

4. Cartons for out and about- do you use cartons or just carry the bottle?

Sorry! Thanks in advance xxx

 

[BeckaJayne]

Not too sure on questions 1 & 2 as i tried breast feeding for 4 days and for 2 of them days LO was given a cup feed of formula as she never settled.

As for questions 3 & 4 - LO takes 4 bottles a day so i make them all up at once and cool them straight down and leave them in the fridge. Unless i no im going out then i make up a bottle with just hot water and put it in a thermal bag then take the powder out in a pot. Or if your taking cartons you could take out a sterile bottle with the carton and just add it when your about to feed LO

 

[kellyharrison]

Hi whitelilly, many congrats on the birth of your little man!!

Well done on making a decision about your feeding future - its always such a hard one to make but you have to do whatever suits you and your little guy. Me and my LO; Lyla decided to stop after 3 months, so i hope I can offer some help on your questions.

1. It wont harm your baby at all if you move completely onto Formula. We use aptamil and I find it is the closest match to breast milk, but in an ideal world if you can express some milk off then try adding 1 extra bottle of formula everyday until they are all formula.

2. Yes you are at risk of your mastitus getting worse if you dont express. I had this is my armpit when i stopped. Your supply will go away the less and less you express. So much like the suggestion above; everyday miss a feed until you dont feel them filling up anymore.

3. There is much debate about this, but personally I always make my bottles fresh. A good tip; every morning sterilize all your bottles for the day and fill them all with the needed amount of boiled water. Put the teats and lids on and leave them to cool (just on the side not in the fridge) Then as your LO needs a feed just pop the powder in and warm for 10 secs or so in your microwave. - This is what I did, but you may have your own preferences.

4. cartons are great, however you can get little powder pots from the supermarket so you can just take bottles of boiled water out with you and add the powder as you need.

I hope this helps, let me know how you get on.

 

[happyfamily123]

I'm contemplating this right now...having terrible guilt over it. I only get 1/2 oz when I express and I think I feel worse now than if I were to totally switch over. We can be bf to ff buddies : )

 

[StntWife]

I know exactly what your feeling, this exact thing happened to me just last month! I BF for the first 2 weeks and also got mastitis, it was horrible. And feeling guilty, I did all of that too! I'll amswer your questions from what I did, I hope switching over goes easily for you.

1. I was told to switch straight away to formula, because it had only been 2 weeks he would have no problem going to the bottle (and he did great with it).

2. They told me I would not be more at risk and to not express at all. Also I was already hurting from the infection so drying up did not hurt me at all.

3. I make the bottles up fresh, because I found it was faster then having the cold and trying to heat them up when he is hungry.

4. And I don't use cartons, so I'm not much help here.

Good luck, hope it goes well for you!

 

[whitelilly]

I'm contemplating this right now...having terrible guilt over it. I only get 1/2 oz when I express and I think I feel worse now than if I were to totally switch over. We can be bf to ff buddies : )

well we can feel guilty together then!!!

I started yesterday- giving Harris 2oz EBM then 2oz Aptamil.... I can express about 12oz a day xx

 

[BeckaJayne]

Then as your LO needs a feed just pop the powder in and warm for 10 secs or so in your microwave. - This is what I did, but you may have your own preferences.

I read somewhere that bottles shouldn't be heated in the microwave as they don't heat evenly and cause hot spots and there can be harmful toxins from the plastic as not all bottles are microwave safe. Its safer heaqting it up with hot water

 

[myasmumma]

with mastitis it helps to feed off the infected breast, youve done so well with breastfeeding to go onto formula after what youve acheived (speaking from experience) i regret it even now that i gave up so easily, go to the doctors and see what they can give you

 

[bjl1981]

My LO is only a week old, and I'm weaning him off BF due to lots of problems getting him to feed. I perserved all the time I was in hospital, even stayed in an extra day to have midwives on hand for feeding, but even with a nipple shield he wouldnt stay on breast for more than 10 minutes and was getting so hungry that made it worse! After spending 2 days expressing and feeding from a cup I came to the decision that I could not continue that long term and so have swapped to FF.

In answer to your questions:

1. Can I switch straight away to exclusive formula? Or do I need to drop feeds? It's just that I can express quite a lot of breast milk and I don't think my supply will dry up if I keep expressing.
I was advised to gradually drop feeds as my milk had come in, and you "could" have increased chance of mastitis if you go cold turkey, not to mention extremely sore boobs!
2. But...Am I more at risk again of mastitis if I don't keep expressing???
As above
3. Making bottles up- do you make bottles up for a whole day and heat them or do you make fresh?
I can't understand how you can possibly follow the "let the boiled water cool for 30 minutes" rule. My LO would cry the place down if I made them up fresh. I sterilise the bottles all at once and fill with the correct amount of cooled boiled water then pop in the fridge (not sure if this is strictly necessary) and then add the powder and heat the bottle (using avent bottle warmer) when he's hungry.Maybe when he's in a more established routine I would know approx when to make them, but for now I'm happy doing this.
4. Cartons for out and about- do you use cartons or just carry the bottle? I haven't been out anywhere yet, but will probably carry the formula in those little containers you can get and mix it up as I need it.

I was absolutely devastated to stop BF and cried lots , it still brings tears to my eyes now, but I know that I gave it every shot, and a number of midwives said how suprised they were that I persevered so long given the problems we had. I just want my LO to be happy and healthy, and unfortunately BF wasn't meeting either of those things in our case.

 

[goddess25]

I'm contemplating this right now...having terrible guilt over it. I only get 1/2 oz when I express and I think I feel worse now than if I were to totally switch over. We can be bf to ff buddies : )

well we can feel guilty together then!!!

I started yesterday- giving Harris 2oz EBM then 2oz Aptamil.... I can express about 12oz a day xx

Can I join in the guilt... I have BF for almost 6 months, i have insufficient glandular tissue and have had to supplement with formula the entire time, in order to keep up a very limited supply i have been expressing for 6 months, it takes me 24 hours of pumping every 2-3 hours to have enough for approx 1-2 feeds of BM per day. I have now decided to stop I did my final breast feed this morning before his formula and am not pumping anymore.. i hope my breasts dry up soon as i know its going to be hard to resist the urge to breastfeed him. I feel so incredibly guilty and such a failure as a mum that i have been unable to do this but i am fed up with it too.. so need to carry out this decision.

I have all my sterilised bottles ready for the morning and each time i use one, i boil the kettle and fill up the next bottle so its always ready and cooled by the time we need it for the next feed.

I use a formula you wont get over there and feed 7oz every 3 hours roughly but am also weaning too.

Your baby will be fine, I dont have any advice in regards to your mastitis thankfully that never happened to me but i hope it gets better soon. You could always keep expressing and give EBM and a mixture of formula until your breasts dry up.