weaning from breats to bottle with formula????help?

Question

ok. my daughter is 5 1/2 months. we had a hard time getting to the good spot we are with breastfeeding. im talking on the boob for 9 hrs straight lots of fenugreek to help with milk production. anyways. my husband and i want to go to disney world, our first night alone in about 3 years. we want to go in oct. so i need to wean my daughter by then.
she is very clingy,
loves to nurse,
wont take a bottle,
hates the taste of formula,
when i pump i dont get milk.
she is on solid foods
how do i wean her to formula????
she wont like not nursing. I feel bad and want to keep nursing, but i never get time away and my marriage really needs this. can anyone reccomend where i can find what to do???????
thanks

i meant breasts not breats, lol. so worked up i cant spell, haha. thanks

Answer 1

My or my do I ever know how you feel. You see I have a son the same age and just asked this question about a week ago and guess what....he's finally taken the bottle. I had tried everything. I was getting up in the middle of the night to pump...as usually that's where we produce more milk because we are nice and relaxed. Anyhoot....here's how I finally got him to take formula from a bottle....
I waited until the first morning feeding as that is when they are the most hungry. I tried the playtex drop-in nurser bottle & nipple (latex) and I warmed the fomula up pretty darn warm to be exactly like the breast milk. I held him sitting facing forward and slightly tilted on my chest and he took the bottle. At first he only drank an once. I put him back in his crib and came back 30 minutes later with a new bottle, very warm (test on your arm) and he drank 8oz.

He would not take my breast milk from a bottle, I guess because he knew the source was right there.

Some suggest having some one else give him the bottle.

Others also suggest trying the Nuby non-spill sippy cup. (I tried and failed, but it's a really cute bottle)

Persistance, it takes lots of that. Try every day but stop when she's really mad and try again the next day. But I highly suggest you try the first morning feeding and try not to hold her the same way then you do when you breastfeed.

Best of luck and enjoy Disney.

Answer 2

At 5 months, she is very used to the breast. You may have to try 10 different bottle nipples before you find the one she likes.

Have someone else feed her. She can smell your milk and will want you over a bottle you try to give her.

Pumping can take time and patience. You have to be relaxed. Try thinking about your daughter, look at a picture of her to help stimulate the let down. Some pumps work better than others. I used the Avent manual pump with the Avent bottles for my daughter. I thought the pump was very comfortable and easy to use.

If pumping doesn't work, you could always do it manually with your hands. That takes practice. It doesn't come out in a straight shot. Try it in the shower to get the hang of it.

If you can pump, you won't have to give her formula. But if you do switch, I would start by introducing in small quantities. Mix it in with your breastmilk. If she didn't like the taste of one kind, try another.

I weaned my daughter when I went back to work. It started happening naturally. I noticed that different formulas had different smells. I would imagine that they taste different too.

Plus, you won't be dried up for at least three months. The first couple days were quite painful. I wrapped them, iced them and used advil. It got a little better as the week went on.

Answer 3

Don't know why your hubby and mother-in-law have any say in this matter, assuming you are the one providing for this baby all day long. Anyway, most pediatricians will tell you that a baby should NOT have a bottle after 12 months. Just about all pediatric dentists will tell you the same. You should start weaning now. Your baby is almost 1 1/2 years old; Weaning a 2-3 year old will be much more difficult.

Answer 4

Hi I breast-fed all my children ( 4 of them) but didnt find it easy at all, they were fine for a month or so, then they just got hungry and I couldnt provide enough milk, it just wouldnt happen, and I remember vividly them sucking away at flat empty BAGS and getting nowhere, and my boobs being all sore and OH- Dreadful! It was 25 years ago but Lord do I remember! The thing is, formula tastes AWFUL.. its nasty chemical stuff and no wonder the babes don't want it.. breast milk tastes lovely, like the milk left in a bowl after Frosties, (We all saw that episode of Friends) So lets think, she's 5and a half months now, by October, she will be nearly 9 months? If shes on solid food, then for a few days, she can fill up with that, rusk, baby rice, anything she likes, and her fluids can come from something that tastes NICE, like Ribena or Delrose (are you british or american), if you offer a bottle with something nice in, she will suck it. Sucking IS very important to babies, and even if you were still breast feeding, you wouldnt be doing it for such long periods soon anyway, because soon she will be crawling, walking and they dont spend at much time wanting such close contact. Remember, it will only be a short break, and if a few rules get broken, then so what? I've always said it's a miracle any of mine are still alive, the way rules have changed since they were born, and all the rules I broke anyway.They all slept on their backs (SHOCK HORROR!!) they all had a rusk with their last feed at 3 months, I could go on. But they're all still here, well over 6 feet tall, and handsome as you like. Have a FABULOUS time at Disney, say hello to Mickey for me.

Answer 5

I agree with the poster who said you don't have to wean her. She will be eating a lot of foods by then, and if she only drinks juice out of a bottle for a day or two and eats her food, it won't hurt her. When you get back you can continue breastfeeding. You may not be so comfortable though! You can lean over the sink at your hotel and let the excess milk run out, or try pumping, but I could never get the hang of that either. Good luck and have fun.

Answer 6

I really feel for you. As the mother of three I had different experiences with weaning. You may have already tried this but have Daddy or a friend giver her the bottle and make sure that the formula is super warm...almost hot. Your breast milk is 98 degrees. You can also try giving a bottle that is a mixture of breast milk and formula. See if she likes it better.
I hope it goes okay for you. I feel your pain.

Answer 7

Ive been nursing my son since he was born and he is 7 months old right now. I really wouldn't recommend weaning just for a trip, the best thing to do is to pump milk, I returned to work when my son was six weeks old, and also had problems getting milk when I pumped, until I got a hospital grade breast pump, you can rent one of these from a hospital supply store, such as Vann Healthcare.

Answer 8

I would try a different bottle that is kind of like the nursing experience, the soothie bottles are wide mouth and smush their nose kinda like breastfeeding. Have someone else give her the formula. Give it to her when she is hungry so she will be more likely to take it. Start with one feeding a day and keep trying, if she doesn't take it, do not offer your breast. She will not starve and be prepared the first few times for her to kind of go on a hunger strike and maybe not eat. It is better to do this with someone else feeding her until she is used to it. I couldn't feed mine until she was taking formula for a few days.

Answer 9

She'll be fine moving to formula. You just offer it to her, she'll reject it, but when she gets thirsty enough, she'll drink it.

I think it will be harder on you feeling guilty. How long are you going to be gone? Will your milk dry up during that time? Maybe you can continue when you get back. You don't have a friend who nurses right now? Someone who could nurse your baby until you get back?

Good luck. I know you and hus need time together, because if you don't keep the parental unit healthy, the whole family falls apart. To me, that is worth weaning the baby.

Answer 10

The only advice I can give is to have your husband try giving her bottles while you are out of the house. If you try feeding her she is going to know that your breast is right there and she is not going to be happy with the bottle. If she smells you or sees you around while your husband tries she might still hold out for the breast. We went through the same struggle with our daughter and she never got real great with the bottle, but she isn't a big eater overall anyway.