Moving from breast to bottle

[mimi21]

Thank you

Am feeding alternate feedings, so both breasts and then next feed is bottle

it almost seems like she holds of on bottle feeds, takes the 3 oz but will still want boob if offered an hour later

She is really gassy too.

[*happy*]

we didn't start doing full feeds with DD until she was much older, but it used to take her *ages* to take a feed from the bottle!!!when we moved to a faster flow, she used to throw up loads, so we never really moved to a proper "fast flow" iykwim?
not sure if that helps....just my experience...we ended up just accepting defeat & allowing the 30mins for the bottle-feeds!!!!

[mimi21]

I don't mind how long it takes, but we can be feeding for ages and she'll on have taken a few ozs

She has always been sickly, on slow flow teats or breast.

[*happy*]

Does it matter what position you feed in?

[mimi21]

Nope, or who feeds her.

[mimi21]

Could it be the formula? Is it worth trying a different type? Shea currently on aptimail.

[*happy*]

Sorry hun,im not much use to you.
We used aptamil stage 1&mam bottles.
Hopefully someone else can help out.

Just thinking out loud...did you ever think about getting that
special bottle from medela with the weird long teat?
I saw Tracy use it in 1 of her tv episodes.

[mimi21]

We used that with my first and just couldn't get on with it - used another type of medela bottle but that didn't make any difference.

Will maybe try HIPP Organic and see if it makes any difference ' can't hurt, can it?

[Ima shel Alon]

Hi mimi!
We moved from breast to bottle when DS was the same age as your LO and we were finished with BF when he was around 10 weeks.
What I did is replacing the feeds that were more "inconvenient" for me, but not too close to other feeds. So like you we had one feed in the middle of the day changed, then the BT feed, another feed at night and slowly we changed the rest. What I did find, and I think this is what's happening with you, that the transition was quicker than I wished for (I wanted to continue combining for a long time) because my milk supply went down drastically. I think that if you want to prevent that from happening and continue with the BF then you need to pump for a while.
For us it was just one day - DS just refused the breast and wanted only bottle.
And like with your LO, he could not go very long between feeds, even when he was fully on formula. Like Laura said, some babies take a while till they can manage longer stretches between feeds.
The faster teat can take a few feeds till they start throwing up so I would give it a try for a day or two before you decide if it's working or not.
I thought that DS will never get to 3h between feeds, but I can tell he did! And if it happened to us it will happen to you as well, just might take a while longer than other babies.

The NW or if there are difficulties with naps can be because of her routine, maybe something needs tweaking? It's not necessarily that she wakes up for food at night. If you want you can post your day in an EASY format and we can have a look at it .
Hope that helps .

[mimi21]

Hi

Thanks very much for your reply.

like you have said I have found today that she has refused breast at two feeds today and cried until I gave her a bottle. It does make me a little sad that she is pushing on faster then I would like, I still have plenty of milk too

She is only taking 2.5 to 3 oz every 2-3 hours, we got to 3 hours earlier as we were having cuddles and she slept but she still only took just over2.5 oz, should she be taking more?

she seems to be handling the faster flow teat just fine but it's not made a difference to the amount she takes. Been on the teats since Saturday.

I will keep a note of our day tomorrow, tbh only keeping track of feed times at the moment as her naps can be irregular and short unless held
I cannot get her to have a decent nap anywhere other then me even at night sometimes if I am lucky she will sleep in her chair. Have posted on sleep board about this too 

[Ima shel Alon]

If you are getting advice re routine on another board then I wouldn't want to give advice so you won't get contradicting advice and that we also don't go OT here on the bottle feeding board

It does make me a little sad that she is pushing on faster then I would like

Reading this threw me away 2.5 years ago I remember vividly this feeling and I send you (((hugs))). It is sad
I would say that she *could* take more than 2.5oz... maybe she got used to feeding every 2h? Would you be able to hold her for a day and only feed every 3h?

[mimi21]

I can certainly try, tho not easy with a toddler too.
Even on the times we've got to 3 hours or more she will still only take 3 to 3.5 at a push

We've changed formula today so will see if that makes any difference over the next week

Will post our general routine tomorrow, would love to get extra opinions if poss.

[mimi21]

Well today we've had 3 bottles at which she has taken 4oz 
We've had to let her have as much as she'll take, have a little break, about 15 to 25 minutes she'll take the rest
feed is taking about 40 minutes in total.

breastfeeds are becoming less and less and I imagine this time next week it will be no more.
Not sure if the change in formula has helped or not but pleased she's taking more.

now just to sort sleep out, she's very over tired.

[Lolly]

I'm glad the feeds are getting better that's great!

Just one thing to watch - 40 mins is a long time for a bottle feed, they should be finished in about 20 mins or you end up with them snacking and not getting properly hungry enough for the next feed. You can get into a cycle of not getting hungry enough so taking a small feed then needed the next bottle sooner but not taking a full feed etc.

Laura

[mimi21]

I believe she's been snacking and that's why she was taking such small amounts every few hours today we've managed to space her out to 3 hours. Her last feed at 6.30 she took 4oz in 25 minutes, so getting better.