Breastfed baby, switching daytime feeds to bottle and refusing

[Baby_A_Mama]

I posted this in the weaning section but not sure if I'll get a better look here. Not sure if it should be in bottlefeeding or breast as it's a bit of a combo. DD is predominantly breastfed. We have always done a few bottles (of pumped milk) every week since 4 months (when she decided to accept a bottle), and since my pumped supply is out we now do some formula when needed, until very recently!!!

My DD is 9.5months. I am likely returning to work part time when she turns 11months so I am looking to wean her off daytime breastfeeds (2) onto a bottle of formula for each feed.  She has an unconfirmed milk protein allergy so I cannot go to cows milk yet.  She used to take a bottle like a champion whenever we needed or felt like letting daddy or visitors have a go with feeding, up until 2 months ago it was always expressed milk but as my stored up supply ran out we started introducing formula. It's hypoallergenic so it took quite a few days of mixing the two but we got to a point that she would take it happily. 4 days ago I gave her a bottle of formula after her pm nap, no problems. I decided then, that I would start doing this daily to start eliminating that breastfeed and once my boobs adjusted I would do feed after the a.m. nap, thinking we have a big luxury of time at this point.  The next day, she outright refused the bottle and has ever since. Over the weekend I tried getting dad to give her the bottle while I was out in the garden, not a chance!!  It was like she heard my thoughts and is revolting against me! She remains super cranky and crying lots until she gets the breast.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be going on? How to go back to good bottle taking?  Could it be a bigger problem? I have tried sippy cups to because she drinks out of that during the day.  She loves Almond milk so I have tried blending the formula with that in her sippy cup. She will take a tiny bit but not very interested.  I would like to tackle this now so I have plenty of time to get both my boobs and her adjusted to the bottle before going back to work.  I am looking to continue with the morning wake up and before bedtime breastfeeds for awhile as I'm not 100% ready to give it up. She is showing signs of weaning herself off the bedtime one anyways, sometimes she doesn't really take any, but the morning we both seem to really enjoy.

[Shdef]

HA milk is quite bitter, that might be the reason 

Sometimes oversupply is confused with milk protein allergy (this allergy is VERY rare, only one in 30 000 babies has it) as baby has explosive, sometimes even even bloody poops and is uncomfortable because they fill up on foremilk.

https://www.llli.org/faq/foremilk.html

http://www.breastmilk.com/foremilk-hindmilk-imbalance-oversupply.php

Because you were pumping and even had a stash, I was suspecting that it may be more likely that?  How do you know she is intolerant?

It is quite hard to get a baby to take HA milk when they know the taste of breast milk. DS got HA (after being completely weaned) and it smelt, and it was bitter. He detested anything sweet for years and ate pickled onions and rollmops for BLW 

[Baby_A_Mama]

I don't blame her for not wanting the HA milk. It smells AWFUL!  The weird thing is she did take it at one point. The doctors suspected the allergy due to blood in her poop. However, when I came off dairy fully, it took almost 12 weeks to clear up, when they only thought it would take 4-6 weeks. The allergy has never been confirmed. Is blood a symptom of oversupply?  Because I definitely feel that I battled with that issue for awhile. 

I have tried a gentle formula with partially broken down proteins as we are experimenting with dairy.  She won't even take this, but I wonder if it's because she's developed an aversion to the bottle now and assumes it's the gross stuff? 

My husband suggested I pump to try to mix the formula and breastmilk again, but since I am trying to wean her daytime feeds, I really don't want to get into an oversupply issue again. It would be great if it wasn't a dairy allergy, but I still need to figure out a way to feed her instead of breastfeeding for when I put her in care. Any thoughts there? 

Thanks so much for your reply! 

[Shdef]

Is blood a symptom of oversupply? 

Yes, it is. According to LLL:

Over time, large amounts of undigested lactose can irritate the lining of the intestines, which can result in small amounts of blood in your baby’s stools.

http://www.breastmilk.com/foremilk-hindmilk-imbalance-oversupply.php


It might not actually be an aversion to the bottle, but to its contents. And those aversions can reoccur any time. 

The idea of oversupply only occured to me because you said you had a "stash" of pumped milk.

Your previous method of mixing seems to have worked really well, could you do that again? Because HA milk is brilliant after all. It just tastes horrible 

[Baby_A_Mama]

Yes, we developed a stash after quite a long time of trying a bottle and she was refusing. I think this is when I first developed an oversupply issue. I was pumping to give her a feed but she wasn't taking it, so we'd freeze it.  After quite some time, I was feeding her off one breast only trying to fix the oversupply issue, but it would leave my other one stuffed. I would put her down for a nap, pump the other and freeze it, or occasionally use it as she began taking a bottle by this point. 

I guess I will try pumping again just enough to see if we can get her taking the bottle again, or even in a sippy cup.  We need something!  Thanks!!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Milk protein allergy is rare...but don't discount a milk protein intolerance...much more common, all three of my babies had it in varying degrees. Any chance she needs to move up to a faster flow nipple?

[Baby_A_Mama]

I can try a faster flow.  We are using a variable flow right now. Last time we tried the faster flow she guzzled the bottle way too quickly and spit it all back up. That was quite awhile ago though so she may have better control now, and I learned my lesson too and can try to help her take her time a little more. 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Vari flow should allow her to take it as fast or slow as she wants to I understand...maybe that isn't it!