Breast to bottle

[Nickie18]

I have to stop breast feeding and want some advise on transitioning to the bottle feeds with formula. Any advise or just change cold turkey? I know to have my hubbie do it... But at 3 weeks old, how much formula? She is on a 3 hour EASY routine as below-

A/E: 7:30am
S: 8:45
E: 10:30
S: 11:30/11:45
E: 1:30
S: 2:30/2:45
E: 4:30
S: 5:45-6:45 (though today she fussed and in the swing)
E: 7 ish
Bedtime routine and in bed by 7:45/8

Then we have been letting her wake for feeds typically 10, 1:30 and 4:30 as she not will not DF

Will this continue?

Any other ideas?

[creations]

I had to mix feed from day 2. I honestly can't remember how much milk he took, my mind was a mix of how much he'd had and how much I'd expressed. I think by the time I switched to all formula it might have been around 60ml but I could be right off there! Sorry!  However, I think there is a guidance amount on the carton of formula for different ages so I would start with that, if your LO drains the bottle then make more and keep a written record so you know to make more next feed, you'll know in a day how much she needs. Always make bottles so that she stops feeding when there is a little (say 30ml) left in the bottle which you discard. This way she continues to dictate how much she takes.
I would keep the times the same.
I don't know about going cold turkey because I mix fed and my situation was with problems BFing, I could only express so DS had a bottle from day 2 and didn't bat an eye whether it had breast milk or formula in it.

Hope someone else comes along with their experience for you.

[*Ali*]

I imagine if you are EBF now and stop cold turkey you will be quite uncomfortable and it may be a big shock to your baby's system to go from easily digested breast milk to all formula which is much harder to digest. So I guess it depends why you are stopping the BFing and whether you need to be completely weaned ASAP or if you can do so gradually over a week or two for example. I don't have any btdt experience to offer though, sorry.

There is some good info here on how much formula a newborn may need. Breast to bottle

[Nickie18]

Thank you- I do need to stop pretty quickly but I am still pumping to stop any engorgement and I have a lot of stored pumped breast milk we are mixing with the formula about half and half now. She seems to have taken to it ok so far. Will not have much more breast milk as it is drying up and then the medication I am taking will be at a high enough level to get in the breast milk... Wish I could continue but my health as well as hers needed me to start the meds...

She actually has ended up taking about 4 ounces! Crazy hungry girl at 3 weeks.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

My older two had a bottle of formula a day from somewhere around 3-6 weeks and I am pretty sure they took 4oz to start with (at least I know the bottles we used were the smaller playtex ones that only held that much and I am pretty sure they usually finished most of it!).

[creations]

Ali - you've accidentally linked the wrong link above.

[*Ali*]

Apologies.  Probably had too many windows open.  This was the page I meant to post. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/infant-formula-questions.aspx#close