Weaning 6mth ebf baby to formula. Some help please!

[Gilly82]

I am a first time mum. My 6mth old has been ebf since birth. She has never had a bottle. I have made the decision to stop breastfeeding now she is 6mths but I am a bit confused about how to do it. I understand that I need to drop one breastfeed at a time and then wait a few days to a week and then drop another one. However do I replace every dropped breast feed with a formula feed? At the moment she has approx 7 breastfeeds a day so would she eventually have seven full formula feeds? This is where I am confused as the guidance on the formula packet says a baby of her weight should have four feeds a day? I don't understand how I get to four feeds and not seven as she has been having for breastfeeds?
Also as she has never had a bottle I am going to wean straight to a cup. I have tried her with some water in a doidy cup but she found it difficult and it took a long time to take all the water even with only a little water in the cup. I am worried about how she will get a proper milk feed using the cup! I am also worried about how long it is going to take to do a milk feed from the cup which is approx 7ozs. Does anyone have experience of using a cup? Did your baby get better with practice? Also did you use the cup when out and about? I am worried about the practicality of this but I really don't want to introduce a bottle. I have also bought a free flow cup with a lid but have not tried this yet. Maybe this would be a better option?
Any advice/experiences are much appreciated!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I have never weaned to a cup tbh, my oldest DD did go from bottles to a sippy cup quite fast but an open cup at that age would have led to a lot of frustration (on her part and mine lol!). As for the number of formula feeds - I suppose that depends on the baby and how much they take in at each feed. Formula takes much longer to digest than than breast milk so chances are there will be fewer feeds than with bf but I would go by your baby's cues and appetite. What size of feeds does the tin of formula suggest?

[Gilly82]

The tin of formula suggests a 7oz feed four times per day. At the moment baby has the following timings for breast feeds (approx):
6.30am
9.30am
11.30am
1.30pm
3.30pm
5.30pm
7pm
So I am thinking I will begin by dropping the 9.30am feed and replacing with formula.
Then after a few days dropping the 1.30pm feed and replacing with formula followed by dropping the 5.30pm feed a few days after this and replacing with formula
I am kind of stuck as to what I do next and how I drop the other breast feeds and the timings of the formula feeds.
Ideally I would eventually like her on a schedule of formula feeds at approx 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm.

I have tried her with water in the free flow cup with a lid today which she was much better with than the open cup. She still didn't take very much from it but I think she just needs a bit of practice. I think we will try for a week with this cup and then switch to a bottle for formula if she is still struggling and just give her water in the cup with her solids .

[Gilly82]

Also another question about how long it should take to wean completely from the breast?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Really depends on the baby I guess and how they take to bottles, and how long you want to take to do it. There really is no timeframe unless of course it is for medical reasons yk?

So basically the tin suggests 28 oz per day so if you break that down it could be 4 x 7oz feeds or 7 x 4oz feds or really any combo that works for you guys depending how much she takes. If you replace the 9:30 am feed first you may find the next bf changes - ie she may not be ready for the next feed at the same time depending on how much formula she takes.

[Gilly82]

Thank you so much for your advice. It seems so obvious now you have said it! I didn't even think of doing smaller feeds more often. I think I was just fixated on the tin directions of 7ozs x 4 times a day. We started with the formula yesterday but she was not too sure about it! Only took a small amount and spit most out! Today was better. She took 4ozs and hardly any spit out but did fuss a lot and refused at times so we had to take a break after half the feed and the did the second half about 15 minutes later. We are using the free flow cup. She seems to be getting better from drinking from this. I realise it's early days and she just needs time to practice.
I think we will take the weaning from the breast at her pace for the moment and let her get used to the formula.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I know the obvious sometimes escapes me too! I blame baby brain lol.

Formula is quite a different taste so going at her pace should do the trick, sounds like a promising start though!

[Gilly82]

After taking weaning slowly so far we are now down to three breastfeeds and two formula feeds per day. I am currently giving between 4-5ozs for each formula feed.
I am feeling that I would like to drop down to two breastfeeds and then keep these last two breastfeeds ( first thing in morning and last thing at night) as I don't feel ready to give up these feeds yet. Is it possible to keep just two breastfeeds for the next few months? Also I am confused about how much formula she will need if I maintain two breastfeeds?

[*Ali*]

Yes you can definitely keep two BFs and do the rest formula.  Your body should just adjust to produce the milk that is demanded at the times you typically feed.

I'd just keep on offering 5ozs and letting her drink what she wants at the FFs. If she is draining them and still looking for more you could offer another ounce. I'd offer as little as she is happy with for that last FF though so that she takes a good BF at BT

[Sushma]

Hi Gilly

My girl is nearing her 7 month mark and she's on the same feeding  schedule as you little girl. I have just started trying my girl on bottles one feed at a time . She took only 30ml yesterday. Then dozed off. Today I'm going to try the bottle again for the afternoon feed.  I just wanted to know how you are getting on with the weaning . Have you managed to drop off more feeds ? How long did it take for your girl to get used to the sippy cup & formula .
I'm asking so many questions as its only day 2 for me and I'm looking for some inspiration and motivation.

[Gilly82]

Hi Shushma,
I started weaning just over three weeks ago. We are now down to three bf and two ff. We also started solids three weeks ago and she is having three small solid meals a day in between milk feeds. Babies daily feeds currently looks like this:
7am bf
11am ff
1.30pm bf
4.30pm ff
7pm bf
The next feed I am planning to drop is the 1.30 feed and replacing with formula.
I have found that our feeding timings have changed due to the formula. She naturally dropped an extra morning bf and afternoon bf which I had not intended to happen so soon but I guess the formula and solids have had an impact on her appetite and she didn't need these extra breast feeds.
It is still difficult to get her to take the formula but it is better than when we first started. The feed usually starts off well but she soon starts to protest and it usually takes quite a while to get her to take all the feed (I am giving 4oz at a feed). We are using a free flow cup with a spout for formula. She is getting better at drinking from this but is still not perfect. She finds it difficult to get all the formula out of the cup as for some reason she does not like to tip her head back. I have recently tried taking the lid off near the end of the feed and giving her a straw. She can use the straw really well and seems to enjoy drinking the formula from it. So I am going to have a look for a straw cup to see if she will more willing to take formula from this kind of cup.
I don't know if she is ever going to take the formula easily but we will continue to persevere! as it is slowly getting better.
From

[Gilly82]

Also we are using a doidy cup for water with her solid meals. She loves drinking water from this but won't take formula from it!

[*Ali*]

It sounds like she is doing well. I'm sure it will only get easier.

[Gilly82]

Just an update on our progress which may be of help to others trying to wean a bf baby. After slow progress taking formula from the free flow cup, we tried a straw cup two weeks ago and we have not looked back! We have called it her magic cup because as soon as we swapped to this cup she took the formula with no problems at all! I guess it was just about finding the right cup.

[*Ali*]

Excellent news. Thanks for the update. I'm so glad you found something that works for you and your LO.