My daughter is 2 months old and I've started to wean her to formula during the day. I breastfeed her in the morning, and then breastfeed her at night (after 5 PM). This is how I want to feed her when I go back to work next week and she is in day care. Just curious if anyone else does this/has done it, and for how long? I'm just wondering if/when my supply will really start to dwindle based on the decreased demand overall, or if I'll continue to produce enough for these feedings. I already need to supplement sometimes with the breastfeeding. I might even wean her off of the morning feeding and just breastfeed her at night. I want to keep providing her the benefits of the breastmilk and I enjoy breastfeeding for the bonding.
I don't plan to pump. I've tried it, and for personal reasons I don't want to do it at work or continue to do it at home. I've dealt with repeated plugged ducts, and since my supply has been reduced due to the reduced # of feedings, I've been much more comfortable (no more plugged ducts or bad fullness). My pediatrician and a lactaction consultant have supported what I'm doing, but I'm just looking for advice from other moms who've actually done this.
THANKS!
I did the same thing that you are thinking about doing and it did work for me. The absolute KEY is to make sure that you breastfeed at the SAME time everyday and your body will automatically acclamate. If you skip or throw off the time, your supply will not be what it should. Stay hydrated and give it a go!!
R.,
I have to agree with Lily. With all 3 of my children that happened. When I went down to a few feedings a day - I felt like I just wasn't producing enough for them. (The lactation consultant said I WAS producing enough as the body knows what the baby is needing - but I was a little skeptical since I had the breasts!) Again though - Good luck! You've at least given the baby some of the Wonderful benefits of breast milk if only for 2 months - it's better than none at all!
Don't mean to discourage you, I hear it works for others but with my 1st I breast fed for three months then tried to do breast and formula because I was going back to school to finish my degree, but it just didn't work out. Once I introduced formula my milk supply dropped too much and we ended up switching to all formula by 5 months.
Maybe it was just me being a first time mom that it didn't work out, but just wanted to warn you it may not work out and you may end up having to switch to formula. But I hope it does work out with you. Best of luck.
I have been pumping since I've been back to work, which was right for me. I did experience some decrease in my supply when my son turned 4 months about 2 weeks ago, so I started mixing in some formula. Also, sometimes I only get to pump once during the day because of work circumstances and it worried me about my supply, but actually, as long as I breastfeed him when I get home and during the night and in the morning, my milk has always come back. Also, when it went really low, I tried drinking an herbal tea from GNC called 'mother's milk' and it really helped. You can buy the herbs that are in the tea as supplements (fenugreek and blessed thistle), but I was worried about taking a lot of the herb supplements because they can decrease the effectiveness of oral contraceptives (yikes! - I'm not ready to play around with that!), so I just drink the tea. Also, I didn't know you could buy this, but a person at Vitamin World told me about it after I was leary of the herb/ birth control thing. She told me to try taking Colostrum. It's used for the majority of people as an immune system enhancement, but for lactating women it helps milk production - it did! I take the colostrum with my pre-natals and DHA everyday. That's what worked for me. Hope I helped!
Racheal, I sort of did what you did when my daughter was nearing 7 months old. I started supplementing with formula out of convenience, b/c my daughter was just so mobile and wouldn't sit still to nurse except in the morning and at night, plus it was so easy to travel with formula. However, without wanting to, I ended up having to stop breastfeeding by 8 months b/c my supply dropped so much. The more repeated skipped feedings, you send the signal to your body to slow down production. It's not a good feeling when you WANT to provide the breastmilk and there's just not enough there... so if you're going to go ahead with your plan, be prepared for nursing to actually end. The idea that your child is only 2 months may make you reconsider at least for a little longer. But, whatever your decision, I wish you good luck with it and hope it works for you.
R.,
I did this with my son and it worked fine. I had to go back to work when he was 6 weeks old. At 4 wks I started to substitute on bottle in place of a feeding. I did this for about 4 days and the substituted another for another 4 days or so. By the time I went back to work he got 3 bottles during the day and the was breastfed during the rest of the time. My milk supply did not dwindle, he is now almost 8 months old and still gets breast fed 2x once before he goes to bed and once early in the morning. Now I'm going to start weening him off that. Each woman makes a different amount of milk so I think it is worth a try. As long as you take it slow and give ample time for adjustment, it will work. You can even try to reduce the number of days (I did 4 becuase this was my goal from the start) since you are starting a bit later.
I hope this is a bit of encouragement!
J. F.
