Breastfeeding Daughter That Seems to Only Want Formula

My boys got both, but weened off the breast at 3 months. Their is just something about the formula that some babies seem to prefer. My boys are perfectly healthy.

Yes, self-weaning.

ALSO though, sucking from a bottle is MUCH easier for a baby. So then some may prefer that, over breast.
My son, did that at about 1 year old.

Also, if you replace breast with a bottle, then your milk supply will diminish.
But if you give the bottle AFTER nursing, as a chaser... then you body will still retain your milk supply.

For the 1st year of life, breastmilk/Formula is a baby's primary source of nutrition. Not solids and not other liquids.

Per our Pediatrician, feed solids AFTER nursing, not before nursing. Or it will affect your milk supply and baby will be too full to nurse, after solids.
ALWAYS nurse first.

If you want to keep nursing, do direct nursing. NOT from a bottle.
so your milk supply, does not diminish.
And do not give her solids first. NURSE. From your boobs. Not from a bottle.

But if she is self-weaning... which some babies do if given bottles or solids first... then well, she may just reject your breast.

Also, this is a "growth-spurt" time. 9 months is a spurt time. So babies get hungrier and more often. Put her to breast. So your milk supply adjusts to her needs.

Once you start 'replacing' breast, with solids or Formula/bottles... milk supply will lessen. And baby may start to reject breast.

The other option is... don't give her so much solids.
For the 1st year of life, solids is only an 'introduction' to foods. NOT their 'main course." And not all day nor 3 times a day.
If given too much solids... they will reject nursing. Too.

Breastfeed, ON-demand.
So your breasts and milk production, will keep up.

Sounds like she's self-weaning. Congrats, Mom, you've done a great job!

:)

I don't think that this about the formula vs. BM so much as the speed of delivery! Seriously- it takes a good 30-40 minutes to completely empty when you are nursing, but she can down the same amount of fluid in 10-15 minutes with a bottle! At this age, she may rather be playing or doing something else than nursing, especially if she really likes the self-feeding. When we introduced the bottle, my son preferred it to the breast, so more often than not I pumped and used the bottle to feed him.

You could just continue pumping and give her the BM in a bottle. You could also mix 1/2 BM and 1/2 formula so she's getting the best of both worlds in her mind!

This isn't about quality of milk (unless you are producing off-tasting milk due to your own diet).

Lucky you for being able to give her 9 whole months of breastfeeding - I would say it is time to wean, for your and your little one's sanity. I had issues with supply right from the start with all three kids, the most I ever got was 2 ounces out of both boobies with a hospital grade pump. There was sadness that came with deciding to go full formula but my babies were WAY younger than yours when I stopped (one was 2 mos, the others 3-4 mos). Looking back, I wish I hadn't stressed SO much on it, especially with my first, I practically killed myself trying to increase my supply so that I could satisfy my little one. In the end I breastfed him the shortest time of all of my kids and he is my healthiest (go figure). Don't worry about what others think, you have done an AWESOME job and your baby will be getting most of what she needs from solid foods anyway.

Of course its much easier to drink fro a bottle than from a breast. If you supplement with formula you are not forcing your body to produce what your daughter needs. Breast milk works on supply and demand, if her demand is satiated by supplemental formula you are not forcing your supply to adapt. If you would prefer to breastfeed then that is what you should do, introduce her to the breast more often, and for longer intervals until your body adapts to her needs. If you do not want to breastfeed anymore, this is your out.

You have been trying your hardest to sabotage your breastfeeding relationship since she was 5 months old!

You started solids at least 3 months early, then you added fuel to the fire by introducing many bottles of formula.

It's not the formula she prefers - it is the bottle. You need to wean her down to 2 small meals of solids but only AFTER she breastfeeds!!! Stop all bottles of formula. The cluster feeding your baby does during growth spurts are how your supply increases with demand. You don't allow this, your milk supply is sluggish to respond.

You need to offer her your breast only, often and every time before meals. She will not nurse, she does not get pureed solids or a bottle - you just wait for her to feel hungry enough to nurse with gusto.

If you allowed your body to respond to baby as it should - you'd have no issues with supply and you may not have any currently - you simply cave in and doubt yourself. STOP IT!! Tell your Mom no more formula, she must used the pumped frozen milk.

Breastmilk is made to be easily digested - which means it is needed to have more of an intake of breastmilk... nothing abnormal about that.

Stop feeding her formula. It's poisonous full of GMO food and sugar. Breast feed her and fill her up with rice cream cereal, make her scrambled eggs. If she wants hamburger give it. Here's the deal. Buy at health food stores but not at Whole Foods which does sell GMO food.
You live in California which is paradise for eating well. Put the money into the organic food and you will not have to put the money out for the doctors. My kids had three cavities between them their entire growing up time.

I only breastfed in the hospital. I pumped for a month. My milk supply was low, plus I am not a good nurser. I didn't like the pain. I figure my kids got my milk when they needed it most.
I wouldn't be too worried. She's almost a year, that's when they're no longer on formula anyway. Besides, it appears that she's weaning herself. I wouldn't force her. If you want her to have the milk, just put it in a bottle. And that family isn't in your house, and she's your daughter not theirs. Let them complain if they want, but don't let it bother you.

Are you pumping before you try to feed her? Even if it is two hours before, that could be why she doesn't seem to be getting enough. Rather than giving her formula (I would stop that completely), and pumping, just nurser her more often. If she now nurses every 4 hours, nurse her, wait a little bit, then give her some of her real food, and if she still seems hungry, nurse her again. I would try to wait an hour if possible, but if she really seems to want more, nurse her right away. The more you nurse, the more milk you make, and the more she will be ok with doing it. She could be going through a growth spurt, or you could just think you don't have enough, but pumping 8 oz every 4 hours seems like a great amount to me.

I did not breastfeed but I say if she is wanting formula but you want to give her your milk mix it 50/50 make like 4oz of the formula (put 2oz in the bottle and the other two in a different one in the fridge) and put two oz of your breast milk in with the formula. OR see if she will take your pumped milk in a bottle

9 months is a rough age for nursing--my DD was so antsy and rejecting of the breast and this was without bottles of formula at this age. Had you wanted to nurse past the age of 12 months? I kept freaking out that my daughter wasn't getting enough BM. She ate a ton of solids and table food by 10 months. I held out and rode it out. It was hard to not supplement feeling so paranoid but by 1 year I started to very gradually supplement one nursing with a cup of whole milk. Nursing the other 3 times a day was getting much easier--probably because I had the assurance that she was getting a whole cup of milk. Funnily enough she didn't dramatically increase in weight when I started weaning slowly and giving her whole milk--it is just her slender body type--she is almost 3 years old and not much more than 25 lbs! Just ask yourself l--are you sure she is really hungry after nursing and solids?

Here is a good link from kelly mom
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html

Also , don't let social pressure influence how you feel as a mom--it works both ways, formula fed family that doesn't support BF and breast feeding family that looks down on any non-attachment parenting decision you make. Neither is right. Keep your chin up no matter what happens!