Weaning from Nursing

If you haven't tried this already...try mixing a little formula to your breast milk, and then slowly increase the ratio of formula to breast milk over the course of a week or two. That may help him to get used to the formula taste gradually so that by the time it's completely formula, he will hopefully be used to the taste.

If that doesn't work, another thing to try is using a sippy or straw cup instead of the bottle, if he is ready for it. Since he's used to getting your breastmilk from a bottle, he may resist getting anything else out of the bottle. So you could offer him the formula (or formula/breastmilk mixture) in a sippy or straw cup to see if that helps.

As far as better tasting formulas...every kid is going to have their own preference. If you're not having any luck with this particular formula, don't be afraid to try some others until you find one that your son seems to like better.

Good luck! And good luck finding a mom's group too - you also posted about that, right? I'm in a mom's group in Canton and love it. I suggest looking online to see if you can find any established groups in your area. Another good source to check is local churches - they often sponsor mom's groups and you usually don't have to be a member at that specific church - or even subscribe to that particular religion - in order to join.

Good luck!

I had the same issue with my 10 month old girl. She would not take any formula at all (it didn't matter what the brand was). I eventually started mixing a small amount of formula with my breastmilk, for example, I would give her 1 ounce of formula to 5 ounces of breast milk. This is what finally worked. I slowly increased the amount of formula and decreased the breast milk until she would take straight formula. This was acheived in about a week.
Good luck!!

At 12 months he can have whole milk... if you can hang in there another month it might be easy to go straight to milk. I nursed for 4 months and it took a month to wean (not for Brendan who always took a bottle with formula as well) but for my body. I took the bottle away at 12 mos at the recommendation of the pediatrian too. Maybe you can move straight to milk in a sippy cup.

Hi S.-

I was in your same situation with respect to nursing. At 11 months I attempted to give my daughter formula, but she rejected it. It was suggested to me to mix the formula with breastmilk. I did that for a couple of weeks and by the third week Skylar was able to take all the formula. The formula I used was Nestle- the one that says is gentle on the stomach with soy protein. At 1 year I converted to rice milk since Skylar seemed to be allergic to cow's milk. Now, on the subject of weaning, well I still nurse her in the morning and in the evening and she is almost 14 months. I don't pump though. The body is miraculous, it only produces milk when I need it- no engorgement problems during the day. Skylar likes the breast so the weaning altogether is going to be quite a process. I still enjoy the bonding so I am not rushing her off- not until the next baby comes anyway! Let me know how it goes. Good Luck.

This may sound a little cruel, but it works. You can go about it two ways, depending on how soon you want to wean. First choice: substitute one of the baby feedings with formula each day. Second choice: stop nursing and feeding your baby breast milk, and only ofer formula; the first few days he may reject it but the more he gets hungry the more he will start taking a few sips. Once he realize he will not be offered breast milk; he will eventually take it. I went through that with my baby, and she wouldn't drink any milk; the first few days. It took her almost 2 weeks, before she finally start taking it good. Keep in my breast milk is very sweet, and formula is not.

Hi S.,

I weaned my daughter at 10 months. I started by cutting out a feeding each day until she was totally off the breast. I even started mixing some formula into the bottles so it wasn't a total shock when she got just formula. Since your son is old enough you could always try Enfamil Next Step, it's for 9-24 months. I used that and I didn't have any problems. The only thing was after having her on the bottles for a few days I found her a little fussy at night so I had to nurse then just for a few days to keep her comfortable. Hope this helps you, any questions feel free to contact me!

When I weaned my son he would only take the similac that was already mixed, I couldn't use any of the powder kind.
His doctor also said we could give him vitamin D at 11 months, but he will still at 18 months only take warm whole milk before bed.

My son was the same way. I finally found enfamil LIPD. I started with a little formula and the rest breast milk and slowly keep adding more formula. The premix worked best then I started using the powder once he was fully on formula.