How to Transition Baby From Breastfeeding to Bottle
Whether you've breastfed for 1 week, 1 calendar month or 1 year, we simply want to give yous a big ol' virtual hug for being an astonishing mom. Remember that the mode you feed your baby isn't tied to your cocky-worth or how much you love your little one. Every nursing mom will come up to a point where they'll need to wean their baby from chest to bottle, and only you tin can know when it's the right time. Then if you've come to a betoken where you're asking yourself, "How practise I switch from breast to bottle?" yous've come up to the right identify.
Our goal in this article is to give you lot our best tips to help brand the process of weaning from breast to bottle as easy and comfortable as possible.
When to Wean From Chest to Bottle
You may be fix to wean your baby off the chest and motility them to formula, or you lot may be thinking ahead about when you'd similar to make the transition.
This has a lot of moms request, " At what age should a babe be weaned from chest milk?"
But at that place is no perfect respond to this question. Though t he AAP recommends that infants exist breastfed until they are at least 6 months erstwhile, it is not uncommon for mothers to demand to wean sooner.
Every mom and babe pair has a unique situation. Some mothers will need to cease breastfeeding for health or emotional reasons, where others will find it nigh impossible to continue upwardly with nursing and pumping due to their work schedule. No matter the reason, ultimately the conclusion lies with you. You know what'southward best for you lot and your baby and you should never feel similar you lot accept to explain yourself.
Once you've decided yous're set up to wean your babe, yous'll probably have a lot of questions about the best way to go about it.
Tips for Weaning Baby From Chest to Bottle
Here we'll go over our best tips on how to wean your baby from breastmilk to bottle.
1. Take information technology Slowly
You lot may not have a selection to accept it slowly, and nosotros go that! (Nosotros'll discuss more on that subsequently.) Merely if your state of affairs allows you to wean over the course of a couple of weeks, this is highly recommended. Non but will it requite your baby time to get on board with this major change, but your trunk volition have fourth dimension to adjust to the feeding changes.
two. Brand Your Body a Priority
As moms ourselves, we know that you put your baby's needs first. You want to make sure they are salubrious and thriving as y'all switch from breastmilk to formula. But yous need to brand sure that you are making your health a priority, also. Engorgement, chock-full milk ducts, and mastitis are all risks associated with weaning your baby off the chest. This is the number one reason why taking a gradual approach to weaning is a expert thought. Little by little your body will produce less milk so that there is less adventure of issues arising.
3. Use a Bottle Designed for Breastfed Babies
The options of bottles these days are vast. Information technology can be tough to decide which bottle will be best. Since y'all have a little ane who is already used to breastfeeding, nosotros suggest using a bottle that about closely mimics the breastfeeding experience. Our favorites that requite the most nursing-like experience include Comotomo and AVENT Natural .
four. Have Someone Else Bottle Feed Your Baby
Unless your baby has already been getting bottles of pumped breastmilk for a while, then they are going to exist fifty-fifty more confused when you, who has ever breastfed them, if trying to offer something other than a breast. Letting Daddy or a caregiver give the initial bottles can assist your infant have to the bottle more easily.
5. Give Bottles of Breastmilk or a Combo of Breastmilk/Formula Kickoff
Even formulas advisedly designed to mimic breastmilk volition never have the same taste and texture. No doubt your baby will know the difference! If you have the ability to pump bottles for your baby initially, it will assist your baby to have the familiarity of breast milk even though they're transitioning to a bottle. Then you lot can start to combine breastmilk and formula together to ease the switch fifty-fifty more. If you're already pumping a little flake to relieve engorgement, simply go ahead and put that milk in a bottle!
Weaning a breastfed baby who has always refused a canteen can be challenging. Using the three methods merely mentioned will help your baby take a bottle more easily.
six. Substitute One Bottle for Every Feed Dropped
You lot'll need to make sure that y'all're giving your baby a bottle in identify of every unmarried feeding that y'all driblet. And so if your infant typically nurses 8 times per day, they'll still need to feed 8 times per day. That may at present be 8 bottles with no nursing sessions or could exist any combination (i.e. four bottles, 4 nursing sessions). This is truthful even for babies who are eating solid foods do non replace the nutrients institute in breastmilk or formula, as the Moms at Wholesome Baby Food remind u.s.a..
7. Simplify the Bottle Prep Process
Making such a large change equally transitioning from nursing to canteen-feeding tin be stressful. Even when you know it's what is best for yous and your baby, information technology'due south definitely a shake up to your typical routine! We are all nearly making things easier, and i of the easiest ways to exercise that when it comes to making infant bottles is by using the bökee .
The bökee is a handy bottle prep tool that allows you to make a bottle from outset to finish with just ane hand. We love it simply considering yous don't take to choose between property your infant and making a bottle. Yous can do both at the same time. On that note, we recommend you read, " How to Prepare the Perfect Bottle of Babe Formula ." Use BLOG15 to save fifteen% on a bökee - shop now!
Mother.ly agrees that the bökee is essential for making the breastfeeding to canteen transition.
8. Drib the Least Desirable Feeds First
What we mean by this is, if in that location is a nursing session of the day where your babe seems more than distracted or doesn't take in a lot of milk, then this would be a not bad place to start for dropping a feed. On the flip side, dropping the first feed of the 24-hour interval where your baby is starving and guzzling every final drop, don't start here.
9. Alleviate Discomfort With a Pump
Pumping can be a great way to bring relief if you are feeling engorged. Depending on how much milk you produce and which feeding(s) you skip, your heavy breasts may feel full and painful. We recommend either paw-expressing or using a breast pump to bleed your breasts just plenty to experience comfy. Y'all don't want to do a full pumping session; instead, but a few minutes should be enough. This will help you save the engorgement while still allowing your body to commencement to taper off its milk production.
10. Avert Weaning During a Menses of Alter
If you tin aid it, it's best to hold off on weaning until any major life changes have passed. For instance, you going back to work will already be hard enough on your little one. They'll likely look forrad to nursing once more every bit shortly as they see you. One time your baby and family take adjusted to whatever new circumstances, and so you tin go ahead and make the switch.
11. Provide Extra Comfort For Your Babe
In that location are times when babies decide when they've had enough with the nursing, but assuming that weaning your infant off of the breast was your idea, they will undoubtedly exist a bit confused by the change. They may exist actress clingy or fussy. Actress babe snuggles during this time will go a long style!
Further Tips for an Older Infant
Here is some further guidance if you are weaning your baby after the age of six months.
Weaning an older baby can be easier than weaning a younger infant, just it likewise can present different challenges. Hither'south what to keep in heed if you are weaning a babe older than half-dozen months.
Feeding Solids: Babies over 6 months of age (give or take) tin start eating solids. Because they are already being introduced to new flavors and textures, this can be a good time to transition to a canteen of formula. Just remember that milk feeds should always happen earlier feeding solids and that the majority of your baby'due south diet will come up from formula or breastmilk until age 1.
Consider Skipping the Bottle and Moving to a Sippy Cup: If you are starting the weaning process with a ix-month-old baby or older, consider skipping the bottle step altogether. Soon enough your baby will need to transition to a sippy cup anyhow, then this can streamline the process. Only exist certain that your baby is comfortable using a sippy loving cup before completely making the switch. (The AAP recommends introducing a sippy cup to babies between 6 and ix months, no matter whether they are breastfed or bottle-fed.)
Wait Some Push button Back: Some babies may be completely fine with transitioning to a canteen of formula, whereas others volition surely protest. Being a bit older means they have a more than established connectedness with breastfeeding which may brand the transition a chip more difficult. Just keep this in mind and know that within a couple of weeks your baby will be drinking out of a bottle only fine!
Partial Weaning, Gradual Weaning or Cold Turkey?
Weaning isn't one size fits all. Hither are the dissimilar ways you lot might wean your babe to a bottle:
Fractional Weaning
It's important to note that weaning from breast to canteen doesn't necessarily mean it has to be one or the other. Many mothers will choose to partially wean in which they go on to nurse for some feeds of the day and give formula bottles for the others. You lot'll all the same desire to attempt to use a gradual method even when yous still plan to go on to partially nurse.
Gradual Weaning
As noted above, this is the best way to go almost weaning your baby. We suggest taking away merely one nursing session at a fourth dimension, and then waiting at least a couple of days before taking away another. This is the all-time fashion to requite your breasts time to adjust to making a bit less milk at a time.
Then, if you get this route, you lot might exist curious to know how long it will accept to wean your baby off of breastfeeding.
How long the gradual weaning process takes volition depend on the age of your infant and how many times she nurses each mean solar day. If you follow our recommended advice of only dropping 1 feed every couple of days, then programme for your baby to be fully weaned in about ii-3 weeks. However, if you desire to stretch it out longer, then do information technology! At that place is no demand to rush it and you should continue to nurse for as long as you desire to.
Cold Turkey Weaning (When Necessary)
Because of how difficult it tin exist on a female parent's body, but dropping nursing altogether immediately isn't recommended. Your baby might even exist ok with it, but y'all're risking painful engorgement or a chest infection past choosing this route. With that said, there are certain cases where yous simply may not have a choice to wean your babe from breast to canteen cold turkey.
Ice packs, hand-expressing, and taking anti-inflammatories during this fourth dimension volition help you. Healthline has some farther tips on how to more comfortably go through abrupt weaning.
No matter how and when y'all decided to wean, nosotros know you'll do information technology with the utmost love and care!
How to Transition Baby From Breastfeeding to Bottle
Source: https://www.thebokee.com/blogs/bokee-blog/how-to-wean-your-baby-from-breast-to-bottle