How to wean from breast to bottle?

[JAK05]

I am going back to work part time in January :( and thought I should start weaning DS once he's 6mths old (mid November) so by the time it comes to him having to go to daycare he's used to it.

How do you do it though? Is it best to introduce 1 bottle per day & continue to breastfeed for the rest of the day or just go straight to formula & completely stop breastfeeding all at once??

I hate the idea of having to give up breastfeeding him but I've never been able to express more than about 20mls at a time & therefore would be constantly attached to a breast pump if I wanted to send expressed milk with him to daycare.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[funnyfarm]

If you still enjoy breastfeeding, you could try to slowly change the daytime feeds (1 at a time) and just offer the breast in the morning and at night. This may still suit you when you are working. This will not suit all children as some will refuse the bottle because it confuses them that sometimes they get a breast and other times they get a bottle, while other children are happy to drink from anything.

Maybe you could try someone else giving your son a bottle as he may know that there is breastmilk close by when you feed him. If this works, once he gets the hang of it, he sould be ok with you feeding him.'

Maybe some other mums will write some good suggestions for you to make this change as easy as possible for you and bub.

Good luck with everything.

Janet
Mother to Briana Sage (2.6.04)

[JAK05]

Thanks Janet - will give it a go. I do like the idea of continuing to breastfeed for as long as possible