I Finally Tried Follow up Milk for a Week and This Is What Happened

I was determined to breastfeed and even though I did my best to make it work, I found it very painful to breastfeed. I consulted 3 lactation consultants who told me I was doing just fine and my baby was latching on correctly. However, after two weeks of pain, crying on both mine and the baby's part, no appetite, anxiety and depression, I decided to switch to follow up milk formula.

It was a friend that finally encouraged me to go ahead and make the switch cold-turkey style. The idea horrified me at first because all I could think of was an inconsolable baby and a tearful mummy. However, she gave me the assurance that my baby wouldn't starve and that I should try it for a week. My husband and I discussed it and we decided to go for it, on the condition that if she got very upset, we put a stop to it and reconsider.

We decided to do it over a weekend so that we could catch up on sleep during the days and so I had my husband for support. I fed her at 6 am on that Friday morning, after been up with her all night, and behold, that was the last breastfeeding. She slept till morning when she took 3 oz. formula from my husband with no resistance or fuss which was a first pleasant surprise. I didn't want to put her on a bottle because I thought that would be a step backwards so I used Tommee Tippee Explora weaning lids with a full-size bottle, spending the whole day with her.  I kept giving her warm formula every hour and I removed it if she didn't want it, she was on good form. I also allow her to touch the bottle and play with it so that she can get used to it. Our normal bedtime routine was followed. After waking up, she would cry for milk and then try to nuzzle me but each time, I offer her the formula and she took some of it. However, there were a couple of times when she cried properly but each time only for about 10 mins and whilst I was cuddling her.

The second day which was a Saturday went without a hitch too and the evening was not as bad as the one before. At bedtime, she took her milk and then went to sleep in her bed.

On the third day, she was on formula and she quickly got into a great routine of taking milk in the morning, before her afternoon nap and bedtime.

I continued to express in line with her previous feeds for the first day and expressed a little less often on the second day. On the third day, I expressed less often and less milk and this continued till the fifth day when I was only expressing in the morning. On the sixth day, I no longer needed to express.

After a week, we now sleep better and most of all, we are enjoying our time together as a new family. Although the decision to switch was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make, I will say that the guilt I initially felt was replaced with joy as I now enjoy every moment with my baby girl instead of constantly living in fear of an upcoming feeding.