changing from breastmilk to formula

Just to put in my 2 cents.

Nely - I exculisivly BF Em for the first year of her life - she did not have a spoon of any solids until the week before her first birthday.
She was never hungry, nor did it effect her weight (she was actually an "over-weight" baby.
I might add she never took the bottle till her first birthday either.

So never listen to people who think that BM is not enough for your child - its all they actually need till a year old.

@ memo, did you see my post about milk?

You could probably skip the formula now and just give whole milk if you are struggling to express or run out....

I'm anti processed foods, so prefer milk to formula (I even feel guilty giving James cereal sometimes in the morning, but then I'm a freak!)

Hi proud mum! How old is your baby now?

As they say bm is the best and your baby is getting more than enough, I started supplementing formula after baby was a year, also loved bf and only totally stopped 2 months ago.

I'm concerned that your thread title says 'changing from bm to formula', dont let her bully you into making her life easier. I have noticed that the people i know who are bottle feeding do seem to have 'easier' babies. It seems they fall asleep on the bottle and dont need to be fed as often. But rest assured that your baby is more immune for it! I'm worried leaving my baby at a daymother (with other kids) and not having the protection bf'ing offers.

Tell your daymom that she is an idiot and that you trust your paed and midwife more.

Studies have shown that unlike formula fed babies the volume of milk a breastfed infant eats does not change much after 6 weeks (it will increase slightly during growth spurts but will settle back after a few days) this volume is 750-800mls milk per day in an average baby (whether 6 weeks or 6 months).

Often though when babies are bottle fed, milk comes out too rapidly and "full" cues are often missed. It doesnt help that we have a culture of finishing up.. This is also why often babies who are fed regularly from bottles are heavier than those fed at the breast - whether the bottles contain breastmilk or formula.

200mls is a huge amount per bottle. James has never had more than 120mls at a time (but then hes only had about 10 bottles his entire life)

Your daymom might be missing cues. Why dont you ask her to offer smaller amounts per feed over smaller gaps - maybe freeze 100ml increments and ask her to feed on demand. (sucking on hand, trying to root etc) She might be feeding to pacify when he is agitated.. Another thing to try is to stay with newborn teats which are hardet to suck though and slower flow.

At 5 months he is still quite young, and I have no idea where he is developmentally, but milk is more nutrient dense than a teaspoon of yoghurt or a bit of fruit. By increasing solids too quickly you may displace some of his milk requirements, which can result in dificiencies. Also by using food to displace milk you might cause premature weaning (ie before 1)

It sounds like your daymom has never looked after an ebf baby before though and she may not understand that breastmilk is digested far quicker than formula and that breastfed babes do routinely feed more often than formula fed ones. If she continues to give you grief, maybe point out to her that babies managed just fine before nestle produced formula, Maybe give her this page: milkmatters.org.uk/over-101-reasons-to-breastfeed/

I would say your breastmilk is sufficient. A 200ml bottle of breastmilk 3-4 hourly during the day is MORE than sufficient for his age! Take his weight x 120 divided by amount of feeds per day to determine how much he should get per feed. In my case K is 6.5kgs, 6 feeds a day she needs 130mls per feed and she is 6 months and 10 days old.

But agree with the others re solids. I give K 5 heaped baby spoons of cerelac banana and sometimes she wants more then I make her more and offer some water with it (she takes maybe 10-15mls). At lunch she finishes a stage 1 purity of veggies, and at dinner I give her purity veggies and purity fruit for a snack. Also starting to introduce a late morning snack - fruit or teething biscuit etc now as I see her appetite increase.

So yes their appetites definitely increase, and you should not drop any milk feeds before 7 months I would say longer, but you can definitely increase her solid intake if baby is showing the need for it (dont force it obviously).
K is a big eater, she drinks milk and 2 hours later its solids, and an hour later more milk. But she doesnt drink that much per feed because of her heart.

As long as your baby is consistently gaining weight over time, and continuing to thrive your breastmilk is still best for him. And its far better anyway as you provide your baby with antibodies when you get sick, etc.
Formula keeps babies fuller for longer but only because its more work to digest so I would definitely not change over to formula if you are managing to express enough milk during the day.

K gets about 120mls breastmilk per milk feed, 3 hourly during the day and once at night so thats 6 - 7 times a day and equates to around 800mls a day which is sufficient for her weight.