how to shift my baby from formula to solely breastmilk?

Rachel - posted on 11/12/2009

I eat some oatmeal. it worked for my supply. i just stopped giving my son formula altogether. good for you sticking with it!!! bf-ing is hard. i almost gave up. it felt like he was dragging razors across my nipples. i know what youre going through. i just bit my lip and dealt with it. it got easier and easier. id say it took about a week to get him on strictly breastfeeding. i bought some of those cooling gel pads and lansinoh nursing cream. it worked really well. good luck honey and congrats!!!

Melinda - posted on 11/07/2009

When my oldest was born he was on a feeding tube for the first few days of his life and after that I had to work around it until he could be taken off of it completely. I had to supplement with formula for a little while after. The only thing that worked for me to get my mik coming in more was to use a hospital grade pump (can get one from a hospital,WIC or sometimes a local LeLeche League). In between feedings of breast milk straight from me I would pump. Then I could substitute some of the formula feedings with a bottle of breastmilk to get him used to the taste.Over about a month I was able to substitute the bottle feedings with feedings directly form the breast. The more he would take directly from me the more I'd produce. It didn't seem like I was producing enough at first but he wasn't losing any weight and over about a week or two I finally produced enough to where he wasn't feeding quite so often or acting like he was starving every time. I agree with the suggestion of lanolin for the soreness as well as avoiding soap on that area. Also, try rubbing a little of your own milk there right after a feeding. I know it sounds weird but there are some healing properties to your own milk.I had a nurse tell me about that with my oldest and I haven't had a probem with it with any of my other 3 kids...except for infection. You can get a yeast infection there and not know it so be sure to have a Dr. check for other reasons that you might have soreness if you haven''t already. Also, be sure that you're not having latch on problems. That's usually the biggest cause of sore nipples. It takes practice for both mom and baby to get it exactly right. I know from experience that even if you've had kids before each baby is slightly different and you have to learn to work with each baby. A good lactation nurse should be able to help you, but in my case I'll admit that a peer counselor was more help to me :)

Sarah - posted on 11/07/2009

Yes! I couldn't breastfeed from the beginning because of a medication I was on, and now that I'm off of it, I'm trying to get my milk supply back up so I can completely breastfeed. I'm having issues with my baby latching because he's so used to the bottle. For pain though, try using lanolin and put it on EVERY two hours. Don't scrub with soap when you take a shower because that will dry out your nipples and when Baby latches it'll sting. Have you also tried to pump? That's an ordeal on its own. Sometimes it's not as painful, as long as you get the right sizes of everything. If you want to just breastfeed though you'll probably have to get your milk supply back up so have the baby latch as much as possible, pump when your baby isn't eating, and take fenugreek!