Weaning off breastfeeding

Hey, I’m exactly the same but with a 9m old and two day feeds that I’m weaning her off as going back to work soon. The breastfeeding team advised me to drop one feed at a time and replace with formula/expressed milk and do this for a week or so then drop the next one. I’ve already done it for the first one (after first nap) and it my body adjusted within a few days. Need to do the second one now but she’s taken to it so well. She started off taking 7oz of formula but this week is only having 3-4oz so I’m giving her a snack as well to get her through till lunchtime. And I always have water ready, usually I’ll only offer it with food but started offering throughout the day too and she always has a sip

@Georgia Nwabuko Thank you so much, this is really helpful. So far I haven’t really done anything except hope for the best 😂 Dropping one at a time sounds doable. I’ve just been worried about becoming engorged if I don’t feed him. I suppose I could just express enough so that it’s not uncomfortable but not so much that my body thinks he still needs it.

I’d say only hand express if you’re literally really full and sore but I’ve been bf for 9 months and didn’t get that fullness/pain when I dropped the feed. Yeah if you express there is a chance your body will think you still need the milk so only do it if you really need to. But I think you’ll find it’s easier than you think (it was the same for me) and your body adjusts so quickly. Making bottles on the other hand is such a faff, makes you so thankful for bf 😂 I need to drop that second feed but it makes me so sad so I’m holding onto it but know I need to get it done before I go back to work in 2 weeks ☹️ so plan to start tomorrow but I’m the same as you plan to keep the morning, bedtime and night feeds! Good luck!

I’m the same, exclusively breastfed until 6 months when he started solids but have never had to deal with bottles and I’m so grateful. Honestly I might not bother with formula at all as he’s coped really well with the reduced feeds so far so will just give healthy snacks and water if he’s hungry between meals. I’m sure you’re right and my body will adapt quickly. I remember being worried about reducing night feeds when he started to sleep for longer during the night as I did get engorged at the beginning, but we just gradually spaced them out. I think starting now gives me plenty of time as long as I remember to stick with it!

I had to prepare my daughter for the same and also didn't want to express. I ended up replacing one feed every week or every other week with a bottle so I didn't become engorged allowing my body to adapt. I'd give her formula in replacement as I didn't want to keep expressing. I now only feed at wake up and night feeds. She has a bottle of formula mid morning and then one mid afternoon as we ended up dropping the additional bottle around 9am as she just wasn't finishing it and she dropped it fine. I also offer water in a sippy cup throughout the day and alongside lunch and find she drinks quite a lot! Definitely just make sure you drop a feed at a time as otherwise you may become quite uncomfortable. Good luck with it all ☺️