Breastfeed Part-time?

I think it depends on a lot of factors - the age of the baby, how many times a day you are feeding, the quality of your milk production, and the ease of your experience thus far, etc. Is she slepping through the night? IF not, she will, so how many feedings would you be doing at night?

With my first child, I nursed exclusinvely for three months (supplementing only at the very beginning because of low production in the first couple weeks). After I went back to work, I pumped (a pain in the neck, I know) but I was not good about pumping and pumping is never as good, so by the time my daughter was about 6-7 months, I nursed about 4 times per day and gave formula bottles the rest or for day care. I nursed like that until about 13 months. But she slept through the night early, so I wasn't really feeding at night.

With the second baby, I breastfed and pumped almost entirely for 15 months, with convenience formula bottles a couple times per week. Now that she is 15 months, I only nurse 2 times a day and plan to drop to once soon.

So, yes you can nurse part-time. I found it is better/healthier/easier/cheaper to nurse mostly and supplement. I know pumping is a pain in the neck. But if you are lucky enough to produce milk, I would try it for as long as you can. If you do decide to go part-time, I would do it gradually because you don't want your production to suffer (you need ot let your body figure it out slowly) and you don't want to traumatize the baby. Keep in mind that if she wakes a lot at night now, she won't always so the amount she gets will decline sooneer than you expect.

I think it is great that you want her to keep getting the benefits and don't want to just stop altogether. But milk supply is a tricky thing, and once you start nursing less, you may find it difficult to match her needs if you dont' drop feedins slowly. For that reason I would nurse/pump for as long as you can. She will have less feedings with time especially when you start solids so its not like you hav eto stay up at 8 feedings forwver. On a personal note, I am nursing my last baby (probably), and I will miss it very much when I am done. And I never thought I would feel that way becaus eit was so hard at first. Good luck.

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My mom did it for more than a year when she had me. So its possible if you train your body to do it. Any breastmilk is great for your baby. You wouldn't want to quit cold turkey though. You're going to want to wean away from the daytime feedings, which might be easier if you do it by pumping so you can schedule it when your breasts need to be emptied. Go slowly though so you don't get an infection.

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Hi S.,
I have heard your breastmilk supply is determined in the begining of nursing?! But I did both and I know once you start to supplement with formula, your milk will not come in as much. So if your heart and mind are passionate about it I would continuing to nurse then I would try to stick it out as long as possible and then use formula if you are sleep deprived or away from baby and you haven't pumped. You'll do what works best for you. But I know I was a little heartbroken when I knew I could know longer nurse my daughter because my body knew I wasn't using the milk it was supplying. Good luck and God bless u. L.

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you can totally do this. your body will adjust but you probably will leak when you go cold turkey. i recommend wearing breast pads until it's done adjusting. baby will still get benefits and you will as well.

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How well established is your milk supply? It is possible. You probably want to wean one feeding at a time from the daytime routine. If you're nursing a newborn though & your milk supply isn't well established already cutting back could cause your milk to dry up. You could work around that by continuing to pump during the day but pumping can be a lot of work with a newborn.

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I am in the same boat with you...My 5 month old son will not take a bottle. It looks like I will have to quit breast feeding all together, and pump my breastmilk and mix it with formula... I am open to suggestions.

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I did that with my daughter when I went back to work. As someone else said, some breast milk is better than none. The real benefit of breastfeeding is the passing of immunities from mom to baby. So yes, the baby still gets all the benefits, even from one breastfeeding a day. I tried pumping at work for a while, but that really just didn't work well for me. I would definitely suggest cutting out one breastfeeding at a time rather than going cold turkey. It's easier on you and the baby. Also, it's good to keep in mind that babies fill up faster on formula than breast milk, so don't worry if it seems like baby isn't eating as much when taking formula.

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In addition to what Kristin said, keep in mind that it is cheaper to rent or purchase a GOOD quality breastpump than it is to buy formula. Look on-line for a local resource for lactation support and there are also quite a few internet bf education sites including the Virginia Breastfeeding Taskforce at http://www.vabreastfeeding.org/ You can also attend a La Leche League meeting to find other nursing mothers who can give you suggestions. WIC peer counselors can also be helpful if you are WIC eligible. Enjoy your baby!

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Yes you can do that...just start to use the formal when you want and at nights breast feed....but there is nothing like the mothers milk...no matter how hard we try to replace it...mothers milk is best if she is healthy and has not problems with her milk...Children are so flexible and easy to go with the flow...with that said some babies will or can reject either the breast or bottle...

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From what I understand, it is possible to do things this way. And yes, your baby will still reap most of the benefits. Don't quit cold turkey though. Just start with substituting one feeding per day with a bottle for a week or two, then add one, then another until you've worked into a schedule where daytime feedings are all formula. I can't understand why you'd want to do things this way, but I'm sure you have a good reason, so go gradually and you'll have a better chance of success.

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You definitely can breastfeed in the evening, night, and early morning and then use formula during the day. How you get there depends on how old your baby is. If you have a newborn or very young infant, it is easiest to make gradual changes - for you and your baby. Switching one feeding at a time for a few days might be easiest. If your baby hasn't had a bottle, you might want to post again for the best ways to introduce it. Often, babies take bottles from someone other than mom much easier than they do from mom.

If you are short on time, maybe due to starting work, you can divide up the days or weeks you have left and then divide by the number of times you usually breastfeed (counting all the cluster - close together times - as one feeding). That way you can make the switch as gradually as you have time for.

Your baby will get the advantages of the nutrition of breastfeeding with every swallow. If you have allergies in your family, you would be better off pumping during the day and having a caregiver use breastmilk in the bottles or nursing the baby if that can be arranged. You will notice that the poop changes with the use of formula to a smellier, less yellow type. Some babies will be constipated with the change. This is less noticeable if the baby is over six months and already eating solids.
Good luck.

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I am not sure of your circumstance leading to this question but my suggestiong would be that if you don't want to or can't breastfeed during the day, perhaps you could pump and bottle feed the breastmilk. The baby still gets some benefit from breastfeeding even just once, but not as many benefits as if you either breastfeed day and night or pump.

Something else to consider is the financial benefit of breastfeeding. It cost me $30 a week for formula for my son...some babies need special formulas, some drink more formula, etc. Your formula expense could be even more than $30.

If you do decide to stop breastfeeding, don't do it cold turkey. You need to wean yourself slowly by decreasing the amount of time you breastfeed and eventually cut out the feedings one at a time. Stopping cold turkey is painful and can cause issues, such as clogged milk ducts.

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All breastmilk is the best. Why do you want to stop breastfeeding in the daytime? Do you have to go to work? If it's not a necessity, please try to breastfeed exclusively until the child is 6 months. AF

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So I'm doing the same thing now that I'm back to work. I nurse my daughter first thing in the morning and she gets formula while I'm at work. I am not pumping so my supply can dwindle down. I usually feed her when I get home from work. I'm quite full by then. Then I breastfeed her throughout the evening. She has been doing OK with her daycare provider with a bottle and with formula. I'm noticing that she doesn't eat as much as she used to during the day. It's like she's waiting for me. I read in a couple of books that it is totally possible to retain a lot of the benefits of breastfeeding using a combination of formula & breast milk. On the weekends, I bottle feed starting at 9 am through 4 pm so I don't increase my milk production. I do have my pump at work in case I get engorged but so far, so good.

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Hopefully this finds you well, and maybe back to work by now.
I have always believed that i would strictly breastfeed my children. I am totally against formula and all of the "junk" in it. I now have #3 and a VERY demanding job. I went back to work at 3 weeks and have been working approximately 55 hours per week on average (i WAS a stay home mom with the first two) After my job got into full swing I found that I had less time to pump. By then the baby was 5 months old. I did my best to find the time, but dad (now stay home dad) had to start supplimenting bottles. We did NOT use formula. We do V-fusion juices (both fruits and veges in one serving) and water or cows milk. We give him about 4 oz. of cows milk (whole vit d) a day to start and his tummy is doing just fine with it. I then nursed before work and after work and then all night long. I then stopped pumping at work all together (by now I was finding about 20min/once a day to pump). For a while it was about every hour he was awake at night and with my hectic schedule I was exhausted. However, it took about 4 weeks and he has settled in his nightly demands and is now up about every 3-4hrs. Daddy takes him for me at 5am so I can sleep hard for 3 hours without having baby worry-he co sleeps with me and daddy. So, yes it can work and it can work effeciently without formula if you really want to make it happen.

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i say that any breast milk is better thn none. your body will adapt to what you do. if you start to feed only once per day it will make the milk when you need it and the amount you need. if it hurts to go straight from 4 feedings to one because of the presure in your boobs then you will need to gradually step don but if it doesnt then good. also your baby might not like the cold turkey idea so the stepping down gradually may be what you have to do. find out what works best for you and baby and go for it.

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Yes, it is totally possible to breastfeed less often. But remember the goal is to keep your milk as long as possible for this to work you will need to probably breastfeed 1st thing in the morning to keep from being engorged and then you can breastfeed at night before bedtime. I did this from 3 months until 10 months when my daughter didn't seem interested any longer and I felt it was the best milk for her, but I was not able to pump at work. Twice a day works just fine. You cannot just go to this cold turkay though. You will need to start with giving a bottle once a day to replace a feeding for 2-3 days, and the replace a 2nd feeding with a bottle for 2-3 days and so on until you reach your goal. This way your body has time to adjust to making less milk and you will not become engorged and this will also give your baby time to get used to a bottle replacing a feeding. It may take 2-3 qweeks to get to your goal.

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