Baby on Strike- Refusing Anything but Breastmilk! What Formula to Choose?

Hi C.. I was in a similar situation with my son who is now 12 months old. I nursed him and pumped only for the first 7.5 months. I didn't want to start foods because we had found out he had food allergies and I was worried to try new things. Anyway, he was actually getting allergens through the foods I was eating and the doctor advised me to wean him to formula. It was so hard becuase he refused to take the hypoallergenic formula. He took bottle no problem but only the one with breast milk. I was forced to change my diet to exclude any milk, egg, peanut, soy, and wheat products which was really hard but I had no choice. Finally, my mom offered to take him for a few days to see if she could wean him. He went to her house and the first bottle of formula she offered him, he took. It was like he needed to be away from his mom and from what he was used to. When I picked him up, I thought he would refuse the formula from me, but he has been on it since. I hope this helps you. Good luck.

If you haven't already, try making the bottles with half breast milk/half formula. That way it still taste familiar. Although even doing this may take awhile for him to get used too. Good luck!

I don't know about formulas, but as on older mom, I was very concerned about being able to produce enough for both my girls (now 9 and 6, when I had them, I was 36 and 39). I breastfed both to 15 months, and drank Mother's Milk Tea from Traditional Medicinals. I also took herbs recommended to me by Sue Arico, the gal who runs the new mother support groups through Sutter Memorial Hospital. I think she had recommended blessed thistle and some other herbs. If you can't get ahold of Sue, someone at a natural foods shop might have info on some types of "nursing support" pills which have the right combo of herbs. Women have been nursing for a long time, and wise women and witches knew which herbs could support that effort. I took some herbal pills, drank lots of water, and slept more, and viola, out came more milk.
Your sense that you can't make enough milk could really be a sign that you may be putting too many demands on your body. Why do that now, when your child is so young? This time does not come back - either for you or your child's brain and immune system development. You have a partner, who I presume supports your nursing (an indisputable health advantage to your child, and thus to the two of you, who don't lose as much sleep when the kid is sick, and oh, yeah, then when each of you get sick too). Perhaps the two of you could agree to clean up less, or spend a little less time together, or less time watching tv, and you put into your schedule more time for sleep, because you body has an additional job to do right now, which is making that fabulous milk! If this doesn't work for you, it's okay, your best efforts given your own life and resources is the very most you can do. You are quite the good enough mom, I just remember that for me, I had to shift priorities and guard my sleep.

Hi C.,

I had issues with my baby in switching to formula. The one that he likes the best is Similac Advance with DHA and ARA. Also, Similac Organic is a smoother formula that he also likes. Good luck and hang in there!

Molly

Dear C.,

Call your doctor or the local Health Dept for advice about what formula to use. They will probably be able to give you some really good advice and help you purchase it.

Just be calm, he will take the bottle eventually, you already said that he was good at drinking breast milk from the bottle. He is just surprised at the new taste. Put some of your breast milk in with the formula and gradually add more formula until he is on 100% formula.

Good for you for going to school - fight on !!

C. N.

Hi C.,

Yes you do have a dilema! Let's take a look at a couple options you have. First - have you ever tasted that formula? It is NASTY! I don't blame you son for refusing it- it even smells bad! I would stay far away from the Soy formulas - most countries ban it now due to the issue of phyto-estrogens in the Soy. They act like human estrogen in our bodies and can have damaging effects to the babies body. I read a reasearch report a while back that stated that babies exclusively on Soy formula are taking enough estrogen into their bodies to be the equivalent of an adult taking 4-5 birth control pill a day...now that is scary!

Ok - so you can continue to ry other formulas - you might even try one of the follow-up formulas for babies over 6 months of age. They might taste better but I'm not so sure I would really reccomend that - it is just an option.

OR

Have you tried pumping at school? That might be your answer to building up your milk supply so he has breastmilk in a bottle. You can also get yourself on some herbs like More Milk Plus by Motherlove herbs to increase your milk supply so that you can pump after feedings and store up more milk for him. The idea here is that about 1/2 an hour after he nurses you go pump for 10 minutes and store whatver you get. Over time (usually a couple days) the supply increases and you will be more able to start storing milk.

How about solids? Is he into those yet? If so, maybe your provider can give him a meal to tide him over until you coan get back to him.

How about donor breastmilk? Do you have a friend who is also nursing who has some extra milk she may give to you for your son? I know others who have done that...there are some issues that you would want to be aware of but you can e-mail me privately if you think that might be an option. (I am a Lactation Consultant in Sacramento)

Lastly, will he simply wait for you? Some babies flat out refuse to take a bottle when mom goes back to work or school. They prefer to reverse their feeding schedule and nurse like crazy when mom comes home. :) This is OK - provided he has full access to the breast when you come home - which means he'll be nursing all night long. :) I also think you are very wise to recognise his need for comfort due to all your transitions - too many people don't recognize that. Keep meeting his needs...you are doing great there!

I hope this helps - please feel free to e-mail me privately if you'd like to. Good luck!

Warmly,

J.

I have been in your shoes all four of my children were breastfed and the one thing was warm bottle since our breast milk is warm and I used similac with iron yellow label says its as close to breast milk on the can.

Hope that helps and good luck,

okay this is what i did i used infamil lactoes free and pumped my milk and mixed formula with it use more of your milk at first then add more formula next time give it about a week to add more formula let him taste mainly your milk then you can add formula os if you can pump 4 oz add 2 oz of formula eventuly you will have all formula it will take a while

When I started back to work I started mixing Enfamil Lipil with a little breastmilk and water. I would always make sure the bottle is warm because for some reason formula when its cold smells like its rotten (at least to me) and my daughter would not drink it at all. My daughter transitioned very well but we also had someone other than myself give her a bottle for the first couple weeks. Then after about a week I just went straight to the formula and warm water for her bottles and she did very well. Her Ped. recommended the Enfamil Lipil and we have had great success with it. My suggestion is to try buying a small container and try it that way if your son doesnt like it then you can try another brand. Good luck!

C.,
Hi, I used Enfamil and think it's the best compared to our course breastmilk. My son had no problems with it. I tried other's but this one was the best for him. They have all types of different ones for Enfamil if you want Soy they have that too for Enfamil.

Good luck