What to use to supplement?

[handsandfeet]

My baby has been EBF since birth and is now 10 mos. He began a daytime nursing strike about a month ago, and unfortunately it has not improved. He will only nurse in the night (and won't nurse to sleep at night -- only will nurse when half asleep!). I am pumping 6 times a day, taking herbs, etc, but can't keep up with his demand. My boobs are not fans of the pump, and so my supply is dropping. I have a little milk frozen, but if I supplement with frozen milk for one feed per day I will run out in exactly 8 days.

I've tried giving him one bottle of organic formula every day, and the first few days he accepted it, but now he just gags and shoves it away. I don't know what to do if he won't take formula. Has anyone else run into this problem? Should I try regular milk or goats milk even though he's not a year yet?

[cristeen]

What changed a month ago? How much solids does he eat? How much are you able to pump during the day? Is he taking a bottle during the day? What bottle/nipple are you using?

I'm making a few assumptions here, but honestly, at 10 months, if he's eating a fair bit of solids, I'd stop giving him a bottle. Nurse him when he's willing - since he's getting the milk you pumped, I'm assuming he's taking it from a bottle - take that out of the equation. If he's not willing to nurse, offer him solids, and keep offering nursing. But if you're giving him a bottle when he refuses to nurse, you're just setting up a bad loop.

[handsandfeet]

A month or so ago (during Christmastime) he was very distracted with all the cousins in town and just wouldn't sit still to nurse (even in a quiet dark room) for very long. It just gradually got to where he would bite me every time I tried to nurse him, except at night when he's drowsy already. I'm pumping about 16 oz a day and he's wanting to eat about 20. He eats a good amount of solids -- 3 meals a day, and loves real food. He does take a bottle during the day. He had been taking a bottle a few days a week for a feed or 2 since he was 3 mos b/c I work part time (so unfortunately I can't cut the bottle out of the equation unless I want him to go 6 hrs without eating), and now he only wants a bottle during the day. He takes expressed BM from a bottle really well, but when I put formula in it he will not have it. I was fearing that I am setting up a bad loop since now he clearly prefers the bottle, but I don't think I can change it, unfortunately... thank you for your thoughts!!

[tracymom1]

You could try giving the formula gradually in the bottles of BM - maybe start with just an ounce of formula and 3 or 4 ounces of BM, then 2 ounces of formula and 2 of BM, etc... maybe the slow transition will help him get adjusted to the taste. A friend of mine did this when her babe was around 10 months old and she had to wean because of health issues. I also did this when DS was around 15 months and started refusing to nurse (but I used goat's milk because he was older). Good luck figuring it out!

[Blueone]

I would suggest formula. 10 months is a bit too young for straight milk of any sort outside of BM.

[cristeen]

If he's refusing to eat solids during the day, then I'd start by getting a slower flow nipple on that bottle so he has to work more for it. The more he has to work for the bottle, the less he will prefer it over the breast.

[handsandfeet]

Thank you! I may try the gradual addition approach. I'm scared though that he will refuse it with any formula and the waste it! But I guess it's worth a try for one bottle and see how he does.

I do use a slow flow nipple. The problem he seems to have with the breast is waiting for letdown, which can take anywhere from 30 sec to 5 min. But he likes the instant gratification of the bottle, I think. I was very depressed about it for the first couple of weeks, but now I just enjoy our night nursing sessions and try to appreciate that it was easy for us up until recently. Gone are my dreams of nursing for 2 years... unless he somehow picks it back up.

[cristeen]

Forgot to say that something that has worked for us... my little guy was weaned at about 3 weeks, and we had to retrain him to the breast. We still occasionally have times when he refuses the breast (like tonight) in favor of the bottle. What I do is lay him in the breastfeeding position, propped with pillows, bottle feed him for a minute or so (until he relaxes) and then remove the bottle and pop in the nipple. It won't work for all babies, but it's worth a shot.