I've been EPing for almost 5 months, but I want to stop pretty soon. I really hate all the pumping, cleaning, and I'll be going back to work next week. The problem is LO hates formula. She'll drink the premixed stuff sometimes when I won't give her BM. But the premixed stuff is so so expensive. The couple times I've tried giving her the powder stuff, she wouldn't take it. What would you do? Would you keep giving her the powder in hopes that she'll take it?
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Have you tried liquid concentrate? It's a great in between - looks exactly like the ready to feed but you mix it with equal parts water. My daughter wouldn't take the powder , but the ready feed was too expensive. The liquid concentrate was a lifesaver!
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Can you do half and half to cut down cost? Like half powdered with the ready mix stirred in? Not sure it will fool her, but might be worth a shot.
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LO was on Alimentum RTF for months which is incredibly expensive - $10 a day! He absolutely refused to drink the powder version and we did a very gradual transition from RTF to powder by offering bottles with slowly increasing amounts of powder formula until he was at 100%. Now I can give him an occasional RTF feeding while we're out and he has no problem going right back to his powder routine at home.
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The coupons usually work on premixed! That's how I made it less expensive.
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I would try to mix 3 parts ready feed + 1 part powder mixed up and slowly transition to 100% powder.
Also, the liquid concentrate sounds like a good alternative too!
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I would very slowly change from the liquid to powder - like 1/8 powder to 7/8 liquid. And very slowly up the powder. Hopefully that works.
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Have you tried mixing BM with formula and slowly adding more formula/less BM? Trick her into not noticing that she is taking it?
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Can you try a different brand?
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I've never used premixed formula but when I introduced formula, my LO initially hated it as well. It was much, much easier to ease him into it by slowly adding it to breast milk, like 0.5-1oz at a time to each bottle. And gradually increasing formula amount until the whole bottle was formula. Also, it did take some trial and error (like maybe 3 brands) before I found one he didn't mind. Now, he loves the stuff.
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I did the mixing trick to when we transitioned. I'd do like 3/4 milk and 1/4 formula for a few days then 1/2 and 1/2 for a few days then 1/4 and 3/4 for a few days then all formula.
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We did the premix stuff... with our last kid. Costco had jugs of his premix though (similac). I'm not sure if they still have it... just a thought.
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I would slowly mix.
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i would slowly mix breastmilk/formula.
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Another vote for gradually transitioning. That's what we did. Also, the Dr. Browns formula pitcher gets it mixed up really smooth as opposed to just shaking a bottle.
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I tried all the combinations of mixing, and as long as there is any formula, she doesn't want it. I've had to dump several ounces of BM since it was mixed with formula and she didn't want it after 2 sips. So I think I need to do this cold turkey. I just hate the thought of her not eating for days. Would that even happen?
I've tried 2 formula brands, Gerber and Similac. She didn't like it.
@BabyTsMom: which formula did your LO end up taking?
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we used earth's best organic. maybe you can get a bunch of samples?
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@Pumpkin Pie: My son doesn't like BM mixed with formula but will take them separately. I would just keep offering. Also my son likes his formula a little warmer than breastmilk. I'd offer at bedtime when your baby is a little sleepier.
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@Pumpkin Pie: would you be comfortable using donor milk?
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I would keep offering / trying. Maybe for like a few days give one bottle that is formula. Then when she will finally take that one bottle ease to two bottles, etc.
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It's not the same but when we switched DD from fresh pumped to all frozen, we had to start by only giving the frozen bottles when she was almost asleep/first thing in the morning.
Also - a drop of vanilla extract really helped too!
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@AmandaB8: I didn't know there was a difference between fresh and frozen BM!
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@Kemma: I believe donor milk is very very expensive.
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@Pumpkin Pie: lipase develops in frozen milk, and some babies can be picky about it.
Also - most donor moms (if you look on Facebook) only request that you replace bags. We donate because we have an oversupply. I donated a lot over the year I pumped, and bags were all that was given. Look into human milk 4 human babies and eats on feets on Facebook.
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@Pumpkin Pie: Similac Total Comfort. tried enfamil supplementing and similac advance but he didn't like those.
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