Good formula to wean 6mths old exclusively BF baby?

yuukalim0404

Registered User
I plan to bf my bb exclusively till at least 6mths. She is 3.5mths now (had never drank anything else execpt breastmilk since birth) and I thought I should do some research ahead first.

Please share your experience with me as in what kind of formula powder works for your baby (for those that was exclusively bf before) eg taste, most similar to bm, low allergy etc and how do you introduce formula to baby and how was their reaction to that?
Any advice will be appreciated, thanks!
 
Hi yuukalim0404, I solely breast fed my daughter up to around 5months until I made the decision to move her onto formula. Every child is different, but for me, it was a very hard transition, and found it difficult to obtain help (as breast feeding is so strongly supported). Anyway, as I said every child is different, so it is a matter of finding the best formula to suit your childs needs. After around a month of rejection from my daughter, what worked for me was going back to basics. I started with making sure my daughter would take BM from a bottle again (which she did, this way I made sure a bottle wasn't the issue). Then, I did 10% formula, and 90% breast milk one day, next day 20%/80%, 30/70 next and so on. As I said, I had major issues hence why I started with small ration movements, most do 25/75, 50/50, then 25/75. It was draining, as I found myself having to express for each feed (which I wasn't used to). Regarding formula, I was in Australia when we made the transition, and used Nestle Nan HA. It was recommended by Health professionals as it tasted the closest to BM (I had tried many others previously, which she just refused). It worked perfectly. It is sold here, but when we moved here, the HK version (made in Germany) ended up giving her a very runny nappy. So, we went to the Paed. and she advised they recommend three brands, Enfamil (or Enfapro for 6mth +), Cow and Gate, or S26. We are on Enfapro, and it works fine for my daughter. However some had advised that it caused constipation for their child. I think it will be a matter of trial and error, but if you do go to the doctors anytime prior to making the transition it would be beneficial to ask. I hope I haven't confused you, but do hope it helps. Any further queries please don't hesitate to let me know.
 
very helpful advice, wonder if it is ok to just switch to 1 formula feed and ather then mixing with BM in same bottle. She is fine with drinking from bottle as she does that with EBM when I am away at work fulltime. Guess I will need to try and experience when the time comes.
 
Hi, my son was also solely breastfed for 5 months when I first tried any kind of formula with him. Because he had a minor case of eczema when he was 3 months old, our doctor recommended that he drink hypoallergenic formula. We tried 4 different formulas before we found one that he would drink. He drank Meiji - hypoallergenic version until 13 months when we switched him to cow's milk. It's just different from baby to baby. The best is if you can get sample cans from your doctor just to try it out with your baby to see what he will take. Good luck!
 
Many people do try one bottle of formula a day and then building it from there, which has worked for many, but when I tried this (ie, 100% formula into a bottle), it is when my issues started. She straight away rejected it, and then refused EBM from a bottle probably at the fear I had put formula back in it. (We had been giving EBM weekly to our daughter from a bottle from birth too.) It took me weeks of trying to get her to just take EBM from a bottle again, but once she did, i tried the other method of doing 10/90 formula/EBM which worked, and built it from there. Hopefully your baby just takes to formula straight away and you don't have any issues, but it was an absolute nightmare for me, and very stressful. It ended up taking around 2 months to make the transition solely to formula. Good luck.
 
We went down the bottle a day route and worked up to moving to formula completely at 7 months. We used a french brand called Babynat as it was organic and seemed to taste similar. It's not as widely available as the other brands though, just B2, Citysuper and sometimes Great.
 
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