Baby D is just 2 days shy of six months, and he has been on formula and solids for about 12 days.
He still looks for food by rubbing his nose against my boobs or tapping my boobs with his little hands, but once the bottle is in his mouth, he is content.
He feeds 8oz per feeding and he does about 4-5 feedings per 24 hours.
So this is how it all went down.
Weaning Day1
First had to find out which bottle he will take expressed breast milk from.
We had, Dr Browns, Dr Browns Nurser, Nuk, Playtex nurser with drop ins.
After trying all four kinds (with extreme patience and a lot of 'please' 'good boy' and coaxing), the winner was the Playtex nurser with drop ins.
So he had total of 20 oz of breast milk from the bottle, and the rest of the feedings, I fed exclusively from the breast. We had a quarter of a ripened banana mushed up.
Weaning Day 2
Since we found out which bottle he likes, next I mixed 1/2 formula 1/2 breast milk to the bottle hoping he'd take it.....but to no avail... what's the problem?
Called my mom and asked what she did when she weaned me off, and she said "I mixed a little bit of a sugar in the formula"
Ok. So I took 8 oz of water, mixed 1/2 tbsp of sugar, and mixed two scoops of formula, and had baby D latch... he sucked on it for about a minute, but spit it out with a grimace.... hm... what is the problem???
Ended up bottle feeding the rest of the day with expressed breast milk. Had a half of a mushed up banana.
Weaning Day 3
Did 8 oz of water, 1/2 tbsp of sugar, two scoops of formula.... what can I do differently? WARM IT UP UNDER RUNNING HOT WATER! Since my breast milk was probably warm, the formula also had to be warm... DUH!
Warmed the bottle up, so that it felt borderline hot, but really warm, gave it to baby D, and HE DOWNED IT LIKE A CHAMP!
Now what I had to do was wean him off the sugar, so throughout the day I decreased the amount of sugar.
The next feeding I did 8 oz H2O, 1tsp sugar, 2 scoops of formula.
The following feeding I did 8 oz H2O, 1/2 tsp sugar, 2 scoops of formula
The next feeding after that, I did 8 oz H2O, 1/4 tsp sugar, 2 scoops of formula
The last feeding of the day, I did 8 oz H2O, NO SUGAR, and 2 scoops of formula, and he took it so well!
All the feedings were with warmed up milk.
And we had a 1/2 of banana mushed up.
STOPPING THE LACTATION(Weaning Day 1-3)
While the weaning was going on, my boobs went crazy, because the milk had nowhere to go now.
So it kept building up and up. The pressure was unbearable.
This is what I did.
I pumped ALL THE MILK OUT, like until my boobs totally looked non-existent. This for me is about and hour of pumping. Then I made ice packs with a 2zip lock bags, 2 washcloths, ice cubes from the freezer. Then I wore a tight sportsbra, stuffed the ice packs in each boob, then I bound the boobs real tight with the hands free pump bra thing I got. I also took motrin, since the pain was unbearable.
I did this for 3 days, and most of my milk dried up. I still leak a little bit now and then, but I don't get the let down sensation or the rock hard feeling.
Solids
Hubby had purchased the Cuisinart Baby, and it really does making your own baby food easier.
It has the steam function and the puree function together, so it's really convenient.
So far, baby D has tried, apples, avocados, bananas. We will move on to pears, carrots, and peas, real soon.
After weaning day 3, we started baby D on Gerber rice cereal, which he liked tremendously right away.
This is his feeding schedule so far, 8 oz formula right after he wakes up, and another one after 2-3 hours, then rice cereal around noon, then formula again, then banana or some other solid food, then formula again, bath, formula before he sleeps, and then another formula if he wakes up in the middle of the night.
Around 6.5 months, I plan on giving him solids 3 times a day, one rice cereal, one fruit, one veggie.
POOP
Depending on the solid food he eats that day, his poop color changes. If he has avocado, then it's green. If he just has bananas then it's yellow. He also sometimes poops 3-4 times a day, and some days he doesn't poop at all. I think his digestive system is trying to figure out what to do with the solids. So I figure his poop will be inconsistent until his body gets used to more solids.
Daddy Involvement
Now that Baby D doesn't need my breasts any more, the husband has been much involved with the feedings, and that has increased the bond between baby D and him. It also gives me some free time to do stuff, like shower :]
Husband and Me Time
My breasts being free really made my husband and me come closer once again. Since I was always at Baby D's beck and call, we really didn't have husband and wife time, but now, we do.
Sex life is great, and we are back to being a couple again, not just roommates.
We have baby D's 6 month check up in two days, so until then, keep us in your prayers!
