Breast to bottle

Thinking of stopping breastfeeding, or just cutting back? Then read on for everything you need to know about moving your baby onto bottles

Breastfeeding is a very special experience for you and your baby. Not only are you passing on health benefits that’ll set your little one up for life, but you’re also developing an unbreakable bond between the two of you. Plus there’s the satisfaction you get from knowing that every single ounce he gains is purely down to you – what an ego-boost!

But no matter how much you love it, eventually the time comes to cut back on breastfeeding or stop completely, whether it’s because you’re going back to work, your baby is losing interest, or you simply want the freedom to leave him with someone else for a few hours, knowing he won’t go hungry.

But if your little one is used to mummy’s milk and nothing else, making the switch from breast to bottle can be a difficult time for both of you – physically and emotionally.

So, to help you along the way, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about moving your baby onto bottles, either part-time or completely.

And, to remind you of just what a good job you’ve done so far, we’ve searched out all the breastfeeding trivia you never knew. So give yourself a big pat on the back, take a deep breath and prepare yourself for the next step on your parenting journey. Good luck!

39 things you never knew about breastfeeding

We all know that breast is best, but there’s a lot more to nursing your baby than just the health benefits…

1. By breastfeeding, you’re protecting your baby from ear infections, gastro-intestinal infections, asthma, childhood diabetes, chest infections, urine infections, eczema and obesity. Impressive, eh?

2. Worldwide, 90% of mothers at least attempt to breastfeed. But in the UK, only 76% of us do.

3. Breastfeeding helps protect you from ovarian cancer, breast cancer and osteoporosis (brittle bones).

4. The Government advises exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, but almost 80% of mums have stopped by that point. In contrast, the World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding until two years.

5. Don’t panic if your newborn wants to feed constantly for the first few weeks, especially during the evening. Far from being a sign that you haven’t got enough milk, it’s his way of stimulating your milk supply. The more he feeds, the more you’ll make.

6. The consistency of your milk changes throughout each feed – it’s thin and watery at first, then, once your baby’s thirst is quenched, it becomes thick, creamy and full of calories and nutrients.

7. Breastmilk is so ideally tailored to your little one’s needs that there’s very little waste – in fact, some breastfed babies go seven to 10 days between poos. It’s completely normal!

8. By one year old, the average breastfed baby weighs two and a half to three times his birth weight.

9. Worried about getting your boobs out in public? Don’t be – 71% of breastfeeding mums feel comfortable about doing it while out and about.

10. Breastfeeding for just one month has health benefits for the first 14 years of your child’s life.

11. If you breastfeed for a year, you’ll save yourself around £360 on formula milk.

12. Breastfeeding mums need less time off work to look after a sick baby – breastfed tots are, in general, healthier than formula-fed babies.

13. Nursing your newborn while lying down boosts your chances of success. It stimulates 17 natural feeding reflexes in your baby – compared to just three if you feed sitting up.

14. In Africa, mums breastfeed for an average of 16 to 28 months.

15. Breastfed babies are brainier. Several studies have shown that feeding for three months or more increases your little Einstein’s IQ.

16. Your breastmilk changes according to your baby’s nutritional needs, appetite and even the weather – on hot days, when he needs to feed more frequently, your milk is thinner and more thirst-quenching.

17. Breastfed babies have far less noxious nappies. It’s a fact. Brilliant!

18. In Scotland, it’s illegal to stop mums from breastfeeding in public places. Campaigns are underway to introduce the same law to the rest of the UK.

19. Breastfeeding will give your baby a beautiful smile. Italian research showed that breastfed bambinos were less likely to have wonky teeth than bottle-fed babies, even if they were used to sucking their thumb or a dummy.

20. Women who are breastfeeding have fewer periods.

21. If you’re under the weather, your body will produce antibodies to fight any bug. These are passed to your baby through your milk, so he’s less likely to catch the same illness.

22. The foods you eat flavour your breastmilk, so you’re helping to develop your little gourmet’s palate long before he tries his first solids. In fact, babies seem to prefer a variety of flavour in their milk – those whose mums eat a lot of garlic tend to breastfeed for longer.

23. The world record for simultaneous breastfeeding was set in the Philippines in 2006 – at least 3,738 mums turned up to nurse their babies together in the capital city, Manila.

24. For the first few days after giving birth, you produce not milk but colostrum – a yellowy fluid that’s rich in antibodies to help your baby fight infection in his vulnerable newborn days.

25. It’s considered safe to drink small amounts of alcohol while breastfeeding – but you’ll produce less milk for your baby after a tipple. Stick to the maximum pregnancy allowance of one to two units, once or twice a week.

26. Got more milk than your baby needs? Then why not donate it to a milk bank? Hospitals always need donated breastmilk for sick and premature babies. Visit ukamb.org for more info.

27. Breastfeeding uses at least 500 calories a day, so you can eat more than usual and still shed your pregnancy weight.

28. Peer pressure rocks! Almost 90% of women said they would breastfeed if they have friends who did so.

29. Anyone for flapjacks? Oats and oatmeal are renowned for boosting your milk supply, as are the herbs fenugreek and blessed thistle. Make sure you’re also drinking eight to 10 glasses of water a day to ensure a plentiful supply of boob juice.

30. Breastfed babies gain weight more slowly than formula-fed tots, but don’t panic – it’s normal and healthy. The graphs in your little one’s health record book are based on bottle-feeding, and may suggest that he’s not thriving when actually, he’s doing just what nature intended. The World Health Organisation has devised new charts based on breastfeeding – you can download them from who.int/childgrowth/en.

31. Skin-to-skin contact with your baby for the first hour or two after giving birth makes it more likely for him to latch onto your breast by himself, and his latch is likely to be better.

32. Breastfed newborns are often jaundiced (with yellowish skin and eyeballs) for as long as three months, peaking between 10 and 21 days old. No one knows what the cause is, but it’s not in any way harmful, and is not a sign that you should stop breastfeeding.

33. Breastfeeding can be as good a contraceptive as the pill – provided you’re doing it exclusively (no bottles, solids, water or dummies), at regular intervals day and night, and your periods have not yet returned, it’s around 99% effective in the first six months. But unless you’d be happy with a surprise pregnancy, we’d suggest using back-up measures too.

34. London and the South East have the highest breastfeeding rates in the UK – 81% of mums attempt the practice. Northern Ireland has the lowest rate, with just 54% giving it a go.

35. Think it’s embarrassing or inconvenient to breastfeed in public? Think again… only eight per cent of breastfeeding mums say they’ve never fed outside the home, compared to a surprising third of mums who bottle-feed.

36. You’re more likely to stop breastfeeding in the first two weeks if you don’t get the chance to nurse your baby as soon as he’s born, so write your intentions in your birth plan.

37. Women who were breastfed themselves are more likely to breastfeed their own babies.

38. Expecting twins or triplets? You can still breastfeed – and in fact, almost 60 per cent of multiple mums do. Contact the Twins and Multiple Births Association (tamba.org.uk) for more info.

39. In 2003, an American woman was arrested after police spotted her breastfeeding her baby behind the wheel of her car – while doing 65mph on the motorway. Don’t try this at home, folks!

Making the switch

Follow our simple guide, and your little boob monster will be happily supping from a bottle in no time

In theory, swapping from breast to bottle sounds easy. Take one bottle, one hungry baby, and hey presto! But if your little milk monster isn’t used to bottles, the changeover may not be quite that simple. So, to get you on the right tracks, here’s how to make the switch.

1. Choose your bottles and teats. ‘Ask friends who’ve introduced bottles for recommendations,’ suggests M&B health visitor Jackie Walsh. A short, stubby latex teat tends to work best, as it’s softer and more flexible.

2. Do some plastic surgery. ‘I use a hot needle to make the hole in the teat much bigger,’ says Clare Byam-Cook, breastfeeding expert and author of What to expect when you’re breastfeeding… and what if you can’t (Vermilion, £8.99), and the DVD Breastfeeding without tears (Green Umbrella, £12.99).

‘This ensures he gets the milk out without any effort, even if he’s screaming.’ If you try this, sit your baby upright to feed, so that he doesn’t choke on the fast flow.

3. Choose between expressed milk or formula. Some babies take to formula without any hassle. ‘But,’ says Jackie, ‘if your baby isn’t used to bottles, you may have more success with expressed milk.’ Whichever you choose, heat it up, as your baby is used to warm milk from your breast.

4. Decide who’s going to offer the feed. ‘It’s often best for mum to offer the bottle, as your baby is used to being fed by you, and it’s one less change for him,’ says Clare. But some babies won’t accept a bottle from mummy as they expect her to breastfeed and become upset if she doesn’t. In that case, ask someone else, like dad, to try.

5. ‘Distract your baby, either by having someone wave toys at him or by sitting in front of the TV, then put the teat in his mouth,’ says Clare. ‘If he cries, reassure him, but keep the teat in.’

6. Persevere! It’s unusual for a breastfed baby to take to bottles straight away. ‘But the older he gets, the more resistant he’ll become, so don’t bury your head in the sand,’ advises Clare.

You may decide to offer a bottle once a day, until it clicks, but this can be a slow process. So, if things are more urgent, set aside 24 hours to go at it full throttle, offering nothing but bottles.

‘If he’s a normal, healthy baby, he won’t come to any harm,’ says Clare. ‘He might cry himself to sleep, but try again at his next feed. If you’re committed, he’ll be taking a bottle by the end of that 24-hour period, and he’ll forget the experience long before you do.’

Ready, steady, stop

If you’re planning to stop breastfeeding completely, allow at least three weeks. There are two ways to do it. ‘The first is to drop one feed every two to three days, so your body gets used to missing one complete feed at a time,’ says Clare. ‘The other option is to feed at your usual times, but make each feed shorter and shorter, topping your baby up with a bottle afterwards.’ Both strategies will tell your body to wind down milk production.

Even stopping gradually, you may feel quite uncomfortable while your body adjusts to not producing milk. ‘If you become engorged, make sure you wear a good bra to support your breasts,’ says Jackie. ‘Try warm baths and Paracetamol to ease the pain, and just express a small amount of milk by hand if you really have to.’

Remember that milk production works on a supply and demand basis – the more you take out, the more you’ll make, so step away from the breastpump!

Keep it flowing

Although some mums stop breastfeeding completely after introducing bottles, many others combine the two methods, whether for convenience or because they’re going back to work.

Often, your body adapts easily to the new feeding pattern. But missing feeds might leave you either engorged or short of milk for your baby’s remaining breastfeeds. ‘If this happens, you’ll need to express during the day to keep your supply stable,’ says Clare. ‘After a few days, stop and see what happens. If your body has adjusted, great; if not, start pumping again.’

It’s also worth recapping the advice you followed to stimulate your milk supply in the newborn days. ‘Eat well, drink plenty of water, and rest as much as you can,’ says Jackie. ‘By taking care of yourself and expressing during the day, there’s no reason why you can’t mix-feed for months.’

Work and breastfeeding

If you’re back at work, keeping your supply up for your baby’s morning and night feeds may mean expressing during the working day. Your employer has a responsibility to support you by providing:

• A full health and safety assessment to make sure your work doesn’t pose any risks to you or your baby, such as working with radioactive material or doing night shifts

• A suitable place to rest

• Extra breaks to express or rest – there’s no guidance on how many you should have, so discuss this with your employer

• A private, healthy and safe environment to express – not the toilets! Somewhere to store your milk. This is not a legal requirement, but is recommended by the Health and Safety Executive.

For more information on your working rights while breastfeeding, visit hse.gov.uk.

Storage solutions

If you’re expressing milk for your baby, you can keep it for four hours at room temperature, and eight days in the coldest part of the fridge (at the back). You can also freeze it for two weeks in the freezer compartment, or an amazing six to 12 months in the freezer itself. Store it in a sterilised, sealed container, marked with the date on which it was expressed.

To defrost, thaw the milk slowly in the fridge for about 12 hours, rather than leaving it at room temperature. If you need it quickly, run the container under cool water, gradually increasing the temperature. Once it’s thawed, it can be kept in the fridge for another 24 hours, but it should never be refrozen.

Expressed breastmilk separates, so you’ll need to swirl the bottle gently to mix it together. Always smell the milk before using it – if it smells bad or tastes sour, don’t give it to your baby.

Mix-feeding from birth – does it work?

It’s a widely held belief that using bottles before breastfeeding is established – usually around week six – will put your baby off the breast and affect your milk supply. But many mums introduce bottles much sooner.

So can mix-feeding from birth ever work? Yes, according to Clare, who believes that the concept of ‘nipple confusion’, where your baby forgets how to breastfeed after being introduced to a bottle, is a fallacy. ‘In the first three weeks, a baby will suck on anything and should happily switch between breast and bottle,’ she explains.

‘By introducing bottles early, you won’t experience problems with him rejecting them later on.’

It is also a myth that expressing before breastfeeding is established will hinder your milk supply. ‘Your milk production is stimulated by milk being taken out of the breast, and it doesn’t make any difference what you use – your baby or a pump – as long as you do it at regular intervals,’ Clare says.

Breastmilk is best for your baby, but don’t beat yourself up if you use the occasional bottle of formula. ‘Expressing can be time-consuming alongside breastfeeding and looking after your baby,’ says Jackie. ‘It’s not the end of the world if you use formula, but make sure you look after yourself, eat well and drink plenty of fluids to keep your milk supply up for when you do want to breastfeed.’

Follow these guidelines, and there’s no reason why you can’t mix-feed successfully.

Pain, pain, go away

We asked mums for their advice on relieving uncomfortable post-breastfeeding boobs.

‘Cut back gradually – I dropped one feed at a time, and waited three days before dropping the next. I went from five feeds a day to none within three weeks, with no pain at all.’

Charlie Gillett from Runcorn, mum to Emily, six months

‘Cold Savoy cabbage leaves in your bra are very soothing – albeit odd and not very attractive!’

Helen Gooding from Winchester, mum to Sam, four, and Thomas, 11 months

‘If you’re stopping completely, try taking a decongestant containing the drug pseudoephedrine – it dries up mucus, and has the same effect on breastmilk.’

Amanda Nash from Hereford, mum to Carla, two

‘Hand-expressing a small amount when my boobs got to bursting point helped to relieve the pressure without re-stimulating my milk supply.’

Tracey Manson from Falmouth, mum to Sophie, two, and Ben, five months

‘I found that hot and cold compresses were both soothing – either packs of frozen peas wrapped in a towel, or hot flannels.’

Vanessa Buck from Abingdon, mum to Leo, seven, Christie, three, and Grace, 13 months

‘Wear a bra all the time, including at night, and don’t go back to underwired bras for six weeks.’

Sarah Smith from Luton, mum to Molly, seven months

‘If you’re in a lot of pain and have fluey symptoms, see your GP – I developed mastitis (an infection of the milk ducts) after I stopped feeding, and needed antibiotics.’

Deborah Havers from Leicester, mum to Alex, two

How we made the switch

‘Changing to bottles was easy for both of us’

‘From about six weeks, Jessica had been having one bottle of expressed milk a day, but at four and half months, postnatal depression and sleep deprivation got the better of me, so I decided to introduce some formula. I started by offering a couple of ounces of ready-made formula at her afternoon feed, and she drained it.

Because she’d been having a daily bottle from early on, the change didn’t bother her.

From there, I dropped one feed at a time. On the couple of occasions where I felt engorged, I just expressed an ounce or so to relieve the discomfort.

Formula didn’t improve Jessica’s sleep, but it gave me more freedom to go out without worrying about where to feed, as I’d never found a comfortable and discreet breastfeeding position. And having the option of someone else to feed her was a welcome relief.’

Katy Tutt from Abergavenny, mum to Jessica, 19 months

‘It took 16 weeks before she’d take a bottle’

‘I decided to introduce one bottle a day when Héloïse was nine weeks old. She’d had the occasional bottle in the first few weeks, so I assumed it wouldn’t be a problem. I was wrong! To start with, she just played with the teat in her mouth, then screamed when she got fed up. After a few weeks of trying every day, she’d scream as soon as she saw the bottle. 

We tried everything – different people feeding her, different teats and bottles, expressed milk, several types of formula, different temperatures, different positions, an open cup and even a spoon. It took 16 long weeks, but eventually she started to take a few ounces from a breast-shaped feeder, and once she was used to that, she went on to a normal bottle. 

For about a month Héloïse was happily mix-fed, but then she began to reject the bottle again. She started waking up hungry at night, so I gave up and went back to breastfeeding.

Then, just before her first birthday, I tried Héloïse with a bottle again. Out of the blue, she downed the lot! From then on, I was able to cut down on breastfeeding and stopped completely just before 17 months. She'll now quite happily use any cup she’s offered to take her milk.’

Sarah Dafforne from York, mum to Ben, three, and Héloïse, 20 months