Can anyone tell me how to semi-wean my 4 month old. I am going back to work 2 days per week in a few weeks and my baby will need to have two feeds per day of formula. How do I reduce the feeds?

Hi,

I'm not an expert but i'll try to help.

You could either try to just give baby formula for one feed (maybe when your supply is lowest) and see how he/she takes it. Baby may not like the taste (my DS didn't) so to help I actually turned to dreamfeeding him formula and within a week or so I tried again when he was awake and he took it quite willingly. I feed him formula as his last feed of every night - due to me maybe needing to wean him quickly, I didn't want to stop with the formula only to have to start all over again lol.
Now that is the way that has worked for me. My supply was low at that time of day anyway but now - after a few weeks, there is absolutely no discomfort from skipping that feed.
I have also had to have DS babysat once in an emergency and was able to give formula to the sitter (didn't have any EBM) and he took it quite well. Not as much as normal, but still drank as much as he wanted.

Another way you could do it is to water down the taste of the formula by mixing it with EBM. Still make the formula to the tins recommendation but make half of the feed EBM too. That would still give baby a bit of your breast milk taste and could slowly wean baby to formula.

Once baby is taking one feed, try the second. That way by the time you get back to work hopefully your supply has settled a bit so your not 'busting'.

I'm not sure if your supply will be affected the other days that you are not working - your body will probably adjust somehow.

That is all depending on if your baby takes a bottle. If not, I would give EBM in a bottle first and see how it goes.

Is there any way you could use EBM for baby whilst you are gone. Can you express enough - even for one feed each day?

HTHs

Have you considered expressing? With DD1 I went back to work when she was just 6 months old, 2 days per week.
I never considered formula, but managed to express her feeds. I was also lucky in that I ould drive up to childcare and breastfeed her at lunchtime. She started childcare in summer, and was refusing all bottles etc. Finally a few weeks after she started drinking EBM from a sipper cup (a Tupperware one) and we never looked back.
I would feed her on one side on waking (7am) while I was expressing off the other side. I would then express at work around 10am (on the toilet, no less ) then I would have milk for her to drink for the afternoon if required. I would then express sometime in the afternoon. I worked until 6pm, so then fed her a few times before bed. This worked well for us until she weaned at 15 months.