For those fellow mamas who are planning to go back to work or ready to stop breastfeeding, here’s my experience and tips on how to transition from boob to bottle:

I went back to work when Bub was 9 months old. I’d read that transitioning a baby off of breast milk would take time so at around the 6 month mark, I started the weaning process.

My initial plan was to wean Bub off daytime feeds, pump at work and feed at night until he settled into childcare. Then I would wean him off night time feeds too.

To wean off daytime feeds, I dropped one daytime feed every couple of days. This allowed my boobs to slowly reduce milk production and that feeling of rock hardness you get when you haven’t fed Bub. It was difficult initially because Bub kept crying and I felt bad, but after a couple days, he adjusted.

Instead of feeding via boob, I tried to use a bottle. He would not take it at all. It was surprising because when Bub was really going and I had mastitis, we used a bottle for a couple days and Bub was fine. It seems the older they get, the more they ‘know’. We also tried feeding from a spoon, a cup and a sippy cup. Funnily enough, what seemed to work well was a clean beer bottle. For some reason, Bub was able to take a few sips from that.

At the same time, I was pumping milk, but Bub still wouldn’t really drink it. So I decided fuck it I will use formula: easier and less work.

Eventually, we got Bub drinking from one of those baby bottles with a straw so didn’t need to use the beer bottle. What also helped was offering it to him between bites of food. However, I found that overall, he didn’t drink much formula. I was concerned, but he was onto solids anyway. Also, one of the childcare educators said most of the time, the babies who started off breastfed rarely take to formula anyway so that made me feel better.

We offered formula until he was 12 months. It was such a waste because he didn’t drink much, but we still offered it to him.

In terms of dropping night time feeds after 12 months, I decided instead to let him naturally wean off. We have a good routine going and popping him onto the boob if he cries overnight is quicker and easier for me to get as much sleep as possible. I joined a Facebook group about natural weaning and was told that a) they will stop needing boob to fall asleep and b) generally happens after 18 months. So for now, it is what it is.

So what are the lessons learnt?

1. If you’re ready to wean off, do it gradually and drop one feed every couple days, then another and another etc.

2. If Bub doesn’t take to a bottle, experiment to find what works. Don’t despair if nothing really works, it takes them awhile to get used to it.

3. If Bub doesn’t really drink formula, also don’t despair. You can supplement with food and for me I found my Bub was fine in the end.

4. It’s a lot of test and learn as well as some patience for Bub to adjust. Likely your plan may not eventuate, but do what works for you!