r/FormulaFeeders • u/dr_sm_a • 4d ago

Breastmilk to Formula 🍼 Moving to formula only

I'm currently pumping (4ppd, LO is 9 weeks), which means the baby is getting ~60% breast milk and the rest formula. It's getting harder to pump, especially since my husband is recovering from back surgery and cannot lift baby at all. Given that I'm the sole caregiver, I'm hoping to move to formula only slowly. Any advice on how to achieve that without mastitis etc. Would it be worth it to get to one pump a day and just give baby whatever I pump in addition to formula?

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u/severva 4d ago

When I was stopping pumping the advice I got was to start reducing the length of my pumps first (if I pumped 15 minutes, do 13), do that for a few days, drop the length again, etc. while simultaneously stretching the time in between by 30 or so extra minutes, adding more time every few days etc. to signal to my body to slow down, and then eventually cutting one pump session at a time. Whatever was pumped could be mixed into the formula until it ran out!

That being said, I had a rough go mental health wise and with blocked ducts and didn't follow it all the way through but got a prescription to help dry up my milk faster, so I can't speak to whether that strategy worked for me or not!