The ABC's Of When To Introduce Baby Formula

It can be tricky knowing exactly when your baby’s ready to make the move from breastmilk to baby formula, especially if you have a bub that’s fussy or especially fond of nursing. But for all you new mummas out there, you should take comfort in the knowledge that the ground you’re on has been tread and retread many a time. You are very much not alone! Feel free to follow this small three-step process to introducing your baby to a world of bottles and baby formula, and rest assured these steps have been brought together by all the mummas who’ve come before you.

Table of Contents

A: add formula into foods

This step is mostly for fussy or particular babies who may be hesitant to take a bottle at first, but the slow pace of this introductory step has also proven it to be an effective method for babies of all temperaments. And if you’re wondering just how slow this process has to be, it’s all dependent on both your comfort levels as well as your understanding of how open your baby will be to these new food experiences. Start off by mixing your chosen formula in with your baby’s favourite pureed baby foods. If you haven’t had much luck with feeding your baby thicker foods, adding formula into your purees can thin the purees, and might help your baby with their transition from liquids to solids. Feeding your baby a mix of formula and rice or oat cereals can also be a fantastic way of introducing your baby to solids and eventually weaning them off their purees when that time finally rolls around. We definitely don’t recommend preparing a bottle of generic formula straight away. It’s all about making sure that your little one becomes acquainted with the taste of your chosen formula before you try filling any bottles.

B: bottled with/without breastmilk

Sometimes babies will decide for themselves that they’re done with nursing, simply because they begin to grow interested in a myriad of other activities. These active little ones don’t have the time to sit still during feedings, and so they naturally fall in love with their bottles with little to no parental prompts. But if you’re currently cradling a shy, little homebody, read up on the best ways of moving from nursing to bottles right here before you get started on Step B: formula and breastmilk cocktails! You want to start with a mixture that’s around 25% formula to 75% breastmilk, so your baby’s still drinking minimal amounts of your newly-introduced formula. Once your baby seems comfortable with that ratio, just keep increasing the levels of formula and alter your pumping schedule accordingly. The aim is to decrease your stock of breastmilk over a long period of time, so don’t stress too much about your pacing.

C: consistent feeding

At this stage in your parenting journey, you should know all too well how much of a lifesaver developing baby schedules can be, and the same rings true for maintaining your updated feeding schedule following your baby’s successful transition from breastmilk to formula feeding.

It’s also important that you keep track of how your baby continues to respond to your chosen formula, just in case you may need to transition from one mixture to another further down the line. It’s worthwhile keeping a small feeding diary to show your paediatrician during the lead-up to your next frontier: table food! But we’ll take this all one thing at a time.