bottle, beaker or cup?

[nibbs]

I'd be grateful for people's advice and experiences on getting a baby to take a drink from something other than my boob!

My son's 6 months old and has never really been happy taking expressed milk from a bottle. I'm going back to work in 3 weeks () and he'll need to drink something in the day!

Are there any good teats out there that really do mimic a boob - I seem to have tried loads, but saw a tommee tippee one yesterday.
Or should I just try a beaker now?
Or a cup?!
If I try a cup, how do I stop the milk/water just spilling out everywhere?!!

Or will he just have to go cold turkey for a couple of days and get really hungry until he learns what to do?

[schneebly]

I would be inclined to try a beaker with a soft(ish) spout - probably the easiest option. I hope you get it sorted out okay.

[crumpet]

Took us about 2 weeks to get dd from breast to a bottle. We ended up with brown teats from a chemist (later used the brown nuk ones), as these were the only ones she would accept - she never liked the clear silicone ones and we tried pretty much all of them on the market...

[iris66]

nibbs - we've been trying to get our 15wk DS to take EBM from a bottle for weeks - we tried one of the Boots soft spouted beakers in the end & it worked like a dream . Hope it works for you too

[sunandmoon]

We had the same problem with our DD. She didn't want to drink milk out of the bottle but finally accepted the tomme tippee ones only if given some milk in the morning(90 ml) and evening(2 x 210 ml), and the rest of the day she drinks lots of water out the soft spout beaker!!! The soft beaker is maybe messy but at least it teaches them to drink on their own. All these new changes happened when she was 6 months old for the same reason as yours nibbs. It took us few weeks and now she is 9 months old, she has the same amount of milk (but the growing formula), lots of water and we are trying the hard beaker... Good luck and be VERY patient

[nibbs]

thanks for all your tips. I've got a soft spouted beaker from boots, and just tried that again with some water. not sure he swallowed any, but I guess it's just a case of offering it at each feed and maybe in between too?
I've taken out the valve, so the water/milk just flows, as even i had to suck quite hard to get the water out when the valve was in. Is that what you did too? Or does Boots do a beaker without a valve... might call for another shopping trip!!

[sunandmoon]

Mine doesn't have a valve, so the water does go everywhere and anywhere (seems to be changing her wet clothes all day long!!!). I bought mine at Morrison. To start with, I just left the cup on the table when she was eating, and just offer it to her few times.. now i always leave it on the table and she drinks it when wants it and sometimes have her all meal with the cup in one hand while I feed her... same when she is at nursery. At the nursery, they offer them water mid morning and mid afternoon as well as lunch and tea time.... so lots of water drinking!!!!
Is your DS on solid food yet?

[nibbs]

yes, he's been on solids for about 3 weeks now. still just eating small amounts, but he seems to like most things so far. I'll persevere with the beaker - i like the idea of just having it around at feeding time so it becomes familiar.
I've got no idea how much milk he's drinking (as he won't drink from the bottle), but he seems happy, so he must be getting enough!!
have a good weekend all

[cat71]

I've had the same experience with dd2 (now 10 mths) and the beaker she likes best was from Boots, but they no longer sell them - it has a soft spout and no valve. I bought one of their current soft spout ones and she can't manage it with the spout in either. Also Avent Magic Cup with spout taken out. Another one to try if you can find it is Heinz Baby Basics and has no valve - she really likes that but it is over 4 years old, so not sure if they still do them.

[cat71]

Sorry - meant valve, not spout...

[Annner]

I'm a big fan of the Doidy cup. DD has had sips out of one since she was about 5 months, and really got the hang of it from 10 months (so you need to build up slowly). Now at 17 months she holds it herself and looks jolly sweet slurping her milk from her high chair. Sometimes she still likes us to hold it for her, and sometimes she prefers to do it herself.

This meant that we went straight from boob to cup. She drank a little less during the transition, but built up her quantities over time. As she was still getting most from me directly this wasn't a problem.

It's not a problem if they never have a bottle - other people can just as easily hold a cup for them, and you never have the hassle of trying to wean them off it! I carry milk around in a storage bottle with her cup.

For out and about, and having spent a fortune on various sippy cups, the only one that worked for us is a Tommy Tippee one with no valve. Drips everywhere, but if all it contains is water, that isn't a problem now that it is a bit warmer. That one is better than the Doidy for when we are out and about and when it is very warm.