Anyone with a bottle-refusing baby? What did you do?!

[missmillimentscardigan]

DC2 is 6 months and exclusively breastfeeding, and just getting started with solids. She won't take a bottle. To be fair, I haven't tried that many times, because of the faff of expressing. I did a lot of expressing for DC1 and its kind of put me off, I suppose. DH has tried to feed her ebm about 5 times at different points and she has just completely refused each time.
I don't mind too much because I'm happy to keep breastfeeding her, but where do I go from here in terms of her having other drinks? Do I just try her on a cup of water and hope she'll get the hang of that? At the moment I can't really be away from her for more than about 2 hours in the day, in case she gets hungry. Is that normal at 6 months? I have a wedding to go to in June and I want to go with just DH, for a little break for us, but I can't see how I'll leave DC2 if she's not taking a bottle, so I think I'll just have to take her with me. What do other people do? Do I just accept that it's for a relatively short time in my life and get in with it? I feel like I'm doubting myself a little bit because friends who are ff are able to leave their babies with other people and go off and do things, whereas that seems a long, long way off for me.

[IdealWeather]

Yes I had one.
We moved onto cups directly and milk with added rice milk to give it of consistency with a spoon.

[IdealWeather]

In two months time she will also eat solids much more. Do it really should t be a problem to go away wo her.
Dc2 never had a bottle ever and was at nursery all day wo any issue.

[Notfastjustfurious]

My dd3 has never taken a bottle and I tried loads of them, she simply wouldn't have it but after weaning I introduced a sippy cup and she was happy with that. By 9 months she won't be as reliant of bf so you'll be able to leave her and enjoy your day.

[museumum]

Gave up on bottles. Introduced a cup early and practised lots and went to food at 5.5mo as I was going to do some limited work from 6mo. He got his dairy from porridge made with bm and yoghurts. He never did take a bottle.
It was VERY stressful for a while at 5mo but I wish I hadn't worried do much. He was fine.
At a year other parents were stressing about dropping bottles but I had a good eater confident with cups.
It's all swings and roundabouts this parenting lark.

[missmillimentscardigan]

Thank you for replying. So if I try her with a cup, is that just a sterilised sippy cup with handles? I'd be worried that she wouldn't drink anything if I left her for 24 hrs, although, yes, it's in a few months' time, so hopefully she'll be eating properly by then.

[StrawberryLeaf]

I've got a 9 month bottle refuser. I started offering her water with every meal in a few different cups and she took to the tomme tippee sippy cup, she now drinks plenty of water. I've not tried her with milk in a cup yet.

Very quickly after 6 months she started upping her solids. I still breastfeed her plenty but when I leave her with my husband or mum she's fine with just a snack and water instead. Although we've not tried someone else putting her to bed.

It's been quite easy actually.

[furtivefeline]

Not sure but I'm in the same boat with my 7.5 month old with the added difficulty that he seems to be having trouble eating solids and hasn't actually managed to successfully swallow any food yet...Before that, I had assumed that once they start on solids and start drinking water from a beaker that that would take the pressure off breastfeeding-wise.

Hopefully your DD will take to solids well then you'll be able to leave her for a good few hours even without a bottle.

And June is still 3 months away so lots of time to practice bottle/getting used to food!

[GeoffreysGoat]

Both mine (dc2 also 6m) refuse bottles, I just went straight to a sippy cup. Dc2 takes water and ebm happily and quite liked a drop if cows milk if offered. Free flow to start, then valve once they're toddling and liable to spill. There's a massive difference between a 6mo and a 9mo, just as there is between 3m and 6m so there's no reason to cancel your night away just yet :)

[missmillimentscardigan]

This is all sounding reassuring - thank you. I would love to be able to leave her with gps, if I knew she would be ok. I guess if I feed her in the morning and then she eats normally during the day and drinks water, she'll be ok. Then maybe ebm in a cup before bed?

[museumum]

Yes. Start cups now.
For us cup drinking was a skill he had to learn but it didn't involve the emotion of bottle drinking.
When offered a bottle he screamed.
Offered a cup he spilled a lot at first but improved gradually, never got upset though.

[GeoffreysGoat]

Ds2 feeds to sleep, I work 3 evenings a week. He has ebm in a cup from daddy and cuddles to sleep fine. Ds1 had to be taken out in the sling down the pub normally just to be kept calm - they're all different. But don't expect grandparents to be able to replicate your routine, let them find their own way (within reason, obviously) my mum uses In The Night Garden whereas poor baby gets hollyoaks the news when I'm in charge 😜

[missmillimentscardigan]

Haha, geoffrey - In the Night Garden is so trippy! That's good to hear that your do will take a cup of milk and a cuddle for bed. That would be amazing if dd would do that - just for one night!

[GeoffreysGoat]

Have a few practice runs so you can rescue them if it falls apart. Latest I get in from work is 10:30 so worst case, dh and my mum just keep the baby calm till the boobs arrive lol

[Artistic]

I was in the same boat! And I was sure I wanted to stop bf at 9 months. So I tried the bottle at 6months and she refused. Then u tried NUK bottles with formula. This is took to easily. I think she was clear that if it's breast milk it's got to be me!! But formula she accepted as a 'new' meal with a new method. It was a godsend. I was thrilled to be free agai if only for a few hours. And I gradually moved her to 5 formula feeds in the day and stopped bf at 9 months. She also took to a cup for water by 10 months and milk by cup by 1 year when we stopped bottles completely.