Return to work, bottle refused. Help please!

[Sparrowlegs248]

Ds will be 9months when I go back to work next month. He won't take a bottle. His current routine is this
Bf on waking. 6/7am
Breakfast hour or so later
Bf and Nap 9/10
Lunch 12
Bf and nap 3/4
Bf to sleep 6/7

I will be working 3 full day. Will still bf on waking and to sleep. Ds will be with mum or Mil. They will feed him breakfast and lunch. He will drink from a sippy cup.

I have tried a few formulas and they seem to make him constipated but the cow and gate first stage one was OK. He will only take very small amounts though (70ml in a whole day once when I was in hospital)

So, my question is, should I get the gm to give him water with his meals as I do, or milk? And try milk at nap time? Or what?

I will try to express at work but struggle to get much when I am feeding him.

Oh and he feeds several times a night too

[Bertieboo1]

I had the same problem with my DS. I eventually got him to have formula from a sippy cup at mid morning and mid afternoon and carried on bf in the morning, evening and night.

It was a struggle initially, especially as he had the vilest special formula imaginable due to a milk allergy. I had to flavour it with nesquik until he would drink it Then cut back until he just had the formula. Took a couple of weeks.

[figginz]

Keep trying with a bottle, he may surprise you right at the last minute. Mine liked hers warm, cup of tea warm, at first.

Also he'll be ok on a cup even if not I'm sure. He can make up for it when you get home

A friend of mine had a full on bottle and cup refuser and she had to go back 4 days a week. He just didn't drink anything all day and was fine . He's also totally fine with a cup now, a few months on.

[Sparrowlegs248]

Thanks. He drinks water quite well at meal times. I think we will try water with meals and milk from the sippy at nap times. He gets so upset at the bottle I don't want to keep trying. It's such a worry!

[youlemming]

At this age the milk during the day will be reducing as he eats more food and as long as he is drinking something even small amounts of water then he should be fine.
DD2 was the same and I had to wean early at 4.5m as I was going back to work at 5.5m, the HV advised to wean and make sure we moved onto protien rich food like cheese and chicken as soon as she had mastered the basic veg purees.

We still tried her with a bottle mid morning and afternoon and once I was no longer an option she accepted the bottle and now happily takes it.
The milk during the day has reduced (now 8m) as she's eating more, I have also just dropped the bedtime BF and moved to a bottle as she's a biter!

If it helps this is what her day generally looks like;

6am BF - about 20 min total
7.30 - Breakfast, porridge or weetabix
10am snack of fruit and anywhere between 1 and 4 oz bottle (trying to drop this one but it's hit and miss whether she needs it to get through to lunch)
11.30 - lunch
2pm - 4oz bottle
4pm - tea
7pm - 6oz bottle (was 20 min BF until Sunday)
10.30pm - 5oz bottle

If you are concerned speak with your HV and hopefully they can advise what he needs in terms of milk intake and lessen any worries.

[Iguessyourestuckwithme]

I would try and break the milk as a trigger for nap/sleep times. He can have formula in a cup at snack time and in the afternoon just in a cup if he's eating meals too.

[Sparrowlegs248]

That's really helpful thank you! Does she feed overnight at all?

He is also not keen on eating from a spoon but is getting better. He has either toast or a hot cross bun for breakfast with fruit l, or fruit and yogurt now that he will eat some yogurt.

For lunch he has sticks of cheese or soft cheese on crackers. Avocado on toast if he didn't have toast earlier. Cherry tomatoes/cucumber or cooked veg like broccoli. A selection really and he eats really well.

[Sparrowlegs248]

He is actually breaking that habit himself. He feeds but doesn't fall asleep on the boob every time, and less and less which is good! He has had naps for both gm's too which I am happy about.

[badg3r]

I was in exactly the same situation and tried lots of different bottles and expressed milk. I'm the end he never really took to a bottle but would drink a bit from a sippy cup and just fed more when I was at home. I was so worried and stressed about it a lot.

He on the other hand didn't seem to care at all!!! I wish someone had told me this at the time... THEY WILL BE FINE. Maybe they will just stick to food. You can still feed a lot when you are at home. My DS is 15 months now and in nursery full time. But he is a prolific weekend and evening boob muncher. Good luck with the return to work!

[aurorie11]

I went back to work 4 days a week when my youngest was just over 9 months, she never took a bottle. Our work day routine was bf in the morning/ before I left for work. BF immediately when I got back from work and then at bedtime.
I couldn't express enough she just had food and water during the working day, she was fine.

[BayLeaves]

I was also in the exact same situation, even returned from mat leave at the same number of months and 3 days a week. I too was worried.

I followed MN advice not to bother with the bottle as they're meant to be drinking from cups after 12 months anyway, no point struggling to introduce it just to take it away again a couple of months later.

Mine drank water from an open cup, then after a couple of weeks he mastered a sippy cup, then he started having cows milk from a sippy cup too. We started with the cows milk a month or two early, but if you don't want to do that, just give milky porridge, cheese, yogurts etc and he'll be fine, especially as you're still BFing the rest of the time.

My DS gave up breastfeeding at 12 months even though I was happy to continue. He is a good healthy weight now though, aged nearly 2. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself that I was worrying for nothing!

[Cakescakescakes]

At 10 months I was just bf morning and night and the DC had water with meals from silly cups. They didn't like formula or cows milk (or bottles!) so I just gave them plenty of dairy products in their meals. They bf until 13 and 14 months. Neither have drank any kind of milk since! Both v healthy.

[Sparrowlegs248]

Thanks everyone. It's reassuring to read that the babies are OK even if the mums worry!

We had a practice run, it wasn't a full day but he had breakfast and lunch at Mil, ate plenty, drank water and didn't want formula from a sippy.

I managed to express 2 measley Oz that day and made his breakfast with it the next day. He loves cheese, yogurt and soft cheese so hopefully will be fine.