8 months old BF baby ..am umming and ahhing over giving her a teat...HELP

[Twiglett]

OK not as stupid as it sounds ...

DS didn't come off bottles with a teat till he was 3.3 (took bribery)

I always promised myself wouldn't get to that stage with other children .. so far DD has been totally breastfed .. takes sips of water out of tommee tippe cups but no teats on bottle since we stopped trying to feed expressed milk around 9 weeks old or so

I've been trying to give her formula with those spouts but just think it might be easier with a teat .. I half want to wean her off the boob

But I just think that's giving in

Should I try teats ?

Should I not try teats?

arrggghhh head hurts .. would appreciate court of mumsnet

[Aero]

I would try teats and not worry a thing about it. Ds2 will be a year old in a couple of weeks and still has one bf a day and two bottles. He can manage fine with a cup for water. There really is no reason to feel bad or guilty in these matters. Once you've done it, you won't be thinking like this any more! It's always worse weighing it all up beforehand, but once you've bitten the bullet the pressure's off IYSWIM. You don't have to wean him off the breast totally.

[Aero]

sorry - meant her!

[tillykins]

Go for teats I think, she is still very little.
Weaning her off the breast - half weaning or not - is enough to deal with, and when it comes to getting her off the teat, you should be the expert after your DS (and I shall be coming to you for advice on this, anytime now )

[Yorkiegirl]

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[Twiglett]

So I shouldn't persevere with trying it out with those white soft spouts then?

arrrgghhh

[Yorkiegirl]

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[HappyMumOf2]

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[Aero]

That's a point HMo2 - Ds2 really only associates milk (from either breast or bottle) now with sleep/comfort. He has a bf on waking first thing (usually 6am-ish) and normally just goes straight back to sleep, but will not settle without that feed. Then later on he has his bottle and goes down for a nap and again milk before bedtime.
I just think a teat is easier, but if she is happy with the soft spout, then fine, but is she only taking sips through this spout - this would probably not be enough if you are wanting to wean her off the breast.
One problem you could encounter though, (as I did with ds1) is that he totally refused bottles and teats and was bf until 15months. He would only take milk from a beaker after I stopped bfing and he refused it warm - had to be cold. Good luck anyway, whatever you decide - just don't feel bad about it - there's no need.

[mears]

If you only half want to wean her off the boob, then there is probably no need for formula or teats really. At 8 months you can start replacing breast feeds with solids and juice/water and just feed morning and night. If you were only doing 2 breastfeeds could you continue for a year then give cow's milk instead? If she doesn't like cow's milk you do not really need to give a milk drink at all if she gets milk in other food sources. Seems a shame to me to be introducing a teat at this stage when you can go straight to a cup.

[Prufrock]

Twiglett I am not giving up bf yet (although with the state of my nipples itmight be sooner than I wanted) but I am adamant that ds will not have bottles. He drinks water perfectly happily from a cup so will be having a cup for any milk feeds from now on as well. DD is 2.8 and still has a bottle morning and night and I am dreading having to stop that. I figure it's better never to start with ds.

[elliott]

Just to share my experience - with ds2 I used avent spouts from about 4 months for occasional milk. He started nursery at 6 months so was down to 2 bf a day by about 7 months. he wasn't great at taking milk from the spout but they found he would take a lot more from a normal spouty cup with no valve. Then at 8 months I got fed up with him waking at 5am and sucking for up to 2 hours in bed so I introduced a bedtime bottle with teat (dropping the bedtime bf). This did seem to help him sleep for longer though he never took more than about 4 oz. then at about 10/11 months (by this time all bf stopped and daytime milk in a cup) he just started faffing on with the teat so I switched it to a cup - all my worrying about teats solved as he weaned himself in the end! I think he just was never really 'into' sucking the bottle, having not been introduced to teats at an early age. You might well find the same with your dd.
with my other ds, he was much keener on his bottle but it was still a doddle to wean him onto a cup at one year - you just have to do it, really.
So I guess what I'm saying is don't worry either way, just make sure you stop teats at a year before it gets really difficult.

[muminlondon]

I gave my dd a beaker with a softish spout (from Boots) from 8 months when I returned to work and she used to suck on it contentedly with her eyes closed. In fact, she still uses it at 22 months but can drink water or milk straight from a cup when she feels like it. So although it's true they still need some sucking satisfaction, they can still get that from a spout rather than a teat. On the other hand, she also sucks her fingers a lot...

[pixiefish]

my dd never had a teat. drinks water from a boots beaker (nothing fancy), drinks ebm for my mum from the beaker and has done from 8 months.