Advice needed...how to wean bf baby on to formula?

[naturalblonde]

DD is 9mo and exclusively bf.

She will not take a cup or bottle of formula or ebm, she just pushes it away, or if she's really annoyed she'll grab it and fling it across the room!

I'm back at work now, and luckily I have a very understanding boss who lets me nip out to feed her a couple times per day, but obviously I can't continue with that indefinitely.

But more importantly I have tickets to see Take That in a couple of weeks and I plan on taking my boobs with me!

Does anyone have any ideas to get her to drink from a cup or bottle? I have tried bottles, trainer bottles, sippy cups and regular cups but nothing works. plus she still wakes for a feed in the night occasionally and it would be nice if dh could get up with her instead of me.

[Marthasmama]

I have no advice but I will watch for an answer as I am having an op in a month and will be in hospital for 5 days. DD will be 9 months and won't take a bottle either.....

[tiktok]

naturalblond - might be worth leaving it for a few days so she 'forgets' the bottle or cup makes her cross.

If you are leaving her overnight or for a few hours only, is that long enough to make it worth getting into a struggle with her? She's on solids - make them sloppier if you are worried about hydration, and if she seems thirsy when you are away, whoever is caring for her can get liquids into her with a spoon.

Marthasmamma - 5 days is a bit different, but at least you have a whole month. Is your baby able to visit you in hospital and even stay with you, with another carer there, for a good proportion of the time?

[Marthasmama]

tiktok - I was hoping you'd be around!!! The hospital does not have baby friendly status so dd cannot stay with me on the ward. However, I have been trying to get on to PALS to kick up a stink about it. The consultant said that babies were not allowed on the ward and I was too gutted at the time to ask whether he meant at all or over night. Again, this is something I am going to find out. I am not planning to give her any formula, just EBM but she still won't take a bottle. The main problem is going to be for poor DH feeding her in the night. She is very clingy to her mummy!! I have started another thread asking about feeding positions post surgery. Would you mind having a look here to see if there is anything you can add? Thank you so much in advance.

[TheMysticMasseuse]

hi, i had a real struggle to get my dd2 to take a bottle. but i just persevered, every day, more or less at the same time, i kept calm if she pushed it away, then tried again... i don't remember a "eureka" moment but eventually she became fully ffed (by about 8 months i think?) so at some point she must have started taking bottles! so my advice is to just keep trying- always with the same bottle and the same milk (formula in my case- hipp which i think tastes the nicest of the lot, i have actually sampled them myself lol!).

it is so hard to stay calm but i think in the end they will take a bottle. martha'smum- a month is a long time. just keep trying and she'll take it. and hard as it's going to be to be away from you, she'll be well cared for, so she will be fine!

good luck to both of oyu!

[Catla]

I have struggled with the same thing with my DD - she is tentatively taking about 2oz a day from a bottle when she feels like it so we are making some progress. i am using Avent bottles and add the handles to them and let her grab the bottle and as she is at the put-everything-in-the-mouth stage she kind of does it herself. She messes with it quite a lot admittedly but it's progress from seeing the bottle and screaming before I've even put it in her mouth! HTH xx

[naturalblonde]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Today I've managed to get her to take a small sip from a bottle without a lid (so like a normal cup) but most of it gets spat straight back out. I'll keep on trying, maybe get dh to do it, as I'm sure she associates me with bfing.

Tiktok - am more concerned about Take That concert than work so I figured if she has extra milk on her cereal that morning andI feed her right up to my leaving then she'll be ok for a few hours (hopefully long enough for me to get to Wembley and back and drool over Gary Barlow ).

I'd still feel better if I knew she would take a bottle though, I hate the thought of her screaming for me while I'm in London and can't do anything.

[bzzbee]

Have you tried a Doidy cup?