How long can they go without milk? 9mo will not take a bottle!

[FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose]

I'm hoping for some advice as I'm getting very anxious.

I'm on maternity leave with dc2. He's breastfed and has refused a bottle since about 5 months. Weaning is going ok after a shaky start.

He currently feeds at around 6.30am, 11am, 1pm, 4.30pm, 7pm, 10pm and 3am.

I'm actually coping fine with the morning, evening and nighttime feeds.

The problem is that I'm going back to work part time in January and will be away from him from 7am till 6pm. He will be with a childminder.

He sips water from a sippy cup but I am still his main source of fluids. He hates being spoon fed, so loading him up with milky porridge or yoghurt isn't really an option.

Has anyone experienced this? Will he be ok on water in the day by 11 months?

I've tried every bottle and cup known to man. He won't take milk from me or anyone else.

I'm so worried that he's going to be thirsty and distressed while I'm off at work .

[FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose]

Will he be ok on just* water in the day by 11 months? Or does he still need breastmilk or formula?

[Orangedaisy]

By January he will be 11 months? DD was like this. I sent her to nursery from 11 months with yoghurt which she ate (so it gave her milk in a way) and they just persisted with water from sippy or open cup and cows milk the same (I know you're not supposed to do cows milk as drink til 12 months but she hardly touched it til about 13-14 months). She was desperate for a BF when I got her home but no ill effects and she eventually took to sippy cup. It will be ok, don't worry!

[eyebrowsonfleek]

By 11 months he'll be fine on breastmilk first thing and at night only.

He can drink cow's milk from 12 months and he might take a cup if offered by a nursery worker as they won't smell of breast milk and teachers/carers often have magical powers of persuasion that parents don't have. .

[Orangedaisy]

Sorry - re yoghurt-I reckon he'll surprise you and accept it from someone else, especially if around other children eating. Worth a shot at least.

[Slightlyperturbedowlagain]

I had similar with DS2 with going back to work at about 8 months. I started with plenty of time as DS1 was difficult also, tho not quite so bad. I found that he eventually gave in after being persistent over about 6 weeks offering the same bottle every day (used tommy tippee due to the squashy teats) at the same time. I did it mid-afternoon when he would have had a feed and then waited a couple of hours before BF, so he could see it wasn't an alternative. I also kept offering sippy cups of water at meal times.

[Flingmoo]

He should be fine, my son was the same and I went back to work when he was 10 months old. By this point they're getting a lot of nutrition from food and will soon learn to drink more water from his sippy cup when thirsty. I had the same fears but it turned out to be fine.

I must admit I did start him on cows milk from a sippy cup at 10 months as I was worried he wouldn't be drinking enough otherwise and this went down really well. My reasoning is they're allowed milk in porridge, cheese, yoghurt etc, and although cows milk is not supposed to be their "main drink" until they're 1, I felt that having cows milk during his 3 alternating days with the childminder did not mean it's his main drink, as he was still breastfed at home in the evenings and on my 4 days off. He did also have water some of the time too.

I did also have some luck with using just a normal, open plastic cup and tilting it at his mouth so he could take sips.

Don't worry it's better at this point not to use bottles as they're not recommended after a year anyway - he'll be better off with sippy cups once he figures them out!

[milkjetmum]

Dd2 was a bottle refuser, I was back at work ft when she was 8 months and she held out for a full month before taking a bottle. She just waited for me to get home and bf all evening!

I just asked dh (sahd) to offer her drinks/ food like melon/plenty of yogurt etc and all was fine.

[Sparrowlegs248]

He'll be fine. Ds refused a bottle. I went back to work three consecutive days a week when he was 9 months. He was eating well, and drinking water from a sippy. He refused milk from a sippy. He demanded to be fed the second I saw him in the evening but was fine otherwise.

[FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose]

Thank you everyone! This is very reassuring.

I suppose it's partly a case of changing habits. For example he'll have a long feed from me and so probably doesn't need as much water. I doubt he'd ever sit back and drink 7oz of water in one go, but that doesn't matter as long as he has a cup of water available all the time.

Hopefully I'll still be able to feed on demand when I'm not working.

Did any of you find you needed to express at work by the time your babies were this sort of age?

[Sparrowlegs248]

I didn't express. I had tried before going back to work and didn't manage very well. My first day back my boobs were solid by 2pm, but it got later each day. I work three days in a row each week. By the end of my second week they had adapted, and a few weeks later I could stop bothering with breast pads.

[PoshPenny]

I had a similar sounding daughter who refused milk unless it came from my breasts. She also only slept with us, absolutely would not sleep in her cot. At around 10 months she suddenly after months of trying started to accept formula milk and also to be put down to sleep in her own cot. I wouldn't worry yet, and anyway I do think that at 11 months he will be fine on just the two breast feeds a day.

[Spottyladybird]

My DD was the same. I changed our routine in preparation, starting with the mid afternoon feed giving her a sippy cup of formula and a snack when I had a drink and a snack. I then did the same with mid morning. She never drank masses of milk but I tried to give her a calcium rich snack and yogurts with meals etc.