Desperate to wean off breast feeding ....

[chaz2]

Trying hard to wean my 6 month old to the bottle and formula feed , but struggling...I can’t stand to see him cry and keep giving in to breast feed him, as he’s not taking in any milk ... what to do?
He screams , throws his head back, shuts his mouth tight, spits the milk out.
I've tried different teats, different milks ... I'm losing the patience ...

[Aprilmightmemynewname]

Have you tried others offering a bottle without you around?

[Amylouise1993]

Yeah maybe try putting your breast milk into a bottle for a week then gradually changing to follow on?

[chaz2]

I've tried breast milk in the bottle. And he wasted all the supply I had built up 😩 and I've tried other people feeding him, the most he will take is an oz and then he starts screaming

[kentgirl1]

Have you tried different bottles. It took me a while to find one my son would take (eventually settled on the MAM ones). Keep trying and eventually he'll get it. Mine put up a fight and then all of a sudden one day was gulping it down!

[Mermaid36]

Are you trying to wean him off the breast for a specific reason?

He's used to getting both nourishment and comfort from the breast - it's a painkiller, a soother, it makes him sleepy and comforts him when he needs it. You're trying to replace that with formula and a plastic teat.

Would he take small amounts of breastmilk from a little open cup that you hold and tip?
Have read up on paced bottle feeding, as this apparently mimics how a baby feeds at the breast and might help?

[OrangeHorses]

Could you try a sippy cup maybe? They might find it easier with something completely different to breast feeding?

[chaz2]

I've tried three different bottles so far. Have been trying for the past month. I'll be going back to work in about three weeks. And don't want him to be going without milk for so long.

[Aprilmightmemynewname]

We also had success with the MAM ones-microwave ones make it less hassle also!

[chaz2]

Ok thanks I'll look in to it

[lambdroid]

Had similar with mine. He just would not drink from a bottle. I found expressing hard and wasting all that milk very stressful!

What finally worked for us (at 6 months, after introduction of solids), was this MAM trainer teat and not bothering to heat the milk. It hadn’t never occurred to me to try it cold before but did it on a whim and it worked!

I finally introduced formula at 9 months as just can’t seem to physically express enough and am now combination feeding successfully.