I want to give my baby a bottle. Don't understand bottles and tests.

[Monsignor]

I've not had sleep for over a year. I'm dying and utterly exhausted. I want to stop bf and change to formula. Can you explain what bottle to buy and teat? I don't know what I'm doing. Baby is 13m.

I wouldn't start with a bottle at that age. You're supposed to phase them out by age 1. Some sort of lidded cup would be better

Plus you don't need to use formula after age 1 either

Just give cows milk in a cup, munchkin 360 is great and better for teeth than a spout/bottle.

Yes no bottle at that age, there are tons and tons of cool spout cups. And no formula after a year.

Why I'm going with bottle is that she needs something for night. Shes constantly on me for comfort and I want to give her a bottle she can drink when she wants me at night.

Agreed on just a cup and cows milk, or what ever non dairy milk alternative you choose. Be prepared to try a few cups though as my LG has been though a few to finds what suits, she can't get the hang of the 360 so has a straw cup currently

If she was on formula you’d need to be aiming to stop bottles now. You could try sippy cups of water.

Or try Dr Jay Gordon’s method.

It's not worth it at the age. You should just transition to cup with water or milk.

You can’t allow free access to a bottle at night once children have teeth as it will decay them. Milk in a sippy cup before bed and then just water through the night is best.

I think you probably just need to stop the breastfeeding cold turkey and find a new way to help her settle to sleep. It will be a tough few days but at that age she doesn’t need the milk.

Oh it's fine to start off with milk overnight at that age. You just have to gradually dilute it over the next few months so that by 18 months-ish it's pure water and they haven't noticed the change.

Would she take a dummy? You can clip it onto the front of their pyjamas and at that age they're big enough that it wouldn't do any harm. And they can find it and reinsert all night long.

I suspect at that age she is comfort feeding. If you get up to give her milk, then you or someone else still has to go to the kitchen and prepare milk, feed baby and settle back down to sleep.

I would us a bottle like below and give cows milk.

My DD at 14 months was still getting up to feed up to 8 times a night and it was killing me so I just stopped one day. went cold Turkey on her milk and gave her milk in a sippy cup and she went through the next night with one wake up. and now sleeps through.
she was only waking so much for comfort and using me as a dummy I think so when I stopped she started sleeping better.
I would say the same as others sippy cup and cows milk. Introducing a bottle just gives them something else to be attached to that's harder to remove again.

Dummy? Give baby cow's milk in a feeder cup before bed. 13 months is too old to be starting bottle feeding

RubertRoo was your baby co sleeping? She is in our bed. But I think she would just scream non stop if I put her in my bed.

I meant in a cot.

I would swap to these cups. They don't leak so can be given in the cot. No it isn't ideal but one step at a time. It is hard enough to stop breastfeeding.

Typical. Mum asks for advice due to tearing her hair out and gets advice she doesn't want. If you want to give your baby a bottle OP it's your choice and why not if it will settle LO and make your life easier? I used Dr. Browns which are a bit fiddly but reduce the amount of air swallowed. I hope you find a.solution.

There is nothing to say she will even take a bottle, let alone get comfort from it I’m afraid and even if she does, it’s another association you will have to break. It is very tough but I think cold turkey is the way to go. A few tough nights but then over and done with.

Ahh no sorry - she was in her own cot in her own room which I guess made it easier as she wasn't so close to me in the night

Takemedown, of course the OP can make the choice to give a bottle, but in my experience older babies/toddlers who have never had a bottle rarely take to them, and if they do they are very very unlikely to see it as a comfort aid in the middle of the night--it won't "settle" this toddler. And bottle usage should be curtailed or stopped from around this age.

I find it weird people are saying 13mo is too old for a bottle but suggesting to give a dummy! Giving a dummy at 13mo is a bad idea, they are a lot harder to get rid of than bottles.
I think you will find it hard to get her to take a bottle anyway if you co sleep. I think aiming to get her in a cot or in her own room will help as she won't be automatically looking to you for comfort.

If she has never had a bottle or a dummy, it won't work at this age.

You need to night wean and that means that someone other than the breastfeeding mother needs to that.

And you don't need formula- cows milk is fine

How does she go to sleep at bedtime?
My middle one was younger, 8 months, but wanting to feed every 40 minutes in the night.
Sleep consultant said it wa she cause that was how he’d gone to sleep.
The solution was to let him scream but while I was sitting with him. Not pleasant but I knew he wasn’t frightened/missing me.
Gradual retreat is the technical name, so I moved a couple of inches away every night.

Anyway, from the first night he just woke up once and just needed a bit of a pat to get back to sleep. This was all while cosleeping, which we did for another six months.

If you want actual advice on a bottle rather than naysayers , any bottles will do, most teats are transferable between bottles-wide neck and narrow neck aside, having said that I think narrow neck are fairly rare these days.

I always used cheap bottles from Poundland and then put tears in that little one liked. Try MAM teats, fast flow as your little one is over one.