Will baby always need the boob!?!??

[northernsummer]

My daughter is about to turn 1 year old. She can take small sips from a straw cup, but never drinks a substantial amount from it, even if she's thirsty. After a few sips she would rather chew the straw and then start crying for the boob, so she's breastfed after every meal. So she hardly drinks any water. The open cup is similar, but she doesn't use it as well as a straw cup. She can't or won't (not sure which at this point) drink from a sippy cup or bottle either. I introduced open cups and straw cups at 6 months and I really thought by a year she'd be drinking more out of them. Can anyone tell me if it's normal for a baby to take so long to warm up to drinking from a cup?? How old was your baby when you could replace entire nursing sessions, or even bottles if you didn't breastfeed, with milk/formula from a cup? I had to quit my job when my baby started refusing a bottle right as my maternity leave was ending, and financially it's been a struggle. I was really hoping to get back to work soon, or at least get out of the house more often!! My baby nurses like she's break dancing with her mouth attached to a nipple, so nursing in public isn't an option I'm going to consider, and daycare also is not feasible right now given her needs. Until she can drink from something other than the breast, I'm stuck (and I do love the baby snuggles and time with her, but also, I need to make that money and leave the house sometimes!). I'm just having trouble finding info online on how long I can reasonably expect this to take, and would appreciate any insights.

What happens if you leave her with dad/another relative/a close friend for a couple of hours? Will she drink more with them?

In terms of just getting out of the house a bit more often, could you use a combination of frequently sips of water and making sure you have some snacks with a decent water content (cucumber, satsuma, grapes, melon, yoghurt, anything like that), so that you can at least get out for a couple hours?

Oh the boob dancing - my first was a boob dancer so I sympathize but with mine anyway it was a phase so hopefully the same for you.

As for the drinking water / boob I would start meal by meal. So no boob after breakfast or whichever you choose - keep offering sips of water. Once you have breakfast sorted, move onto the next meal, it might take a while but I found it more achievable than just cutting out the boob after all meals.

Quitting your job because she wouldn't take a bottle is nuts...she won't starve herself. Yes there might be a few hours of her being upset but surely that's the better option than financial ruin?! You just need to be firmer if you're wanting to stop, personally I'd go out for the day and leave her with your partner. She will drink or eat something else eventually, and then persist with not offering the boob. As pp said you could gradually cut down how often you're offering or just go cold turkey.

I forgot to add neither of mine ever took a bottle and wouldn't drink from a sippy cup. We went straight to open cups with a tiny bit of water in them and just went slowly slowly. I would imagine she will get there. Physically speaking if she can swallow food then she should be able to drink as it's the same tongue control to move things to the back of the throat and swallow.

With the boob dancing, I solved it by having a picnic rug with me at all times so I could find a quiet spot and not have to worry about a bench / cafe etc show for everyone. Obviously doesn't work on rainy days but it doesn't rain every day.

I also didn't go back to work because I didn't want to leave my baby and that's an entirely fine choice. You can go back to work when you are ready presuming of course you aren't experiencing unworkable financial hardship. A workable career break is not end of the world choice that Mumsnet would have you believe.