from breast to bottle

[graciem]

hi ds is 6mo and i am now ready to drop his last feed b4 bed as i normally bf him to slepp. this can take 2 hrs and he will wake half hr later to feed again and then wakes every 2hrs to comfort suck. he seems to hate a bottle whether my milk or formula. i have tried a million teets and every type of formula going. any ideas how to help him get switch his last feed to a bottle feed. thank u.

This is a sleep issue and not really a breastfeeding one. (ie how to settle him to sleep without a breast - he doesn't know how to settle himself and thats why he is waking 2 hourly, when he comes into light sleep).

When you say last feed do you mean that this is the only breast feed left or do you mean the last feed of the day?

If he is being breastfed all day I think it's highly unlikely you'll be able to persuade him to take this feed from a bottle (have you tried expressed milk to see if its the taste or the bottle?) - how about feeding him and then putting him in his cot awake?

I have always dropped this feed last - both when changing from breast to bottle and also when changing from bottle to beaker, as they are tired at this time and IME less ready to accept something new.

hi mumnwlondon thanks for reply. i mean the bedtime feed. i have tried my milk in various bottles as well as formula but he jus wont have it. i will try to introduce a bottle at a different time of day. i have also tried puttin him down awake and at bedtime and during the day but he screams and i find it hard to leave him so have ended up rocking him to sleep. thank u for tips, definatly worth a go.

Lots of breastfed babies are not keen on bottles. I am not sure bedtime feed is the best time to start.

re: putting down awake, starting with rocking no breast, then patting/stroking, then in the room by the bed watching, then in the room by the door, then outside the room with door open etc. Lots of books on the subject or try looking for posts in the sleep board.

I am having a similar issue right dow with my DD but for different reasons. My DD is exclusivelt breastfed, with occasional expressed bottles. She will take bottle during the day from my DH but recently we have tried to get her to take a bottle after ger bath, the last feed of the day, and she has really put up a fight! Last night she did end up taking a 6.5oz bottle but still wouldnt settle without me there - I have an afternoon/night out next week and am trying to prepare her for me being away by getting my Dh to do some bedtimes on his own. Thought it would be fine since she takes bottles during the day occasionally.