Cup, bottle, aargh

[mistressploppy]

DS is nearly one and I want to stop bfing - he's not that interested either. We're down to 2 feeds a day and they are only short.

The problem is, he drinks barely anything else. He'll have sips from a free flow tommy tippee and did suck a fair bit of juice (first time with juice, I think it was sooo delicious it spurred him on, but I'd rather he had milk or water!) via a valved straw-thingy.

On the odd occasion I've left him with DH, he's drunk 3-4oz EBM from a bottle.

So - do I start giving him a bottle for the two feeds and then worry later about weaning him off that? Or should I just persevere with the tommy tippee?

He seems ok with cows milk, but just sips, like water.

Thanks for any advice

Hi ploppy, my DS is the same age, also on 2 feeds, and also winding down to stopping so lots in common!

My view, from what I have read and discussions with HV is not to go onto a bottle for such a short time. No reason at all not to use a cup, since if he was FF you would be looking to wean off a bottle so soon. We use a Tommy tippee free flow when out and about, but I don't use at home very much as DS seems to get full of air, messes around and doesn't drink much from it. We get on better with a Doidy have you tried one? He has big gulps from this, and you are more in control, just don't let go!!!!

If you do use the Tommy tippee, try filling right to the top, as I think the less is in it the more difficult they are to drink out of.

One other point, it's best not to use things with valves (unless you are eg in the car or somewhere where they can't make a mess at all!!) and you should really not put juice in them. The free flow ones are better for teaching them to sip, so they can make an easy transition to an open cup. If the valved cups are used for juice, it can be in contact with their teeth for longer than is good, which even with proper fruit juice is bad as it is quite acidic, and with sugary drinks causes decay. So if you do use them occasionally, it's better just to put water in.

Hope that's some help....good luck, would be interested to hear how you get on as we will be doing the same in a few weeks. Am also worried about exploding boobs :o

Thanks Flutey, we do have a doidy and it works quite well - it's just messy! I think we will persevere....

Will let you know how it goes