Weaning from the breast at 9.5 months - bottle or sippy cup

[abigailj]

Hi,

I have breastfed my little boy til now. He was EBF for the first 6 months and now after much persistence takes a bottle in the evening (one of the many things we tried to improve his sleep - he is finally sleeping better, but not because of the bottle).

He is also pretty competent with a sippy cup, drinking water at the moment. He tends to take a big swig and then throw it over the side of the high-chair like a drunk discarding his tankard.

I am going back to work soon so need to figure out what to do with the daytime breastfeeds which I won't be able to be there for.

I am wondering if it is sensible to try to "wean" him to the sippy cup for these feeds. I would love some advice/suggestions from anyone with experience of weaning at this age. Is this feasible?

Also, if I keep just the morning breastfeed (which I'd love to - it's a nice time to cuddle), will my supply stay sufficient if its the only breastfeed of the day?

Thanks in advance.

A

your supply should be absolutely fine for that morning feed. very clever .

sounds normal regarding the sippy cup throwing . will he drink your milk from the cup, if someone gives him a cuddle while he is drinking it maybe?

Try him with the sippy cup with milk in - it could go either way. My DD never got that interested in a sippy cup until it had milk in, but she was a bit older (about 11.5 months) when I started putting milk in it.

My friend's DS drank water from a cup really well but hurled the cup across the room when she put milk in it.

So you won't know until you try!

It's also worth considering that by 9.5 months you might get away with breastfeeding/bottle morning and evening and him just having a small drink of milk during the day - if he eats well then you can include dairy by giving him cheese, milk on cereal etc. Guess it depends on how many days you'll be working, what he'll eat, how much of a milk monster he is etc.

Good luck!