How to switch from BF to Formula?

[Lia1977]

My 7.5 month old was EBF until he turned 6 months old which was when I started him on solids. He hardly eats anything not being interested at all in food but Ive tried not to worry as he is a big baby anyway (98th percentile!).
As Im returning to work soon (which involves A LOT of travelling) I thought about starting some formula feeding but he doesnt take neither a bottle or a cup. Any suggestions pls? I do know that I can continue BF him but I would like him to be able to also be FF.

Hmm, when you say he doesn't take bottle or cup do you mean hasn't or won't? I EBF til 6 months, then introduced one bottle a day for a week, then two, then three etc until I was just giving him BF at bedtime.

However, DS did not like the bottle to begin with. I tried giving it him at about 2.30pm between lunch and dinner, and it took 5 days of him just crying and not being amused, but on the 5th day he just accepted it and drank the lot. The rest was easier as he was used to the bottle.

People say you should express first or something coz they might not like formula but in my experience they will eventually take what they're given when they realise they don't have a choice!

Hope this helps..

Thank u so much for your answer. Im so confused about this and I feel im panicking to be honest!!
Would you say it's better to try with a bottle first or go straight for a sippy cup?
Also when I offer him formula and he rejects it, I usually offer him breast afterwards. Should I stop doing this and wait until the next feeding (which will involve a lot of crying) to then offer breast?
Any advice please!

lol I know the feeling of panic. When I did it I did offer breast afterwards coz I didn't want him to be mad and angry and hungry etc and associate the bottle with those bad things.
I wouldn't bother trying to make him get all of his liquids from a cup just yet, its gonna take months for him to master it. Mine has had a cup for about 3 months and most of it still ends up on the floor. IMO bottle first then you can introduce cup soon after and see how he gets on with it.
Its really just a case of keep offering it to him. Maybe offer it when he isnt real hungry so he can have a play about with it if he doesn't drink it? maybe try just after a solid feed instead of waiting til he is hungry.

I am doing this with my 6 month old and he didn't know what to do with the bottle at first (thought it was a toy), so I started breastfeeding him then sneakily swapped over to the bottle after a couple of mins - it worked! Worth a try?

Can I just ask what bottles have you used and which ones would you advise? This morning went to Boots and having always breastfed I had no clue there were so many different bottles!!
By the way I tried to giving him the bottle while he was breastfeeding: OMG the screams:(

Hello, my dd has never taken a bottle but was happy with water/milk in a sippy cup by your DS's age. They are also a lot cheaper than bottles so you've less to lose if it doesn't work out.