need to move DD (10 months to formula): she is not keen

[rhetorician]

background: DP has mastitis for the 3rd time and is (understandably) fed up. DD2 is a biter, which hasn't helped. So even though there's only a couple of months to go, we are trying to switch her over. She will drink from a bottle and has before, but usually only a few ozs at a time. At the moment she will take a few gulps and then push it away and refuse to drink it; have tried different brands and types - no dice. Same in a cup - drinks a bit, then refuses. Now she is still getting some breast milk - will she just (eventually) get her head around it? advice?

has you're DP had any good breastfeeding support? there can some times be an underlying issue with repeat mastitis. You say your DD is bitting to, has she even been checked for tonge tie?

I'd give one of the breastfeeding helpline a ring, you're DP needs to carry on feeding until the mastitis has cleared at least, so it doesn't get any worse.

well dd is 10 months old! and has been successfully breastfed - she doesn't have tongue-tie. She bites because she is teething or full of cold, it damages the nipple leading to mastitis/ She isn't going to go cold turkey, but has had enough of breastfeeding at this point anyway. We don't live in the UK so don't have those resources available to us - we did have a lactation consultant with dd1, but feedign was much easier with dd2 so felt no need.

I'm sorry I have no idea about the formula but in my experience (3 bf dc) babies don't bite if they're hungry! If one of my dcs bit me (and they all did), I would stop the feed! Sounds drastic but it works.

if your not in the UK then there probably is still a LLL group as they are international.

to help clear the mastitis your DP either needs to feed through it or express. Dropping feeds at this point could cause more problems. once it's clear and she still wants to stop then dropping one feed a week. To avoid any more problems. At 10 months if she is eating solids well then you could replace all but the morning and evening feeds with food rather then milk. remember formula is just a nutritional supplement so giving food instead is fine. A lot of babies are only on two feeds a day by this age anyway.

Don't keep trying different bottles and cups it'll just confuse her. pick one and stick to it keep offering and she should pick it up after some practice. Sometimes it's better to offer when they aren't to hungry and can play with it a bit to get more used to it.

Have a read of Kelly mom and biting here

Is it that your DD is refusing formula, expressed milk or both? If it's both, she may well be a bottle/cup refuser and only want mummy's milk from mummy. It's one of those things you can preserve with gently or take a 'cold turkey' approach (personally not my recommendation but I have known others to do it)

If it is formula she's not fussed on/refusing it may be the taste in comparison to breastmilk. You could try half formula and half BM to see if that is easier.

Unfortunately, babies do like (or in my case, love) mummy's milk from mummy only. Dd is now 14 months and won't drink milk- mine or cows milk from a bottle or beaker. She will drink water from a beaker though and I ensured she learnt this from around 10 months. So if I do need to leave her, she'll cope without milk but won't go dehydrated.

Have you tried her using a straw? Apparently breastfed babies can relate to a straw better than a bottle or cup. Worth a try

X posts with migirl but agree with all of her post.

Your DD will increase her solid intake over the next 8 weeks, you'll be surprised and milk demand should drop naturally too if you offer food/snacks as a distraction. My dd would go all day without milk at that age and feed like a pig when I returned

Mastitis- if she gets blocked ducts, get a --vibrator- electric toothbrush on the area, it will help release the duct, before it turns to mastitis. And express or feed off that boob.

she's happy to drink from almost any receptacle - bottle, cup, sippy cup etc. Just the formula she doesn't much like (who can blame her); DP is still feeding her and knows that dropping it entirely will make things worse. The ABs make the baby unsettled and cranky too. SHe has taken some today, so we'll just gradually shift the balance.

LLL are great and helpful although still inviting DP to things from contact with them when dd1 was tiny!

I know in terms of extended breastfeeding dd2 is still only very small - but feeding to 10 months I think is pretty good when it's sometimes been quite hard on DP and when everyone constantly asks when/if she has stopped yet. Not that this is why - she wants to stop and feels it is time, and I can only support her in that.

Thanks for your tips and help - I know it takes time to type these replies and I do appreciate it, I really do

Just try mixing formula and BM, perhaps 20/80, then less BM milk and she might get used to the taste.

Sometimes you just know when you want to stop bf'ing. All you can do us support; let's hope your dd plays ball too!

All the best.

Oh and feeding to 10 months is bloody brilliant

Yes, if your DP can express then mixing the bm with formula worked for us in similar circumstances.

We started with about 80% bm and only 20% formula and gradually increased the proportion of formula.

Good luck, hope the transition isn't too traumatic.

thanks - lots of variables - temp, type etc. We'll get there...

Hello. I had also had enough of bf my dd2 by 10 months and was despairing due to bottle refusing and a lot of biting! I was lucky and dd2 finally accepted a bottle of formula and I have just finished weaning her 2 days shy of 11 months old onto formula. I suspect dd2 's biting was teething and I feel she was ready to drop bf. I refused to try other types of bottle, although I did try other formulas with no success. I think you just need to persevere with offering the bottle regularly.

If dd2 hadn't started taking a bottle, I had (in my own mind) set turning a year old as the time to go cold turkey. I had enjoyed breast feeding both dds, but for me it was time to stop.

One thing I would suggest is to check the flow rate of the bottle teats. Breastfed babies need slow flow teats on their bottles at least initially when combined feeding or transitioning from the breast to bottles. Sorry if this is irrelevant/superfluous information.

All the best.

thanks seaweed - we are using no.3 teats which seem ok; think the issue might be forced by fact that she is very sensitive to ABs - currently arching back and screaming after 24 hrs of DP taking them. This happened last time too. And on the back of a month of truly terrible sleep we might just go for the burn, as it were