Do I need to keep up the daily bottle in order to avoid refusal?

[minipie]

DD is 6.5 months old (5 months corrected) and is BF apart from a 10.30pm bottle. she's had this daily bottle since about 8 weeks old and we've kept it up mainly to ensure she doesn't bottle refuse if I ever want or need to stop BFing.

however, she is now taking hardly any of this bottle and so I want to stop waking her for it it (she still mostly wakes for a 4am BF mind you but that's another issue...)

but, if she stops having a daily bottle now, will she be likely to refuse the bottle if I want to stop BFing in say a month's time? (I have no idea how much longer I want to BF for, it all depends on how it goes day to day, but it may well be soon ish). She is far from being ready to have all milk from a cup so would need to have bottles if I do stop within the next couple months.

I could replace one of her daytime BFs with a bottle but BF is (finally) easier than FF, plus health benefits of BF etc etc, so I am reluctant to do that if it's not necessary.

Anyone have any experiences in this area?

My DD1 was on supplemental feeding as she lost so much weight. Once my milk came in and she regained he weight we stopped with the bottles. This was probably within about the first month.

I went out for a couple of evenings when she was about 3 or 4 months and she refused the bottle of ebm.

I was going back to work after 6 months and really struggled to get her to accept a bottle. This was really stressful as my milk supply was decreasing at the same time.

I think I went through most of the big brand bottles before I found one she would take (Mam).

If you can, I would replace one of the other feeds with a bottle to avoid the problems I had.

Ds had ebm from a bottle for a couple of weeks when he was 2 weeks old, then nothing until I left him to go to a funeral at 12 weeks old and he had one bottle, then nothing until he was about 6 months old and started having the occasional bottle of formula if I was leaving him to go out.

I think it really depends on the baby. Some refuse a bottle full stop, others go off them later on, yet others don't seem to have a problem. Not sure that a regular bottle will necessarily make a difference as I've heard of babies suddenly rejecting the bottle even if they've been happy with a regular one a day up to that point.

ah... all babies are different eh!

thanks both, completely different stories but I guess that demonstrates I just can't tell what will happen with DD.

I have definitely heard of babies who had a regular bottle during the first couple of months, but then refused at 5/6 months. I had hoped someone could tell me that doesn't happen after 6 months...

Hi minipie! I'm afraid there is no guarantee to avoid bottle refusal whatever you do. I agree with sleepy that it depends on the baby.

My DS is now 8 months & bf. He was very happy to be fed from a cup once or twice a day (as they had shown me in the hospital, to avoid introducing bottles too early) for about 2 1/2 months until one day he simply refused, and I haven't managed to use it again since.

Then my DP gave him a bottle every couple of days, which he drank very happily and easily, until about a month ago, when he simple refused to be given one. He hasn't drunk from a bottle since. I'm now making my way through the many kinds of sippy and straw cups to find one he will take, so far unsuccessfully.

So I'm sorry to be a doom merchant, but I don't think you can guarantee anything with these little creatures of chaos... So perhaps you should just do what is most convenient for you now, and worry about future problems only when they arise.

Good luck!

at "little creatures of chaos" SO true!

I think I'd give him a bottle at some other time of day. There's no guarantee he won't refuse anyway, but I think it's less likely if he's having it regularly. I had an awful and stressful experience with dd1 refusing bottles. With the next 2 I gave ebf once a day and when I switched it was very easy and stress free. This is just my experience, but my advice would be to persevere especially if you may want to stop quite soon. Its also very handy if you want / need to get away for a few hours.

I'd probably give him the bottle at some other point in the day, however ds4 had one bottle aday from birth and then at 12 weeks started refusing it. We kept trying him every day for nearly two weeks but he just laughed at it and rolled it around his mouth!

thanks. SJ what age did you switch your three over to bottles?

Dd1 refused so was ebf for 18 months. No solids or bottles. Just bm and it was exhausting. I should point out she had health issues and was under the care of a pediatrician. I realise this is very atypical.
I think the other 2 were around 8 or 9 months. I just gradually introduced an extra bottle a day - no tears or hassle.

I introduced a daily bottle for each of mine at around 2-3 weeks and they always had that one bottle per day (typically around 6-7pm) until I moved from BF to FF at about 7m.

DS1 went through a short phase of refusing the bottle at about 9 weeks, although this could also be because I'd been hospitalised when he was 5 weeks old so he had a short period of exclusive bottle feeding, then back to exclusive breast feeding, then back to mixed feeding, poor baby, no wonder he protested! But after a week of perseverance he was back onto the daily bottles and transitioned to full formula feeding at 7m.

DS2 never refused the bottle and again transitioned to full bottle feeding at 7m.

DS3 is only 4m but has never yet refused the daily bottle...

I agree that they are all different and they could start to refuse at any point but I'd still say it's worth keeping a daily bottle, maybe try one in the early evening. If it is part of a daily routine (rather than having one say two or three times per week) I think there is less chance of them starting to refuse it. No guarantee, of course - but less chance.

Hiya, just a reply about your after the 6 month mark bottle refusal. we struggled with a daily bottle for months, just got her round to it at about 5.5months and then at 7 months she decided that she hated her nuk bottle which had been the only one she let in her mouth. A month later and she will finally take a tommee tippee. She is fussy like her mummy :)