How to stop breastfeeding when 8 mo baby wont take a bottle??

[Astonmartinis]

I know I know, I've posted a similar question before but i'm further down the line now and the health visitor/bf counsellor was no help..
DS is 8.5 mo and I only bf 7am and 7pm. He won't take more than a few sips of formula from a cup (bottles are no go for him for some reason) in the afternoon. Eats v well and I try to keep him hydrated but I don't have a back up when I finally quit bf. I want to do this sooner rather than later for a few reasons. I know he needs roughly 20 oz of milk a day but there's only so much cheese sauce a boy can take. Goodness knows how he'll get the volume when he absolutely wont take a bottle or drink enough from a cup.
No ideas left. Anyone care to share any similar stories or advice? Thanks.

My first was like this and I tried various cups and teats until hr decided he would drink from one. I had no useful advice from HCP s but the you might already have tried this and be thinking the same about me!

He finally took a bottle a couple of weeks before I went back to work (think he was 8 months) but it had taken a few weeks of trying once a day before he agreed.

Maillotjaune
Thanks for your reply. When you were trying once a day, did you withhold the bf if he didn't take the bottle each time or give him the boob? Was it a morning/evening feed like mine or a different one? Sorry for questions,.don't want to starve the boy of milk when he apparently needs it so much.

I had a nightmare with this with my first dd. point blank refused a bottle. She would eat lots of yoghurt but I never got her to drink milk from a cup. She still doesn't (age 5).

Another friend in the same situation went for routine offer of bottle - 3pm everyday (or another snack time), offer bottle of nice warm milk. After 1 week, baby took it. I never tired that on mine but wish I had.

Well I was still bf 4 times a day I think (he's now 10!) and so I tried it instead of the second feed at mid morning - so not really in line with your timings but you could try first thing for a while (should be hungry) or evening (might be too tired to argue) if you kept trying.

I'm sorry I don't have more constructive advice - I remember thinking at one point it would never happen but of course it did, and it may have just been the perseverance rather than finding the 'magic cup'!

Have you tried different cups? Neither of my two had a bottle (breast fed) and didn't take to sippy cups but had water from straw cup from 6 months.

I had a bottle refuser too. I persevered with a cup but it took a couple of months to be reliably accepted. A friend gave me an unexpected tip that actually worked - try a straw. She also likes a free flow cup rather than one she has to suck on.

It took me a month of offering a bottle 3 times a day before my DS finally took it - the playtex bottles with latex teats worked for us, the teats are softer and he found it easier to get the hang of sucking. I also put him in front of the tv when trying the bottle, it would distract him and he'd unconsciously start sucking. It's really hard, hope it works out ok for you.

Thank you ladies, that's all really helpful. Will try a)perservering and b) straws and latex!
Smiley face (!)

is it the taste of the formula?

what about expressing and feeding him the breastmilk from the sippy cup, then mixing in the formula bit by bit (and reducing the breastmilk) until it's all formula?
sort of slowly slowly.

but obviously, that won't work if it's the cup rather than the content.

but if he's having BF at 7 and 7, he might be getting enough from that for the time being.

and you can get calcium and protein from other sources. is he eating a wide range of solids?
and will he drink water?

These are the ones I have

Check this out on AMZN: mOmma Cup with Straw and Dual Handles 250 ml (Orange)
amazon.co.uk/dp/B006WL9S2M

Good point about the type of cup - I had to take out the valves so the milk came out without sucking to get any of mine to use cups. Some of them are actually really hard to get anything out of (I tried!).