Trying to go from breast to bottle at ~8 months - not working

[koshary]

We have a nearly 8 month old who has been breastfed up to this point (did some expressing but never really got into the routine of giving him the milk from the bottle).

We want to try and start conceiving again (neither of us getting any younger etc etc), and I know it might happen but I know it would help to have my period back. Hence the transitioning. But it's not working at all! DH has been trying to give DS a bottle (tried breastmilk and formula) after the evening bath but it just results in tears and is difficult for all of us. DH has in the past been able to feed him from a bottle (the few times we tried). He's getting a tooth through at the moment - could this be making him less tolerant? Has anyone else done this successfully? Any advice would be very gratefully received!

Anyone? Help please!

Hi koshary - I don't have much advice but maybe a bump will help someone else come along.

I also tried to get my DD on the bottle about the same age as I was going back to work. I must have tried every bottle on the market but DD would just scream as soon as the teat went into her mouth.

Would DS take a cup of milk, rather than a bottle? You probably won't have to wean altogether for your periods to return - even cutting out one or two feeds might do the trick

Do you have a breastfeeding support group locally that you could go to?

The bedtime / comfort bfs are likely to be the hardest to change over. Could you use a sippy cup during the day? It wouldn't be such an obvious subsitute.

The standard position for bottle feeding a baby is completely different from the standard position for breastfeeding. Your baby isn't used to it.

Put the bottle in your armpit, teat as close to your nipple as you can manage. Hold baby as close to normal breastfeeding position as possible.

Once the bottle is a new weird thing you won't need this rigmarole.

Google paced bottled feeding and see if that helps. Try and get your dh to do it without you being there too. I agree that the bedtime one is probably the hardest to drop so could you maybe start with a daytime one first to see how that goes.

Thank you so much for your responses.

We did try milk in the supply cup but the only thing he will take out of the skippy cup is water! To even diluted fruit juice which I found really surprising.

I hadn't thought of getting into a breast feeding club - I will give that a go.

Will also try the bottle in the armpit thing. I think part of the issue is getting he milk the right temperature because occasionally he will have a few sips but other times not at all and I wonder if it's to do with being too hot or cold. I might have to start getting the thermometer out.

Really hoping the old period will return before I manage to wean him completely because I foresee this taking some time!

You shouldn't need to wean off the breast completely in order for your fertility to return. Just cutting down a bit should do it. I think it's different for everyone though.