Introducing formula at around 6 months - bottle or cup?

[hewlettsdaughter]

Hi, this is related to the when to wean thread that I started earlier today. I plan to introduce formula for dd from about 6 months (when I will be going back to work). Don't know yet if she will take a bottle - are there advantages/disadvantages with going straight to cup feeding at this age? And by 'cup feeding' do people mean a beaker with a spout?

Hi

There are two kinds of cup feeding. When I talk about "cup feeding" I am referring to the special infant feeding cups you use with newborns/prem babies who for some reason have to be supplemented with either formula or ebm before breastfeeding has been established.

A 6 month old baby should be able to go straight onto a soft spout type cup. Boots do their own make one or Tommee Tippee. Don't use one of the non spill type as they are not learning the right type of sucking and they are incredibly hard to drink from (I tried!).

Some breastfed babies take to these better than a bottle and it is good to aid them in their next stage of development.

My ds, now 9.5m, had no problems going straight to a beaker. He's b/f and wouldn't take a bottle. I have tried him with numerous non-spill cups and he just thinks they are something to chew as he has no idea how to get the liquid out. I actually thought that one of them had a manufacturing defect as I couldn't get any liquid out of it either. After a lot of huffing and puffing and a strained neck I managed, lol. It didn't take him long to work out how to control the beaker either. I don't use the soft spouts but the more traditional kind.

Thanks JulieF. Would you suggest not even trying with a bottle? Is dd likely to drink just as much milk from a soft spout cup as from a bottle?

Crossed posts, Portree - thanks for that. Are you using a beaker with a hard spout with holes in then?

HD, yes. A friend got me a great little beaker from her baby clinic. It takes 4oz and has a hard spout with 3 holes in it. You can twist the lid and it becomes spill-proof which makes it great for being out and about. It only cost £1.00. I have searched and searched for them and haven't found them in the shops. I must ask her to get another one. I also use the basic Tommee Tippee one where the spout flips down into the lid. Ds can use the soft spouts (minus the valve) but he messes about with the spout as it kind of squeeks as he chomps on it. I've tried numerous bottle/teat combinations all to no avail. Having said all this ds drinks water mostly from his cups. He'll manage a few ounces of formula but that may be because it's Nutramigen (dairy intolerant).

My jv recommends going straight to a cup from the breast. She says that otherwise you are weaning the baby to take a bottle only to have to wean them again to use a cup. All babies from 3+ months have the ability to drink from a cup. The tommee Tippee one was recommended as the avent non spill valves are to hard to get and milk from. The cups are also better for the teeth as it prevents the baby from sucking on the milk for too long. Ie using the bottle as a comfort aid and being allowed to sip from it throughout the day.
HTH

Thanks Portree and kbaby