Told to stop breastfeeds in the day but dd won’t take water

[AwkwardAsAllGetout]

We’ve had a hard time with dd, who is almost 11 months. She’s never been a particularly settled baby and at about 5 months we had cmpa confirmed, I cut it out of my diet and there’s been improvement. She’s still very, for want of a better word, whingy though, and until lady week was breastfed fully on demand which was exhausting me as she still doesn’t sleep more than 2 hours at a stretch and will only nap on me.
We saw her consultant last week who told us to just stop offering the breast in the day, which actually hasn’t been as bad as I thought, as dd will now actually eat some meals, we were offering her food 3 times a day plus snacks but she wasn’t interested. The change in her poos alone this week show that she’s eating a good amount now. But the problem is getting her to drink. We had a problem getting her to take a bottle which she still hasn’t managed, and she’s equally perplexed by the cups we’ve tried. Weve got lots of different ones, from the Tommee tippee one that just drips with no effort to ones that require more of a suck but she’s still not getting it. I’m just worried it’s not good for her to go all day without a proper drink. I’m still feeding her at bedtime and in the night, and actually I’m happy to have cut down, she’s much happier in the day and is sleeping for longer stretches. It’s just the water that’s worrying me!

Is it formula you’re giving her or water? Lots of babies won’t drink water but she might take some second stage formula. Otherwise you can try and offer foods with a high water content like cucumber and tangerines. Some babies do well with a cup with a straw if that’s something you’ve not tried yet.

Slightly different in that DS is FF so still drinking that way but we always offer water from a normal plastic cup with meals and it didn't take him that long to realise how to drink from it. He can't do it himself obviously but will hold it with one of us and tip it up.

Bizarre advice. DS had CMPA and we were not told to stop breastfeeding, I just went dairy free. Actually because he was such a bad sleeper we cut out the night feeds. So I did it the other way around, breastfed him morning/day/bedtime but nothing at night. Not sure why you have to stop breastfeeding during the day?? Is it to force baby to eat more solids because they're hungry?

I recommend this website, and the associated FB group "Breastfeeding with CMPA":
dilanandme.com/2019/05/19/survival-guide-cmpa/

A small plastic open cup? We used to take the lid off the tommee tippee first cup to make it an open cup with handles

Are you actually wanting to give up bf? At that age your dd still needs a good amount of milk. At 1 year 300/350mls is recommended or 2/3 portions of dairy which your dd obviously cant have

That seems young to stop daytime milk feeds. I'd wait until 12 months then you can start offering her Alpro Junior soya milk and skip formula entirely.

I found that my baby likes to copy so for the water whatever cup you use, drink from it first in front of your baby - then give to them. I just use a simple sippy one or an open normal one.
I think the advice you received is a bit bizarre though and probably not based on evidence- but if it's saving your sanity that's good! Day time feeds are definitely easier to cut down. My baby is about the same age and cuts down himself as long as there is exciting enough stuff to do.

Does she have plenty of wet nappies during the day too? If so, I wouldn't worry too much. My DD was also rubbish at drinking water at this age, but got better when I stopped breastfeeding during the day. I think babies take what they need really. She'll get the hang of a sippy cup or whatever in no time I bet. Or you can try just offering a sip from a small plastic cup at mealtimes too (when you can hold it)? My DD always seemed to manage this even if she'd been ignoring her own cup.

ok my suggestions might not be the healthiest but might help her get started, how about a bit of blackcurrant juice or something in a bottle first, then switch to water when she’s got the hang of it?
Or a bit of normal soya milk from 12 months, out dr said we didn’t need to use junior soya (which is more expensive!)
Another suggestion, you’ve prob tried it but we used a dummy with dd who had cpma. They seem to struggle more with silent reflux and sucking a lot helps. Sounds like you are being a human dummy at the moment!!
We took dummy off dd age 3, it helped get us through

Have you tried the munchkin 360 cup?

My bf boys never had a cup with a lid. We went to doidy cups. Yes, a lot went on the floor, but they took water from them from 6m, and then milk (oat for DS1, cows for ds2) from 12 months when I cut back on milk feeds from me.
Good luck - remember she is tiny, so actual volumes of liquid required are small compared to an adult, and she is still having milk overnight, plus liquid in food.

Thanks all. We have the munchkin cup but again she seems bewildered by it. As far as stopping goes yes I’m happy to. We’ve had terrible help and advice all the way through, I’ve never felt listened to and tbh I’m now ready to stop. There’s been an attitude that it’s great that I’m breastfeeding, keep on going whatever the cost. I’ve breastfed all my other dc so I’m not naive as to what it involves, but tbh this time round my mental health has taken a battering and I’m so glad I’ve committed to cut down. This weeks been much more manageable as I’ve not felt so tied down. We’ve been told to wean her into an alternative milk, coconut, almond or soya. I’ve been substituting with almond and coconut myself, and in a week or two I’d like to try and night wean too. Last night she slept from 7.30 til 12.30, then til 3.30, then 7 which is unheard of. I’m still feeding to sleep at nighttime but the prospect of more sleep is long overdue. She’s having wet nappies but nowhere near what it’s been before obviously.