DD never took bottle or cup- How do I stop breastfeeding?

[Southoftheriver888]

Hello hoping for some advice. My 13 month old daughter never took a bottle ( we tried 11 different ones different people different times and eventually gave up) but now also won't take cows milk in a cup. I am desperate to stop breastfeeding ( which I now only do first thing and last thing) and at nursery all day she doesn't take any milk. She is an average eater and on 25th percentile but lovely, happy and sleeps 12 hours a night all through ( which is the main thing I worry about changing) where to start to with stopping? Do I need to have her take milk somehow? ( she does eat cereal each day with cows milk mixed in) I literally cannot think how to stop and worried night times will be chaos!

My DD was similar. I eventually dropped the bedtime feed at 15 months. She never liked milk so I just tried to give her calcium in other ways - not easy because she was a fussy eater too. But lots of yoghurt, fromage frais, milk in porridge, custard, rice pudding etc. She wouldn't eat cheese.

She's 16 now and still doesn't like milk. Has her cereal dry. IS slowly coming round to some cheese!

DD was like this - no one advised me to introduce a bottle early and by the time I was ready to stop she absolutely refused anything but the breast.

At 13 months she'll be fine with normal amounts of dairy in the form of yoghurt, milk in cereal and cheese along with other food. Milk to drink isn't essential.

I had a bottle and cup milk refuser. I was told by HV as long as they are dairy in other forms, yogurt, cheese etc and ate broccoli it was fine. She did eventually drink milk starting by having it with cereal/ Weetabix.

Pick which one you want to stop first and as hard as it seems make yourself unavailable to feed, of you feed in bed, be up instead. If on sofa be in a different room. Then distract, change routine and if needed feed breakfast / a sback a bit earlier or instead.

Thanks that is so helpful! But did you literally just stop one night? I am a bit stuck on the practicalities of it. We got into quite the bubble during lockdown ( which I found horrendous with some family tragedies and a health scare all without family) We bathe her read story then I take into her room to feed. If I just put her into bed I imagine she would punch me in the face! haha

Thanks @cooperage! She actually took a bottle for first 6 weeks because my milk came in late but one night refused and went ballistic whenever we tried. Sigh.

Yep - just stopped. I had to go out with DH for a work do, so Granny came to baby sit. I warned her that there could well be problems going down, but she said she was happy to deal with it. She just did the normal bedtime routine minus the feed and off she went to sleep. I think the fact that it wasn't me putting her to bed probably helped, but things went just as smoothly the next night when I did.

How does she drink water? I'd just offer it to her in whatever she'd usually have water from, and then just make up whatever she won't drink with extra dairy in meals.

Imo it's much more important that she's properly hydrated than it is that she's drinking milk.

She takes lots water from the 360 munchkin cup and loves it but if you put milk in it she throws it across the room :)

I'd not bother with milk then, just feed her lots of yogurt and cheese and milky porridge etc

Have you tried the milk warm? Maybe in a different cup to the one she has water from? If not then eating cheese and yoghurt and milk on cereal instead is fine.

Ideally you would drop one feed first and then have a gap e.g. a week before dropping the other one. She might be more likely to take the milk at the time she usually has a feed too.

hi @UnbeatenMum three cups, warm, v warm, cold, on a tuesday, from a libran, upside down :) literally everything. I suck as a mother sometimes I feel :(