Switching from bottle to beaker for formula has gone down like a lead balloon - what now?!

[Jacksmybaby]

DS 10 months has 3 formula feeds a day - 6oz before breakfast and 9oz bottles at 2.30 p.m. and at bedtime. Have tried to switch to beaker (Avent beaker spouts, the ones that fit on top of normal Avent bottles) for 2.30 p.m. feed but he just cries, pushes it away and is generally unhappy with it. Carried on for 2 days and then wimped out and went back to bottle. He is absolutely fine with using a beaker for water, which he does himself, although he only takes sips here and there (and dribbles an awful lot of the water out) - he would never sit and drink a whole beaker full of liquid, which is what he would need to do with his formula.
So what now? Don't want to keep trying lots of different types of beaker cause I don't want to mess him around and think he needs a chance to get used to one kind of beaker. Do I go back to bottles for now and try again in another few weeks? Or do I keep trying? And how do I keep his milk intake up, if I do keep trying and he's not really taking much if any milk from the beaker?
Thoughts appreciated...

why are you so eager to get rid of the bottle?

You'll have to be really consistent to do the change. I've spend a year with one of my charges trying to get her to drink from cup(she was 2.5 when I left) and the week before I left she drank out of cup with a straw.

As he's only 10 months I wouldn't be to concerned and if he doesn't drink the milk at 2.30pm as he's still having a morning and night bottle and eating cheese, yoghurt and greens then he's not going to be missing out on any nutrients.

Jen - don't know really, I suppose he has to make the change at some point, and on HV's advice (which I know is not always right/best!) have tried to do it once he is fine with drinking water from a beaker, which he is. Have u done this swap-over and if so, when?
Nannynz, do you mean I should keep trying with the beaker and not worry too much if he doesn't drink much formula out of it?

I'm really interested in this post. My DS is 17 months old and still having 3 bottles of formula a day. I hadn't thought to put the milk in a beaker - but am with jacksmybaby really in that I don't think he'd drink as much as he needs. I've been trying to get him to eat more solids and drink water at mealtimes - but he always wants a bottle first thing in the morning and last thing at night. He eats loads at nursery (where he is twice a week), slightly less for grandma (who has him once a week), and even less for me. Having worried about this whole bottle thing for ages, have finally come round to thinking that since he's healthy, reaching developmental milestones when he's supposed to there isn't much of a problem. But then one has to worry about something!

I started offering milk from a beaker when ds was about 9 months old. I changed one of his day feeds into a lidded beaker (avent magic cup - which was different to the cups I used for his water which are tommee tippee first cups). I offered it to him as a snack along with a biscuit and let him try to use the cup himself i.e. I didnt try to feed him it like a bottle feed. He could already use the TT first cup well for water so I knew he could lift and drink from the cups himself. Giving it at a daytime feed meant that if he didnt take much then he could make up for it at a later feed. He didnt take much from it for a few days but once he was ok with it I switched the other daytime feed and then shortly after that the morning and night bottles became cup feeds and he was off bottles by 10 1/2 months. From around 11 months he had only 2 milk feeds from his cups (he uses a cow patterned cup for bedtime and the avent one for his morning milk) - as he uses only these ones for milk he knows what he is getting when he sees the cup.

From 1 year milk is not that important compared to solids and a minimum of 300/350mls is recommended (approx 12oz) which also includes milk with cereal, in foods, yoghurt, cheese, etc so they dont need to drink that much at all as long as they have other sources of the same nutrients.

I would persevere with giving the one feed from a cup, preferably a different cup from what you use for water and your lo will get used to it if you are consistent. If they dont take much then give extra dairy and offer a little extra at the bedtime feed to make up for it.

Jacksmybaby - Don't be to concerned if he doesn't take much(or any) from cup really at his age he will regualate himself(to a cetain degree).

I've had a babe that gave up bottles at 10 months and would drink some milk from cups and I'd make milky puddings/cheese sauces and offer other milk products. He's now a gorgeous seven year old and shows no ill effects from dropping amount of milk "they" say children should have at any age.

Seona1973: thank you! That's brilliant advice. Off tomorrow to get a lidded beaker type thing. Did you offer cow's milk or formula?

when ds was under 1 I offered formula in the cup and when he got to 1 I offered cows milk but just 1 feed at a time i.e. I swapped the morning milk to cows milk and kept the night time one as formula until I was sure he would take it ok and then made them both cows milk.

I wouldn't bother if I were you, I know all the advice is to switch to a beaker but they like milk from a bottle. As long as they have all other drinks from a cup/beaker then don't worry. My 2 (2.7yrs and 17mths) both still have a bottle of milk at bedtime- the older one had given up but resumed because the younger one started having one when BF stopped. They both drink water/juice from cups no problem at all. However I feel that milk is really good for them and I would rather they had it in a bottle than not at all or just a couple of ounces from a cup.
If you really want to I'm sure he'll accept it eventually and/or his milk intake may decrease. Either way it won't do him any harm- I just took the easy option (anyway I like those few minutes in the evening when they cuddle up with me and have their bottles- I want to make the most of it while it lasts!)

Thanks all for advice. Seona as always you are a mine of useful info re beakers (you helped me out a few months ago when I was first introducing water from a beaker!). Actually am also using the TT first cup for water, and had started trying the Avent spouts (which are the same green ones as on the magic cups, only I am using them on bottles instead) for formula. Like idea of doing it as a snack and letting him do it, rather than trying to "feed" him with the beaker as if it were a bottle - had been doing the latter, but only because I thought it would be less of a change for him and he might accept it better, but obviously he hasn't! Given that I know he is perfectly capable of holding a beaker and drinking for himself (with water) I will give the same thing a go with formula and try not to worry too much if he doesn't take much (forgot to mention also he has a v. big appetite generally, has milk on cereal, eats cheese and yogurt, and weight/height are both up over 91st). Anyway sorry that was a bit of a rambling post am finished now...