EBF - bottle feeding and worried for trip away at 8 months

[Bottlequestion123]

My EBF 5 month old hasn’t ever been good with a bottle. He can take it and has in the past but success has been very varied despite persistence (which I’ll continue with!). I’m happy breastfeeding but really need flexibility.

im going away for a few days without him / my husband when he will be about 8 months old and I’m so worried what will happen if I’ve still not managed to get him to take the bottle reliably. I’m going to try a sippy cup next month when I’ll start solids, but if that’s also a no go, what can I do?? How many feeds will he be on at that age? I don’t know when breastfeeding typically can come to an end. I’m getting so stressed as it is not possible for the baby and husband to come on my trip away, so I feel in a desperate situation

For what it is worth, we have tried me being out the house for an afternoon and my husband feeding him with the bottle with no success so I don’t think me not being there will make any difference

Three months is plenty of time to get him used to the bottle imo! Practise during his hungriest time of day. Try having the bottle warmer than you'd think - obviously not so hot that it's unsafe, but properly warm. Try other brands of bottles, eg my dd only drank from Mam bottles but my ds is happy with Tommee Tippee.

Ps my ds only has one bottle a day, for reference, so he's almost EBF

My chief worry, if you are still breastfeeding at the time you go away, would be the pain of engorged breasts.

Speaking from experience..... I thought leaving my 6-months old for 14 hours would be absolutely fine. The last 4 hours were some of the longest - and most painful - of my life!

Also agree with PPs that you'll want to get him used to taking an occasional bottle way ahead of time.

I'd probably try going straight to a cup rather than faffing about trying different brands of bottles.

Try a sippy cup - best of luck with it as I’m sure it’s a worry xx

I went on holiday with my Gran (a long planned trip to a specific event) when dd1 was 5 months old. I was gone a week. I pumped enough milk for the trip and more and left her with dh and mil who came to help.

She was fine after the first day, back then solids were commonly introduced at 4 months so she wasn't starving! She ate a lot of plain yoghurt and would take the bottle for mil no problem - we thought she associated dh with me and there was lots of rooting until he could get her to take the teat.

I had been ebfing and expressing for 3 months to build up a store, so I had oversupply and had to pump and dump regularly on the holiday - I took my avent hand pump with me and expressed every few hours to keep comfy but also keep my supply up.

The first couple of days after I got home she wasn't getting enough from me so dh fed her expressed milk after I'd bf her. After about 3 days my supply sorted itself out and I went on to feed until she turned 1.

She's now nearly 24 and doesn't seem to have suffered for it!!

worried if he refuses a sippy cup too! 😫 ideally I don’t want to BF when he’s 8 months but worried I’ll have to

Hmm I think it's quite hard to leave them for a prolonged period at that age when you're breastfeeding. I always thought I would be able to do it but I ended up breastfeeding for a lot longer than I ever anticipated.

Is it a work trip? Or something like a hen do? If it was me I think I'd probably cancel or take the baby with me. I didn't like the idea of the baby getting distressed while I was gone. I am soft though!

You can probably get around the bottle refusal if they’re eating really well, you can get formula into food (use to make porridge, mac and cheese etc), taking vitamin drops and drinking plenty of water from a sippy cup. I had 2 formula fed babies that went on milk strike once they discovered food and the advice from DD1’s paediatrician (not UK so standard to see one) was that the above was absolutely fine.

If baby isn’t taking a bottle and isn’t eating well though then I don’t know how you can go without them?? Hopefully though persistence will pay off and he’ll take the bottle. Then plan B is for him to become a foodie 🤣Fingers crossed!

Hi guys, if my DS comes with me on this trip but stays nearby do you think this is doable? How much would you expect an 8 month old to be BF in the day? It’s my sisters hen do so there’s just no way I am not going to go!

Have you started weaning yet? It really all depends on that. A baby that eats really well and drinks water from a sippy will obviously be able to go longer without milk than one who isn’t eating a great deal yet… 8MOs can be very variable IME.

They're all very different, but in my experience you can probably get away with missing a few feeds in the day at that age. He might have some milk in a cup or a bottle or eat real food during the day. But then overnight it's harder so perhaps you could book a hotel room with your DH and the baby and you could go back there for the night.