Bottle refuser, so over breastfeeding

[Welcometotheocbitch]

im so over breastfeeding! My little one is 6 months and wont take a bottle. Tried my milk/formula, many different bottles, hot/cold, sippy cups/open cups/straw cups but no luck, she wants it from the tap. Does anyone have any suggestions of what worked for them? I’m trying her daily, should I be trying more often than this? Im not happy to go out for a few hours and leave her with her dad so she’s forced because she’s hungry…but has anyone had success with that? I’m quite concerned also that she will be doing 5 long days in nursery at 10 months and have no comfort without breastfeeding, worried sick about it actually, but at least I’d know she wasn’t hungry if she took a bottle!

At 10 months she won't need a bottle at Nursery. I went back at 19 and 9 months and neither of mine ever took a bottle.

It's fine to give up BFing if you want to but don't let the thought of them not having a bottle at nursery be the deciding factor.

At 19 months you can feed on wake up, pick up and at bedtime and actually feeding when you've picked them up is a lovely way to reconnect.

Mine would take a cup of milk if they really needed it.

Don't forget too that a BF baby only takes roughly 25 Floz in 24 hours so if they're having 1 or 2 flozs from a cup, that does count as a feed

I don't agree with @PolaroidPrincess at 9 months they do need a bottle if doing 5 long days in nursery .

There is a big difference between 6-9 months but in the month before (or sooner if you are completely done with it) I think you will have to leave her with someone you trust. You being away is likely to be the only thing that makes it works as why would she want the bottle when she has the better option there.

You are doing so amazing and it will end.

If you are on Instagram the blissful baby expert did a zoom you can buy for I think £20ish to help people with bottle refusers. She’s helped us with our baby on other things. Or try going out and someone else do the bottle. My friend had a bottle refuser who started nursery at 10 months and she was so worried but she took bottles there no problems and magically started taking them at home then as well, all is not lost and your baby will be okay!

Hi my daughter had an on and off bottle aversion from 6 weeks (bottle started at 3 weeks) until 10 months. It was bad from 8-10 months after the GP prescribed the wrong formula and one she was allergic too. At 10 months I was admitted to a mother and baby unit with treatment resistant depression and psychosis. I had run out of meds I could take and breastfeed so I had to stop breastfeeding cold turkey and send her home to dad for a few days. We tried holding out and on breastfeeding but she cried for a feed for 5-6h. Every member of staff tried too without me in the room. In the end she went 26h without a drink! One of the big problems for us was she didn't eat either. She hadn't engaged in weaning so a good day was a few spoons of cereal and a handful of peas. Had she been eating 3 good meals a day then dietician would have been happy for us to not worry about getting her on the bottle and try to get liquids in her through food and a sippy cup. Although 10 months feels really close in terms of feeding it can be night and day to where you are now. A lot of babies that are good eaters can make it through a day at nursery at 10 months on food and sippy cups of expressed milk or water. My daughter was about 18 months when she accepted a sippy cup. We had all but given up on her ever having one so just because a feeding vessel is rejected now it's not to say it will be rejected in a few months time.

So that was the last time I got her on the bottle. I got her to overcome an earlier bottle aversion by offering her a very small amount of expressed breastmilk after each day time feed. I only offer 0.5-1 Oz at a time to avoid despair at her not taking it. I just wanted her to associate the bottle with milk. I think I had high lipase so it had to be very fresh milk expresses within the last few hours. In 3 days she went from not wanting the bottle to accepting the teat in her mouth to drinking from it. She would then accept an occasional bottle (1-2 a week) of expressed breastmilk from us which did allow us to try her on the formula at 8 months. I still am kicking myself 3 years on at not reading the ingredients on the formula as it would have saved us a lot of heartache if I had seen the coconut and not given it to her.

Is it you trying the bottles or her Dad?

DC would never ever take a bottle from me (even of expressed milk) If you are holding them they can smell the breast milk and know it's there!

They did take from DH, Dsis & nursery nurses - but I had to be out the room. In fact first time I went in the garden as the initial few seconds crying made me leak!

6 months is the age it starts to get better due to weaning. I found baby-led was less stressful if that helps

She will be a very different baby feeding-wise in 2-3 months time

I'm afraid I never succeeded with one of mine at that age, but around 10 months she did start accepting bottles and sleeping in a cot rather than with us. Something just changed in her. Feedwise, BF got easier, the older she got she seemed to need less little snack feeds and able to feed 3/4 times a day and got more from each one.

Sorry, my first at nine months was a bottle refuser and EBF. He coasted at the child minder on food and water. Took a few sips of breastmilk from a spoon but soon didn't bother either. Ultimately ended up reverse cycling wanting to feed at night.

So I got a bit strict, fed loads before bedtime, once overnight and then a lot on wake up. Then at 12 months immediately onto milk from a 360 cup and that helped significantly. Dropped the night feeds with water (should have done that earlier)!