Will bottle feeding effect breastfeeding toddler

[Mumtobe202310]

Hi All,

Hope you and your LOs are well.

My LO is going to be 16 months on the 28th of this month.

I used to do combination feeding till he was about 6 months I think when he just stopped and ever since I have been breastfeeding only.

Since I have Post Natal Depression, I find that breastfeeding was something I seemed comfort in, I just really appreciated it.

However, I have been finding it very hard recently where he will wake up early morning and not sleep until after 2 hours. I have health conditions and find it so hard to rock him to sleep. I usually breastfeed him to sleep but it doesn't work all the time especially the mornings.

Now, my family members like aunts etc have been bugging me about getting me to get him to take bottle as then he will sleep through and not constantly suckle me.

I was heavily against it and still internally am but I am at the point i feel I have to give in to bottle now.

My only worry is... Will this make my LO stop wanting to have my breastmilk??

I'd be devastated honestly. I feel really robbed off the newborn stage and breastfeeding kept me sane.

I hope I don't come across as odd haha.

Any help will be much appreciated

It's not either/or. Unless for whatever reason he's not getting enough calories from food he'll be waking in the night for comfort, not because he's hungry - it's a habit. You could carry on in the day but stop at night.
Don't replace it with a bottle either, at 16 months old enough for a sippy cup. Breast milk, cows milk and formula milk all have natural sugar (lactose), which can damage teeth. Keep feeding - however you do it - to the daytime at that age.

I wouldn’t introduce a bottle at 16 months, not because of any impact to breastfeeding (said as someone still breastfeeding a 2yo) but more because I think the recommendation is to generally switch to a beaker/cup by 12 months. We’ve found the munchkin cups to be fairly unspillable so could be a good middle ground.

We found that the night time feeds went down dramatically once they were in their own room.

So instead of constant wriggling and feeding we went down to one or two feeds during the night.

Agree with the PP who said that it's not one or the other. You can cut down or stop BFing at night without introducing a bottle.

Another alternative would to be to try some gentle night weaning?

Do you have a partner you're sharing the night wakings with? I would stop breastfeeding overnight without introducing a bottle. I combi fed my second so I've nothing against it, but by 16 months we'd moved away from bottles so I wouldn't want to introduce them at that age.
I bf my first until she was over 2, but for the last year of it she probably only fed twice a day - first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

At that age, I wouldn't give any milk at night. Give him a cup of water, nothing else. He's feeding for comfort only. Your PND will likely improve once you get some sleep too.

Also, giving a bottle rather than breast at night can ruin their teeth.

There's no reason for a 16 month old to "take a bottle". He should be taking liquids other than breastmilk out of a cup. A bottle at 16 month is not recommended and could damage his teeth.

At 16 months, his main nutrition should be food and BM should be supplementary. You can set boundaries around how often and when you want him to feed.

However, night weaning is not recommended until 18 months and there is no evidence that stopping breastfeeding or giving a bottle improves sleep.

He shouldn't need night feeds at 16 months. If he's waking in the early mornings could he be having too much sleep. I'd try a later bedtime and only water if he wakes in the night. As for other breastfeeding, continue as long as you are both happy, but he is fine with a sippy cup of cows milk instead when you are ready to stop.