Help! Need to stop bf but 9mo DS not complying!

[HolidaysQueen]

I'm trying to stop bf my 9mo DS and it isn't going well. He was mix-fed from 2 weeks to about 8mo (when he dropped his 11pm bottle), so always took a bottle of formula, and is very good at drinking water from a cup, but he is now refusing to take formula from a bottle or cup.

He has 3 bf per day and I want to drop the afternoon feed with a view to stopping completely in the next month. I return to work in early March so want to be finished a good few weeks before he starts in childcare so he doesn't have to experience two changes at once. I know I could keep feeding while back at work but I have always found bf really hard and I'm amazed I got this far and I may be selfish but I really just need to stop for myself now.

We tried a few days last week when DH was around but DS refused - pushed it away strongly and got very upset. Took one sip from me, but when he realised it was formula and not water he spat it out and violently pushed the cup away.

The only ideas I have left are:

1. Just drop the feed and offer water instead, then bring his tea forward from say 5.30 to 4.30 and ensure he gets more dairy in his diet
2. Offer a yoghurt and water about 30 mins before the afternoon feed - gets calories and liquid into him, isn't as obvious a bf substitute as formula in cup - then try to replace that with formula a few days later when hopefully the association with a bf at that time is broken

DH is around this weekend so I'd quite like to try something tomorrow that DH can implement while I leave the room.

Do you think either of my ideas would work or are they both bad ideas? Do you have any other ideas? Should I try a different formula even though I am just using the one he had when mix fed?

Thank you!

Could you not try and drop the afternoon feed but carry on with the morning and afternoon feeds until after you go back to work?
It sounds as if you will find it hard work to give up completely when your DS is so keen on b-feeding. Also if you are still feedign when he starts childcare it is a great way to boost his confidence and cuddle up at the end of the day - will probably help him fight off many of the bugs which often go hand in hand with childcare at this age, which in turn makes life much easier for you (less chance of you having to take time off when he is ill and can't go to nursery).

Hi Pannacotta - I guess i need to see how I feel after dropping that afternoon feed, but at the moment I feel I need to stop all of it. If I can drop that feed maybe I'll feel better. Any advice on how to drop that feed?

You could try giving him expressed milk a bottle rather than a b-feed, and gradually change it to formula?
I did find it made life a bit easier when I was down to morning and night feeds with DS1, but he was a bit older then, 14 months I think so he dropped the feed himself really.
DS2 still often has a feed in the afternoon and he is 19 months, but I am not in any rush to give up.

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