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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Changing from breast to bottle at 6 months- advice please!!

27 replies

MummaHG · 29/12/2009 11:43

Hi, can anyone give me advice on getting my 6 month old to take a bottle. Up until now he has been BF exclusivly (apart from solids)and has been gaining weight perfectly from day one. For a number of reasons I now want to start him on formular but am having great difficulty getting him to take the bottle, he rejects everything and then i just give him and give him boob which he obviously loves.

Is there anyone who can give me tips on helping him take a bottle?

Thanks

OP posts:
anothercoldbrusselssprout · 29/12/2009 13:10

I'm with you. As I think are a lot of others. Absolutely no chance DD2 (also 6 months) will take a bottle unfortunately, we;ve tried on an off since she was born with no success. I think there are two options:

  1. Cold turkey. Leave DH with your baby all day, he can keep trying and eventually she might take some. I haven't had the heart to do this (bit of a softie me).
  2. Give up with a bottle, and start getting your baby used to a sippee cup (eg the tommee tippee type). You should ditch a bottle by 1 year anyway, so seems more sensible to just go straight to a cup. We've started giving DD2 a cup with water in with her solids lunch, and she's taking to it quite well. We're trying as well at breakfast, with formula, with less success... but perseverance should work eventually.

The other answers all involve trying different bottles/temperatures of milk/environments (quiet/distracted/DH rather than you) etc etc. None of which have made any difference to us

Good luck. Let me know if you find a magic answer

rubyslippedonastraymincepie · 29/12/2009 13:12

breast milk on the teat

PeasPlease · 29/12/2009 13:20

Give him a bit of formula in a cup to play with so he gets used to it and some water in a bottle - again to play with and hopefully he will get used to both.

You could try different formula brands, some of them are abhorrent, try them and you might understand why DS doesn't want it. SMA defo lives up to the Synthetic in its name IMO.

GoldenSnitch · 29/12/2009 13:24

OK - don't judge - but DH tells me that breast milk is sweet while formula is quite yukky tasting (we had the Organic Cow & Gate before they stopped making it with DS)

It might be just that he doesn't like formula. It's a very different taste.

Original poster
MummaHG · 29/12/2009 21:34

Thanks for the advice. My DS drinks fine from a tommee tippee cup, he has water thoughout the day with his meals so i might try him with formular in this cup see how we go from there!

The last few weeks have been hard as he wont sleep unless he is feeding from me, somethings its not even feeding he just nibbles for comfort which is very frustrating! He is also still having between 4-5 feeds a day as well as his 3 meals + desserts and my HV has told me he sould only have a morning milk feed & one before bed!! I really feel im ready to stop BF now but just cant get him to take anything else at the mo.

Thanks

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 29/12/2009 21:37

mumma, your healhrt visitor is, quite frankly, just plain wrong about how many feeds your baby should have.
milk should be the main source of nutrition until the child is at least a year, so 2 feeds a day is not correct, not for a bottle fed baby, and certainly not for a breastfed one.

Original poster
MummaHG · 29/12/2009 21:42

Thats what i thought Thisisyesterday!! She told me that his main source of nutrition should be from his food at 6 months not milk but i found that hard to believe! It must be hard for my DS to go from exclusivly BF to only having it twice a day which is why im still feeding him as & when he wants it.
However I still feel the time is righ to move on but am finding it really hard and so his my DS! Not a happy house at all right now but I will do whats best for him not me!!

OP posts:
Horton · 29/12/2009 22:07

Mumma, as I understand it, milk should be the main form of nutrition for a baby until he or she is at least a year old. At six months food is more about introducing a bit of taste and texture rather than a significant source of either calories or nutrients.

PS, I know exactly how you feel. I have one DD of three. She never took a bottle. But at about a year old she would drink a bit of cows milk from a cup and eat plenty of yoghurt and cheese, which is just as good. She is perfectly healthy, btw. In the end, I let her self-wean (some time after stopping night feeds when she had stopped needing to be fed to sleep at about a year old).

anothercoldbrusselssprout · 30/12/2009 13:25

Mumma - you sound in exactly the same place as me! I could have written that post... I was holding out for DD2 to be established on solids, then I thought I could cut down the feeding, but she has other ideas. She's on 3 meals a day + other finger food - eats almost as much as my 2 year old - and has cut out only 1 of her 8 feeds a day, and is still waking up early hungry. I feel so trapped, like I'll be stuck BF for ever (I fed DD1 for a year, then got pregnant with DD2 immediately, and am so ready to stop this now).

Still, Dh got her to take about 50ml of formula out of the cup this morning, so maybe we're getting somewhere.

Good luck

trixiechick · 30/12/2009 13:53

In the same boat I just posted about this. Then i trie the formula... Hipp organic....s'not terribly nice stuff is it? does anyone recommend any that are less vile?

anothercoldbrusselssprout · 30/12/2009 14:48

Its not - but they do get used to whatever it is you use I think. We're using Nutramigen 2 as DD1 is very allergic to milk, and it is more foul than you can possibly imagine - even the smell of it makes me want to heave. But DD1 loved the stuff when she used to have it, and now loves soya milk

Original poster
MummaHG · 30/12/2009 18:07

Well I tried my DS with formular today out of his tommee tippee cup and no joy at all. Even my mum tried but he just screamed with real tears running down his face so me being a softie had to give in and give him boobie!! Ive ordered some breastflow bottles so will see how i get on with them- fingers crossed. Im using Aptimal first formular milk, i used this with DS1 from 4 months which worked well but am comsidering trying others to see which he will prefer.

OP posts:
anothercoldbrusselssprout · 30/12/2009 18:49

Mumma - could you try giving him the formula with his breakfast, rather than in place of a milk feed, so he doesn't get too upset? Eg wake up, breastfeed, then solids breakfast with a cup of formula. That's what we've been doing, so DD2 can take it or leave it as she wants - and is gradually taking some (but still tiny amounts).

We tried the breastflow bottles, no joy. Hope you have better luck!

Original poster
MummaHG · 30/12/2009 22:11

Oh thanks anothercoldbrusselsprout!! I may well try that tomorrow, he loves his breckie! Will keep you posted about the breastflow bottles. Wishing you lots of luck for impovement your end

OP posts:
Ponymum · 30/12/2009 22:27

We had exactly the same problem. Tried everything anyone suggested. Even my mum (quite a hard-hearted nurse) begged me to give in and BF the day she tried.

In the end the only thing that made her take the bottle was this: I was rushed into hospital to have my appendix out! DH took bottles of expressed milk home and the poor man had to force her to take it from a bottle. She was screaming hungry and (in his words) he said he held her in a "head lock" in the crook of his arm and forced the bottle into her mouth. She would take a sip then cough and spit, until eventually she just clicked, relaxed, and started swallowing it. From there, the transition to formula from expressed milk was no problem at all. The thing was she just didn't "get" what the bottle was for. Once she clicked there was no looking back. It is horrible that she had to go through that, but because of the circumstances it was just what we had to do at the time.

I don't think it makes all that much difference but we used MAM teats and Aptamil no 1 formula. Has been fine.

SugarMagrundy · 30/12/2009 22:48

I got him started on the boob and after a minute, when he was in the zone, quickly shoved the teat in. Like a jump start!

anothercoldbrusselssprout · 31/12/2009 12:25

Blimey ponymum, sounds like an extreme situation - I'm hoping we don't have to do that! At least it worked though. Your poor DH must have been so worried it wouldn't. I am due to go to hospital in February for an op, and been told I shouldn't feed for 12 hours afterwards, which rules out a whole day of feeding.

Sugar - tried that. Didn't work!

Ponymum · 31/12/2009 15:03

Well It's certainly not a method they would put in any parenting book, is it? I tell myself that she won't even remember, which of course she won't. It was only one day after all.

Marybobs · 01/01/2010 10:03

I am having the same trouble. My six month old has never had a bottle and will not take his formula. He has a cows milk allergy and is just on three meals a day and 3 feeds plus a night feed. Unfortunately he has developed 4 teeth in the last 4 weeks and is making me so sore I cannot carry on B Feeding. I am so worried as he will not take the soya formula from any cup, trainer cup or bottle. He has even started refusing water in his training cup. He cannot have yoghurts, or other dairy products due to his severe allegy. (He ballooned and was covered in hives after only a mouthful of normal formula). The last 4 days I have not B-fed his morning or afternoon feeds- only one at bedtime and then one in night. I feel so guilty as I want to feed him. He cannot settle to sleep and is having difficulty going to the loo. His routine is out the window. All the while my supply is diminishing! Any advice welcomed.

Skimummy · 02/01/2010 22:11

Been there, done that...can be very disheartening indeed.

I wanted to get my DD to take a bottle and formula when she was 8 months old as I was going back to work part-time - it took a couple of weeks of being very patient and persevering!

The Breastflow bottles worked for me but I know other mums who have had success with MAM, Nuk etc. It may just be a matter of trying different ones out. I had the grand idea of going straight from breast to cup but it was a no go - DD is now 15 months and is still disgusted when I try to give her milk in a cup.

I also had to try a couple of different formulas and ended up with Aptamil 3 as first-stage milks tended to be thrown up.

Good luck!

StarlightWonderStarlightBright · 03/01/2010 07:33

Why go onto bottles at all?

freeflowing (non-valve) sippy cups should be fine. Leave it on the floor for him to help himself (if he can crawl)

Original poster
MummaHG · 03/01/2010 19:57

Still no joy with getting DS to take a bottle but am still trying everyday.

I have tried giving him milk in a cup/tommee tippee beaker but he just tips it upside down and doesnt do any drinking. However he is great at drinking water from it with his lunch & dinner.

Im just being patient so fingers crossed he gives in soon

OP posts:
crumpet · 03/01/2010 20:02

We tried a gazillion teats and the brownish ones (no s ilicone) were teh ones that everntually worked for us). Nuk do them, but initially we had another brand, but can't remember which ones.

We also used to let dd have a bottle with a bit of milk or water in at non-feed times just to play with and get used to - a large part of the problem was that she had to learn how to suck from a bottle teat.

Original poster
MummaHG · 11/01/2010 19:57

Ladies just to let you know my DS is now taking the bottle fine (touch wood). As of 5.30am Saturday morning i decided to go Cold Turkey (as i was up the whole night for comfort sucking!!) I thought that if he was hungry he will take the bottle so everytime he seems like he wanted milk i made up a few oz of formula, he refused each one until bed time then after a few winges he gave in a sucked the bottle and loved it. From then on i expressed twice a day to combine feeding but now he has refused to have my breast milk so as of today he is formula fed. On the down side my boobs are agony!!

He is still waking up in the night, last night he had 2 feeds of 7oz so im a little concered he is now having too much so off to see the HV tomorrow & get him weighed, he is a big boy for 6.5months weighing a whopping 23lb at present!

Thanks for all the advice, seems like cold turkey did the trick for me. Oh and he is taking milk from the advent bottles which is even better as i have lots of them!!

OP posts:
Jacob17 · 12/01/2010 21:21

Congratulations!!
I have been trawling around the site trying to get some tips as I am in the exact same position - my 6.5mth old point blank refuses the bottle, and I am desperate to give up bf. Did you just keep trying him with the bottle when you went cold turkey, and keep feeding him solids? I am going to give up it a go!
Thanks!

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