7 month old EBF won't take a bottle and bedtime taking all evening

[Am2025]

Hello!
FTM with a 7mo who has been EBF and refusing the bottle since 12 weeks old. I dont want to give up BF but weve been trying to introduce a bottle to help with a bedtime feed. We've tried different teats, temperatures, bottles, caregivers, time of day and myself being out of the house and nothing works. Any tips?

We've also found bedtime is getting even harder. Lots of false starts, waking within 45 mins - 1hour and waking every 1-2 hours during the night. She has been on 3 naps but wondering if we might need to drop a nap. It's so hard to know??!

Of all the feeds, I'd keep the final going to sleep one as a breast feed as she'll feed to sleep faster than any other method. She also will be looking for comfort and just not be in the mood for a bottle and have less tolerance. Can you practice the bottle in the morning instead? Teeth may be a huge factor over the next few months - I'd try ibuprofen twenty mins before bed and see if that helps.

why are you trying to give a bottle for this feed? It’s the easiest feed to do as it is literally designed to help them sleep. Do you work nights?

Mine were sleepier and would do a decent stretch as younger babies, but once they became mobile- they were up every hour from 7pm with everything you just described

we just didn’t make it a battle

they just breastfed, snoozed and chilled with us

if we went up to bed earlier, they just came to bed with us and would go to sleep in the middle no problem

we didn’t go in on the bedtime thing until past the first birthday.

We found that with lights dimmed and cuddles they were calmer in the evening and no bother at all.

DD was a bottle refuser and the only slight success we had with milk in any other form than from me was Hipp Organic in an old style Tommee Tippee free flow cup. She would tolerate this in small amounts with her breakfast at 6-7 months old but never any other time.
Have you tried a different cup?
And as the poster above says, the bedtime feed is definitely the one to keep, by bedtime all babies want is comfort and that is boob shaped.

Agree with @Wherethewildthings re keeping the bedtime feed as BF and try bottle earlier in the day. Evening is the hardest time to drop bf as they are tired and grumpy and want comfort. Lots going on at 7 months its tough going. I had one absolute bottle refuser, went straight to an open cup and eventually took to 360 cups. DC would refuse to be fed while I was at work (14 hours) then feed all night. Was a laborious process that took months swapping to a cup. Whatever you try just stay consistent and prepare that it may take weeks if not longer to make any progress. Very best of luck. It does get easier!

I should add that was refusing milk feeds when I was out. She would take weaning foods from a spoon after a very stressful few days of nothing while I worked. Poor DH had a tough time!

I think you move bedtime later or you try to shift the first and second naps a bit so you stretch the awake time enough to manage on two naps.

Thanks for your reply! We have tried the bottle at different times of the day in more of a playful way so she can familiarise.
Totally agree about the last feed being about comfort too. I've just been worried that my supply is low as she falls asleep quickly and wakes up so soon after going down. But you're right, I think teething has a big part to play in it at the moment. I'll try the bottle this morning! Thank you

Thanks for your reply! I'm very happy BF to sleep but I've been concerned my supply is very low in the evening and DD has been waking every 20-30 minutes in the evenings so was worried she was hungry but I'm sure it's lots of different factors at this age causing false starts. Thanks for the tips.

Thanks for your reply!! I've just bought a tommee tippee cup and tried an open cup with water etc. At the moment, she's not taken to them but I'm just letting her familiarise herself when we're trying foods etc.
Will continue to introduce in the day rather than evening. Thank you :)

Thanks so much for your reply!! That sounds tough. Noted on 360 cups, I'll look into that too and stick to trying things out in the day and not in the evenings. Totally agree consistency is key! Thank you for your advice

My daughter never took a bottle. When I went back to work at eight months I fed in the morning and the night feed but apart from that she had water from a sippy cup and she was weaned. I thought I wouldn’t be able to go back to work, we would sit for hours with a bottle of my breast milk, tried every bottle under the sun, I left the house so she couldn’t smell me. Nope no way was she having that bottle.

Thank you, will try this with bigger awake windows!

It sounds like she’s still cluster feeding in the evenings, if you’re concerned your supply is low the best thing to do is feed her more for a while and it should sort itself out. As others have said I would keep her downstairs with you a bit longer in the evenings so she can feed more while awake then go to bed a little later. She maybe just isn’t ready for an early bed time yet.
You could definitely try two naps and see if that does the trick to get her sleeping better at night

Thanks for your reply! Which sippy cup did you use? I've bought the tomee tippee but she hasn't got a grasp of it yet, it's more of a toy at the moment. I wondered because she's never taken to a bottle she might find it harder to get used to a sippy cup.

Thanks so much I will try this!