11 month old who doesn’t want to drink???

[Tgilaura]

Hi all,

I’d be really grateful for any advice with this. My 11 month old has refused bottles since I tried to stop breastfeeding at around 6 months. This has meant I have had to continue breastfeeding until now. (Hoping to stop after she turns 1)

However, what gives me real anxiety is that she’s just not that bothered about drinking from her sippy cup at all. I present it to her with every meal, during the day at random times and she just bats it away 95% of the time. Very rarely she will have a small swig.

I thought when I went back to work she d have to drink more because I m not there to feed, but I think she just drinks the bare minimum until I come home to offer a feed.

Can anyone offer any words of advice? I ve tried different cups, squash, watered down fruit juice - nothing makes a difference.
For completeness, she’s doesn’t seem to be constipated or anything, so could it just be she gets enough from the breast milk?
How on earth am I going to stop breastfeeding when she refuses to drink anything else?

Thanks for any and all advice.

I think I can be fairly confident she will not die of thirst. If you shut up shop she will not smell the milk and eventually she will drink something else. Have you thought about a bottle? I dont think my children ever used a sippy cup. They had bottles and then plastic mugs and then ordinay ones. Their issue was total disinterest in solid food. They are adults now and do eat solid food - one is a confirrmed carnivore and the other has been vegetarian since two or three when he found out where meat came from. Nobody was able to persuade him to eat meat again.

These straw cups.

www.liewood.com/collections/sale-mealtime/products/ellis-sippy-cup-tableware-cat-apple-red

They are just silicone cup and open style straw, so no non spill or anything, but it means they can just sip easily without having to suck.
( also had breastfeeding baby who refused bottles/ beakers).

We also bought another pack of just the silicone straws from Liewood. I think you get about 8 in a pack. Handy to have in changing bag, and at home as they grow to use in any cup or if your out and about

I have tried bottles as well, I even tried just drinking from an open cup which she did for a couple of days and then got bored of that.
I know she won’t die, it’s more than I’m worried about when I stop feeding if she ll have digestive and constipation issues if I can’t figure this out first!

Thanks for the recommendation. At this point I d try anything.
She’s so bloody stubborn as well, sometimes even offering her the cup is enough to make her angry. 😒 how dare I want her to be hydrated!

Hi!

My baby's also 11 months and exactly the same and I've also had to breastfeed up until this point and hope to stop soon!

He started nursery four weeks ago and for the first two weeks they asked us to pick him up early because he had drunk nothing and they were worried about dehydration. On the plus side he's getting better. We used a cup with a straw where we could squeeze water into his mouth and also resorted to a medicine syringe just to get liquid in him not always successful but got him something). Four weeks on he's getting better. We always leave a sioppy cup/drink near where he is playing and find hell now go and get it and drink. We're probably only getting him to have 100-150ml a day but we're getting there.

Zero luck on him showing any willing to drink milk apart from the boob though.

Hi there!

Glad to hear it’s not just my stubborn baby that doesn’t want to drink. 😅
Would you mind showing me an example of the cup and straw you used? All the cups I ve seen so far are hard so can’t be squeezed, and I m not sure she has got the hang of a straw yet.
I’m doing the same in always leaving a drink available and sometimes she pick it up and sort of chew on the teat but not really drink from it. 😫
Its good that your little boy is improving, I haven’t even measured what she drinks because I m sure it’s next to nothing and will make me panic more. I suppose because she will have a feed before I go to work, then when I get home, and before bed and usually a couple in the night she’s just prepared to hold out and wait for breast milk. 🙄🙄🙄

www.tinknstink.co.uk/ark-s-bear-bottle-kit-for-straw-drinking.html

We used this one. You can squeeze into baby's mouth and we found he got the hang of it really quickly. We've moved back to the NUK first sippy cup now which he seems to prefer but this really helped him understand the concept of drinking and water. I saw it on Instagram and was sceptical but seems to have helped.

We also gave him a LOT of water based foods to try and help avoid constipation. It seems to have worked but it's a hard slog.

PS - ignore the terrible website name!

Oh that’s great thank you! It looks like it’s an ideal way for them to learn how to use the straw as well.
I‘ m trying to do the same - very milky porridge in the mornings, lots of fruit and yoghurt where possible.
Thanks for sharing - I’ve ordered one of those bottles already. When are you hoping to stop feeding?

I had this worry! He is now 18 months and drinks fine but it’s a stress especially when it’s hot. I used to think DS was descended from a camel!

Tbh I think with breastfeeding many just aren’t that thirsty ontop.

Ds was breastfed unlimited until 12 ish months. Then I dropped down to only feeding first and last thing for the next 6 months. It was only after I dropped to just morning and evening he gradually drank a bit more.

We use these for our and about and just having sitting on living room side for him to help himself in the day. again no non spill valve when open so can sip easily. But doesn’t spill when lid closed. A bit pricey. But we only have 1 and it’s lasted 18 months so far as new. Plus you can just buy replacement lids which I like. Will get another for nursery when he starts

www.trixie-baby.com/en/bottles.html

Thank you it’s good know to they come around eventually!!

I think maybe you are right about the breastfeeding. She seems to get everything she needs from that, and since she’s been Ill recently I ve been feeding her more - probably making it all seem worse!
I think your way of feeding just morning and evening is the way to go - did you feed during the night as well?
It’s difficult because I never envisioned feeding for so long, I really regret not introducing a bottle when she was tiny so that transition wouldn’t have been so unsuccessful and stressful!

I do think the thirst will kick in when the feeding reduces. I’m still breastfeeding my 3.5 year old - it’s all been done at her pace, and I found that as she reduced her breastfeeds, her natural want for water increased. I would leave out cups/drinkers filled with water and just remind her they were there. I would also offer a cup of water at every meal. She got there in the end and I’m sure your baby will too. Best of luck

Try a straw or just an open cup (held by you).dont offer anything but water, she's too young

@Tgilaura - no after 12 months I stopped all overnight feeds. He just got offered water. Just before bed and first thing in the morning. Then at some point dropped evening feed and morning one was the last to go