Bottle refusal - should I bother trying?

[ART2022]

My daughter is 6 months and EBF. I introduced a bottle at 1 week old and she was having a bottle or two of expressed milk a day until she was 2 months. At this point she suddenly refused it and hasn’t accepted a bottle feed since.

I always wanted the option to offer a bottle as I really value just a little time away to see friends and I’ve had to give up dairy due to bad silent reflux. In my mind I thought I’d do the first 6 months and then pop her on formula so I could have cheese and a bit of freedom back! However now that time has come and it’s not as simple as that - I love the bond and don’t feel ready to give up breastfeeding totally.

I do have in my mind though that I’ll be going back to work in a few months and I won’t be able to to BF due to the commute times.

Is it worth trying with the bottle? Or do people just offer milk in a cup once they are pretty much on solids? Wondering if I’m going to spend time introducing something I just need to wean her off in a few months anyway?

If you want to keep breastfeeding then going back to work won't stop you. You can give milk in a cup around now, whether expressed or formula. She will change so much in a couple of months and be getting nutrition from food, so the need for breastfeeding will reduce. You can do before and after work when you return.

Now she's 6 months just bin the bottle.

Get going on weaning and as she takes more solids she will naturally drop milk feeds. By 9/10 months she will be fine to feed morning and bedtime and have solids and water in the day.

Introduce a cup with weaning and she can have milk in that too.

@HoHoHowMuch and @Twizbe i know this sounds silly but will she take enough from a cup to have as her bedtime feed? There will be several days a week at work when I won’t be home for bedtime

should be fine with a cup from 6 months - breastfeeding wise when my daughter started nursery she just had food and water in the day, and then fed morning/night. Boob adjusted after a few weeks!

I gave up trying to get mine to take a bottle, it wasn't worth the bother. I got her on solids and she started using a cup. I went with an open cup in quite a kamikaze move but she was willing to drink from anything that wasn't a baby bottle - tippy cup, straw cup etc.

Yes, but as she's in charge of what she takes from you she might do a massive morning feed or an extra night feed to compensate (depending on her age)

@ART2022

Yes it will be fine. I went back to work at 8 months and breastfed until 2. Had to express at lunch time to begin with to relieve the pressure on boobs until they adjusted. They can get nutrition from a cup of milk by that age.