Hello
As the title says, my nearly 8 month old will only have milk from the tap.
She won't take it from a bottle or a cup. We have tried every way of giving a bottle possible, three different brand teats, freshly expressed milk each time, but she just refuses. Even from an open cup she won't take it. She'll happily sip water, but not milk.
I knew I was returning to work around this time even before she was born and the plan was to introduce a bottle from birth so we wouldn't have this problem.
However, she didn't latch as well as my first child, so I was worried that she would prefer the bottle and refuse the breast. I followed all the NHS and HV advice to wait till 6 weeks after breastfeeding has been established to introduce a bottle. Lo and behold, she refused entirely.
I'm honestly so stressed out about how she's going to cope with other caregivers. She's on solids now, but it's obvious she isn't satisfied after meals even though she eats well. She just moans and cries instead of happily playing like she does after a breastfeed.
I have my first KIT day next week (ill be away around 5 hours), so we've been offering her solids and milk from cup/bottle only, but she still won't take it. It's been just over 4 hours that I haven't given her breast and I feel so guilty because she hasn't been her usual happy self.
When I go back to work she'll be approaching 9 months and I'll be away from her 7.30-4ish. Will she be ok without milk for that long? I'm so so so worried.
I really wish I could afford to stay home until she turns 1 but we simply cannot afford it.