Help Getting 11 month old to drink

[lauren8910]

Hi all

anyone have any tips/tricks on how I can stop breastfeeding my 11 month old & get her to drink from a cup or similar. I have pretty much got every
Bottle/ sippy cup/ straw cup going but it’s as if she just doesn’t get how to use them 😭 I try them consistently.

I wanted to stop feeding her at 1 years old which is in the next few weeks but she will not take water or milk from anything 😩 also will be going to a childminders soon and I need her to drink something!!

Have you tried an open cup? DS1 struggled to use his sippy cup for ages so we got him some tiny little normal cups and he did a lot better with those. Also have you tried drinking from the sippy cup? We were using the one from the health visitor that was supposedly free-flow but I actually found I had to suck pretty hard, it was probably a defective one.

Very common problem.

My dd was same - nursery at 10.5 months and I could not stop ebf!

in my experience they will eat and drink differently at childcare than at home. Or come home ravenous and top up!

Best thing is: go out for a whole day. Leave dp in charge. If you aren’t there then dc know the cosy ebf option is off the menu. Dp needs to be ready for some temper tantrums but it does help.

Also what is dc drinking? Expressed milk or something else? We discovered my dd would only drink one particular brand of milk from a fast-flow bottle . After a month or so we cut the top off the teat so it was basically a spout. That worked just fine.

It took two weeks of hellish screaming to figure this out.

It is summer. Just go in the garden . Leave a cup you have drunk from in reach if baby. Let them grab it and drink.
keep refilling it.
we turned round and found ours had grabbed a drunk a half glass of wine. Frantic call to doctor .
Aldo try holding them while you drink, they grab with 2 hands.

@BarnacleBeasleyyes we have more success with an open cup. She will at least take a few gulps if I hold it! So I guess preserve with that option.
I know! Tbh most of the sippy cups we have tried are quite hard to get water out of so I think that hasn’t helped.

@Unbeleevablei did say this to my partner the other day that maybe I should start leaving her for a bit with him to see how she gets on! It’s deffo worth a shot. I am due to go out soon for an afternoon/evening so it’ll be like a practise run! I offer mainly water (which she does like as she loves shoving her hands in a glass and drinking it off her hands 😅) and I have tried a little of cows milk as she is just shy of turning 1!! I’m going to give the teat idea a go actually that could potentially work 🤞🏼

@Bollindger good idea. I will start giving this ago more because she is really good at holding a cup and knows what to do so lots of practise outside. She still isn’t great at only taking small sips so something she needs to get used to.
Oh no 😂 she must have a really like that taste of that wine!!

How many BFs is she having each day now?

And definitely leave them together a bit more? If he’s home this weekend send them out for a couple of hours. A walk around the park and a cafe stop is usually a good option.

And you don’t have to stop BFing because she’s going to the CMs but obviously if you want to stop that’s absolutely fine

@BunnyRuddington probably on average around 4 in the day and sometimes more in the night if she is unsettled but it really does vary depending on our day and if we are out or in & if she just wants a quick drink lol. I will definitely get my partner to take her out more and see how we get on!

I know! I don’t mind carrying on breastfeeding for the morning and night feed but would like her to be able to take another form of drink in the day 🙏🏼

My eldest was a bottle refuser & changed their mind day 2 of nursery! Loved a bottle from that point on, so they definitely behave differently for childcare.

Giving 1-2 Oz of apple juice diluted in water in their cup can help motivate them to learn how to use it too. My second figured it out so quickly as our GP recommended juice for constipation. Took to a weighted straw cup within a day and drained it.

I wouldn’t worry too much at all. Neither of mine would touch Cow’s milk until I’d stopped BFing completely.

If you want to stop I’d start with the night feeds. Thus very gentle method is recommended from 12 months

As others have said, offering an alternative might work, such as some diluted juice and some cheese cut into cubes?

And are you doing the “don’t offer/don’t refuse method of stopping BFing?

And definitely get DH to take her out more. Around her there is a playgroup for Dads that runs some Saturday mornings but he could take her to the Library/Park/Swimming. They both need to learn how to get along when you’re not there

My DS was like this at the same age. It doesn't matter if she's not drinking much from a cup as long as she's getting lots of calcium from other sources - yogurt, cheese, milk on cereal etc.

@Anoncomment that’s good to know! I do agree they behave differently for childcare so 🤞🏼 i just keep telling myself she will eventually take something other than boob 🤣

@BunnyRuddingtonyep, I tried her again today with some cows milk from a cup she had two sips and then kept pushing it away as if to say nope this is not my usual 😅 Thankyou for those links I will have a read through them.

@SilverButtonyes we do offer plenty of yoghurt and cheese ect however she isn’t the best eater so sometimes I do wonder if she is eating enough but her weight is on track so she must be getting enough! 😀 my first took any bottle/sippy cup going and was a good eater from a young age so it’s all very opposite and new this time around!

Yes that’s exactly how both of mine were and I went back to work when they were around 9 months.

Don’t forget that BF babies only drink around a Floz an hour so one or two ounces is counted as a full feed.

Do he prepared for her to refuse all mil completely though until you’ve stopped BFing.

She will very probably drink once she’s in Childcare and you’re not around but if she doesn’t can you ask that she’s given some high water foods?

@BunnyRuddingtonyeah I am worrying more about not drinking enough at the childminders as she will be there for 9 hours. I will definitely ask them to give her high water food if there is no progress by then!!