Baby has stopped formula

[thepurgebegins]

Help my nipples are so sore! Baby is 5 months old this week and he took bottle from 2 weeks up until 3/4 weeks ago. I breast feeding mainly and would give one bottle in the day and a bottle for his bed time ( COW AND GATE) He has just gone off it. Even stopped his dummy! Has anyones infant done the same and had success with a different formula. He does take a few sips and then stops and then a few sips again until refusing it completley. Ive heard kendamil has a better taste? We use NUK bottles which he has been fine with. Tried different temps and husband feeding him too but nothing. Im worried for when I go back to work next year. Any help would be appreciated

Could he be teething @thepurgebegins?

What does work have to do with it? Even if you go back to work when baby is 9/10 months, he'll be on enough solids to not need a bottle. And you shouldn't give a bottle at all from 12 months anyway as it's bad for teeth.

Sounds like baby could be teething. Just stop stressing and breastfeed. It soothes their pain.

@BunnyRuddington he is teething yes! My toddler never stopped so I assumed it would be the same but you forget it can be so different

@MagnetsAreAnnoying667 im just going to ignore your comment because I didnt ask on how to parent my children. Stupid comment

Have you tried different temps? I had one baby that liked them cold and one that liked them on the almost too hot side.

Hadn’t seen the bit where you said you’re worried about going back to work next year. This is completely normal to worry but you’ll be fine.

BF will be fine with a feed on wake up, on pick up and before bed. You might find that they want to feed more in the night but this can be more about the closeness and comfort of being next to you.

Also there’s a huge sleep regression at 9 months so most babies will be wakeful at 9 months however you feed them and whether or not you’re at work.

Both of mine were total bottle refusers but would have the occasional cup of milk if I was at work at that age but mostly they would eat solids and drink water if I wasn’t there and have a feed when they saw me.

What exactly is stupid about my comment? My point is that your baby doesn't want a bottle at the moment and if the only reason you don't want to just relax and BF is work, that it's not relevant. By the time you go to work, baby will be on proper meals and bottles won't matter.

The advantage of breastfeeding is that it soothes teething and a host of other issues. I found 5 months was when my BF efforts started paying off.

I went back to work at 7 months btw and still BF now at 12 months, my baby was never a fan of the bottle either. But when i was away, he had to adapt.

If you want to be stubborn and stress yourself about bottles when you don't need to, crack on.

@BunnyRuddington thankyou that helps alot. Im more worried about the night shifts as I work nights. Alot can change by the tie I go back so fingers crossed thankyou I appreciate the advice x

I think if you’re going to be working nights you might need to do some night weaning before the recommended 12 months, or at least get to a point where you leave LO, DH alone between say midnight and 6am for a few nights until he accepts a cup or bottle.

Sorry forgot to say that if your nipples are sore, is there a reason for this like poor latch, milk matters or biting?

It’s been years since we were doing this, but is it perhaps the teat size? I remember when ours got fussy, turned out we needed a larger teat size so it could come out a bit faster. I think. It was over 14 years ago..!

Two issues here…
One is sore nipples - have they been sore the whole time or just started recently? If they have been sore since baby was born you really need to get your latch checked because by 5 months they should not be sore at all.
If it has just started could you have thrush? Thrush can make the baby’s mouth sore so put them off feeding, and can pass to your nipples which can really hurt. Going to one extra breast feed instead of a bottle shouldn’t make your nipples sore.

Second issue is the bottle - as PP have said if he if breastfeeding ok but just not wanting a bottle I would just forget about the bottle for now , you can try it again when he is a bit older.

From 6 months they can have a sippy cup - maybe try a few (nothing to use, you’ll need them later on anyway. Maybe a different teat as well - they need faster flowing as they get older.