how to stop breastfeeding when baby won't take a bottle?

[Gobins1]

I am at the end of my tether. My son had been waking at least every 2 hours every night for the last 8 weeks (apart from 3 nights-woohoo). He wakes to feed. He definitely uses me as a comfort but won't take a dummy so I have to either let him cry or give him the breast. I have tried to get him back to sleep in other ways but now I am just so tired that I end up giving in.

Problem is, I really want to stop breastfeeding so that I can share the load and hopefully break the cycle but he won't take a bottle. We've tried different ones and went cold turkey but he just refused to feed all day and half of the next day so I gave in as he was dehydrated.

Has anyone else had experience if this? What worked? So tired that I nearly had an accident on the motorway today because I couldn't focus.

Sorry I can't really offer much advice, but I had the same issue with DS. We tried every bottle there is, and spent a fortune in the process! And he still won't accept a bottle. Luckily he now has a cup so if I really needed to give him milk I could use that

Dummy?

How old is he?
My ds learned to use a cup at 6mo. he would not take a bottle at all.

If you need to stop breastfeeding then you may have to go through with the cold turkey route until he gives in. If you weren't around for a few days for some reason, he would have to adapt eventually. How old is he?

I had this with ds when he was 4mo. I was at breaking point from exhaustion and I felt so trapped. I liked breastfeeding but started to resent it.
The biggest tip I have (and this genuinely has worked for friends that I've told too) is to breastfeed, then when baby is very content and sleepy but still sucking, slip in the bottle. I only ever tried the tommee tippee bottles and I just persevered. It took a few days of doing this and I would gradually introduce it earlier and earlier in the feed so he was more alert and awake. Then the time came that I just gave him the bottleat the start of the feed and he took it and we never looked back. Over the next 3 months I gradually dropped breastfeeds and at 7 months he was just on one morning breastfeed, which he then dropped himself.
I hope this helps. And well done for what you've achieved this far. It really is very tiring

Thanks so much for that! I'll give it a go! Hes 5.5 months so will also try a sippy cup. He won't take a dummy either. Just spits it out. Maybe he'lol be more open to it if he takes a bottle. Will def try when he's sleepy though!!

I had this exact problem, and just this week my 6mo lg has finally accepted it. Have you tried a Nuk bottle with the latex teat? Worth a go if not

Mine started taking both bottle and dummy at 7 months, having previously refused both.

How old is your son? If you just want to share the responsibility of feeding and have quieter nights, you could consider night weaning. Even if you do decide to give the bottle, you will still need to address the frequent night wakings, and I'm sure you won't want to give the bottle every two hours!
I partially night weaned DS 1 who was feeding every 2 hours when he was 5 months old. I slept in another room for three nights while my partner dealt with wake ups. You could do this for every second feed so that he feeds every four hours, or you could decide on one part of the night - say, 11pm to 5 am or so - where he is not going to be fed, just cuddled, patted back to sleep. This worked great for my DS 1, he stopped waking every two hours and while there was crying, it was in no way as bad as expected.

My advice would be to make sure that the milk in the bottle is nice and warm (obviously without burning) as breast milk is much warmer than you think and the coldness of bottled milk sometimes puts them off.

All great advice. Thanks so much. My husband helped last night (previously had been in spare room as I felt that one of us should get some sleep). He got him back to sleep a few times so it was every 3 hours instead of 1/2. I didn't even realise that this was called night weaning! He also took a very small amount from the bottle when sleepy so I'll keep trying that. And i'lol give it to him warmer than I have been.thanks again so much-tiredness makes everything so much harder!!

Hey, I thought my 4/5 month old would never learn to take the bottle. He's been exclusively breastfed and would always scream his head off in protest if I tried him on a bottle. I'm still breastfeeding but I just wanted the option of having a few hours away from him if I wanted or god forbid have an evening out! After a bit of trial an error he will now happily take a bottle. Here are my tips that worked for me:

-try to find the right bottle and teat for him/her. There are so many on the market but I was lucky to be given a load of different bottles from friends that I could try. Each baby is different but mine liked teats that were rounded like the Dr Browns teats and Avent. So it may take a few tries with different bottles.

-try him on a bottle when he is calm, happy and not hungry. I'd often give him a feed and then wait an hour or so and then try him on a bottle. It was less about giving him a feed and more about getting him used to the sensation of a different kind of teat and different way of being held.

-It may take a bit if time, I think it took me about a week (maybe less) of trying him with a bottle just once a day and don't force him to take a bottle. If they seem uninterested or protest just put the bottle down and try again the following day. The main thing is for them to understand that milk can come from other places other than the breast.

-I found putting a bit of breastmilk on the end of the teat helped.

-Also, I would express some milk and then feed it to him immediately so it was fresh and at the right temperature so that it's familiar to them. You only need to do this at the beginning, my baby took cold milk the other day.

-get someone else to feed them the bottle, preferably the person who'll be feeding them when you're away. If they're with you they'll expect the breast.

I was convinced my baby would never take a bottle, but it just takes a little patience and perseverance and they'll get it in the end. I can now get others to feed with a bottle or do it myself. Admittedly night feeding is still a little tricky as he wants the comfort of the breast, he'll guzzle the milk but stay wide awake for the poor person who's looking after him!

Good Luck!

I have the exact same problem my little girl is 4 month and 4 weeks she now has baby porridge mixed with breast milk in the morning and I have been giving her milk in a doidy cup she drinks some spills some, dont think she gets a full feed but does help. not sure will help at night tho. Do you feed your little one to sleep ? I found once I stopped feeding her to sleep she slept alot better wakes up once or twice in the night for a feed on average xx

@Gobins1 did you have any luck in the end?