DD is 8.5 months, and I'm overdue to go back to work. Have spent the last 6 weeks trying to introduce bottles and sippy cups with no success whatsoever - she screams at the sight of a bottle and only teethes on the cups. Tried loads of brands to no avail. We didn't introduce a regular bottle early - naively thought that because she used to take the odd one when I went out it would be fine. Not any more - point blank refusal of all bottles, whether EBM or formula. She will take her formula (Neocate LCP as she's allergic to dairy) in food and via a spoon but not as a drink.
We are getting nowhere and I'm increasingly stressed about it as time passes. Lots of friends are advising us to go the cold turkey route and put up with a couple of days of yelling after which she'll eventually cave and take a bottle, so they say.
I've got reservations, but softly-softly isn't working and I'm ready to stop breastfeeding, as well as having to for work. But really worried about how to go about it.
Will abruptly stopping be grim for me? (Don't think I can express with a screaming hungry baby in the house so forget that - if we do it, it's all in.) I'd hoped to drop one feed at a time but that relies on her taking a bottle so not really an option.
Are we crazy to consider it while she's also at a clingy age? Will withdrawing the boob now be awful for separation anxiety?
Do we have to stop giving solids too in order that she's hungry enough to take the bottle? Will she get dehydrated?
Would really appreciate advice from those who've been through it and come out the other side.