Exclusively breastfed baby to drink from anything other than boob

[Tarantulola]

Hiya, I'm a mum to a lovely 6 month old baby. I've started him on solids but I'm really struggling to get him to drink from anything other than my breast. He's exclusively breastfed and won't drink from a bottle, sippy cup, regular cup or straw but he's munching on some puree. I'm a bit concerned as my partner is taking me to London to see a show for my birthday in April and we were hoping to leave the baby and our toddler with my partner's mum. Any advice on getting an exclusively breastfed baby to drink from anything else?

[Panda34]

Stick with the cups, have you tried a 360 cup? My dd would never take a bottle but took to this

[Tarantulola]

Do the 360 cups work for 6 month olds? Thought they had to be older. How old was your daughter?

[notknowledgeable]

He is not going to drink from anything else for you, is he - the boobs are right there in front of him

[Panda34]

@Tarantulola

Do the 360 cups work for 6 month olds? Thought they had to be older. How old was your daughter?

Yes they can have 360 cup from 6 months 😊 she started on it when I started weaning at 6 months, took a few days to get the hang of but then drank from it easily! Have just switched her to a straw cup now at 12 months x

[Tarantulola]

Haha yeah that's another problem. I've been getting my mum to try but she's not here all the time and my partner works a lot so he can only try some evenings and the weekend

[TorroFerney]

@Tarantulola

Do the 360 cups work for 6 month olds? Thought they had to be older. How old was your daughter?

I had the same issue, would not take a bottle . We persevered with a sippy cup so she went from me to a cup. I went back to work at eight months although she had a feed before work and before bed. Feel for you , people would say leave the house so she can’t smell you husband give her a bottle. Nope did not work.

[TheCompactPussycat]

@notknowledgeable

He is not going to drink from anything else for you, is he - the boobs are right there in front of him

This.

I had the same issue with my youngest. Even at 8pm on the day before I returned to work after mat leave (due to be out of the house for 12 hours) she refused to drink from anything but my boob.

She went to nursery the following morning and was immediately fine with formula in a bottle. I continued to mix-feed for a while but she point-blank refused to drink expressed milk from a bottle. It was either breastmilk from the boob, or formula in a bottle. So if you're expressing, try using formula in a bottle instead and leave him with someone else to introduce it.

[NoCloudsAllowed]

A bottle is a poor substitute for a warm boob (breast milk tastes nicer than formula too)

Six months is nothing as far as weaning goes, it takes time for their digestive system to learn to process real food so right now it's just munching and basically going straight through

You need to persevere with partner or mum offering milk when you're not around. If you're there, baby will say ahem, squishy boob option please.

April is quite a long time away, it'll be ok

[Tarantulola]

@NoCloudsAllowed

A bottle is a poor substitute for a warm boob (breast milk tastes nicer than formula too)

Six months is nothing as far as weaning goes, it takes time for their digestive system to learn to process real food so right now it's just munching and basically going straight through

You need to persevere with partner or mum offering milk when you're not around. If you're there, baby will say ahem, squishy boob option please.

April is quite a long time away, it'll be ok

Thanks, we will persevere! Appreciate the perspective. I'm going to try and take the toddler out over the weekend and leave my partner will the baby and expressed milk.

With my eldest, he had combination feeding so it was no problem leaving him with someone else with a bottle. Wish I did the same with this one

[Tarantulola]

@TheCompactPussycat

This.

I had the same issue with my youngest. Even at 8pm on the day before I returned to work after mat leave (due to be out of the house for 12 hours) she refused to drink from anything but my boob.

She went to nursery the following morning and was immediately fine with formula in a bottle. I continued to mix-feed for a while but she point-blank refused to drink expressed milk from a bottle. It was either breastmilk from the boob, or formula in a bottle. So if you're expressing, try using formula in a bottle instead and leave him with someone else to introduce it.

I've been trying formula, expressed milk and water from different bottles but I guess the common denominator is me!!

[Eccentricthesnowman]

I have a 6 month old and give her water from a shot glass. About half dribbles down her front, but some definitely goes in and she enjoys it. Have a dodi cup two, but it’s not as effective. I also have a honey bear straw cup to help teach how to drink from a straw.

[justanotherlaura]

My son completely refused a bottle. My husband found an open cup worked best. It was messy to start with as one flailing arm would cover them both in it but it seemed to work best. When he was 12 months and could have water we tried sippy cups and straws and he did get them eventually but the open cup worked by far the best! We got little baby cups off Amazon, look like wee plastic shot glasses