Breast to Bottle/sippy Cup Advice

We started my daughter on the bottle immediately because I have implants and we supplemented with formula. Also, dad always did the 3:00-4:00 A.M. feeding. She's 19 months now and we took her pacifier away about a month ago and are supposed to wean her off the bottle and just sippy cups. She will drink water out of a sippy cup or water bottle but not milk. She still wants her milk in the bottle. I would say try to give him the milk in the bottle.

A bottle/breast fed baby would have a feeding schedule that closely resembles ours (Longer time between feedings). Offering baby 3-8oz of milk per feeding 3-4X per day. Thats 12-24 oz of milk.

The Question to ask yourself is are you done breast feeding? Now is a good time because it will only get harder as your munchkin gets older. The most advantageous time to nurse was in the early months. After 12 months breast milk is a matter of preference. If nursing him does not work with the lifestyle/schedule of your family than it is your job to set things up to work best for the whole family (not just baby's desires). I have 4 children 1.5 yrs apart. So I had to make sure baby was adjusted before the next one came. They all transitioned out of the crib at 18 months and done nursing at 12 months. It will be a little uncomfortable for you to go cold turkey (breast engorgment). However I think it will be easier for your son to understand that is not an option any more and to adjust to whole milk (@ 12 months) or formula from the cup. There is no escaping it will be hard the first few days but he will adjust. He will take your lead.

You are the mom! When you are in the transition remember what you decided was best while you were sober minded (not in the middle of fussing and crying). Stick to it. You are a great mom just by seeking answers - I know you are.

P.S. You are his mom not a money maker. Put being a mom first, providing love than money.

Kids do know what they like. After 4 months of pretty much exclusive breastfeeding, I went back to school. She would just take enough milk to get her through until I came home and then would always nurse. Since I was pumping more than what she would eat while away, we ended up with abundant stores. this was good because she eventually took the bottle and when I did stop breastfeeding, she was able to get breastmilk.

but that information doesn't help you at all. with my next 2 children I found that the Nuby sippy cup was a super easy transition from bottle.

if you stick with it, he'll eventually take something. the truth is, healthy kids won't starve themselves. it is harder on the care giver, however. but continue to nurse him when you're with him, and continue to offer him breastmilk in other containers when you're not. if he really wants the satisfaction of taste of breastmilk, he'll take it.

you mentioned giving him water in a sippy. kids under 12months don't NEED any other fluids than breastmilk. and if breastmilk is not available, then formula.

but he can still get breastmilk mixed with the solids he's eating. at 10 mo, he might be doing some self feeding. so to add breastmilk to fruits or veggies might be too runny for him. i would mix fruit/veggies with cereal and breastmilk.

keep up with offering the sippy with breastmilk and hang in there! you're not alone :)

I gave my breastfed daughter pumped milk in the born free Sippy cup. She wouldn't take it laying in my arms... She knew it wasn't the breast. Instead I tried a totally different situation to give it to her. I put her in her highchair and fed her dinner then gave her the Sippy cup. She took really well to that. We had tried every bottle on the market. My husband tried to feed her too! I think the highchair was the answer! Good luck!

Check with your pediatrician but i think your son is old enough to eat food. Breast milk and water are the only liquids he needs so don't worry about him only drinking water when you are away.
Seriously consider not working. You won't believe how fast your son will grow up and you are not going to want to miss his "firsts" ie. first step, word, etc. There is no replacement for a stay at home mom or dad. I worked 1 day a week and my mom and dad watched her, that was good, but babysitters won't love and teach your child like you will.

Transitioning my daughter to a sippy cup was a task also. I breastfed her til 8 months and then formula afterwards til 1 year old. At her one year checkup, I told the dr. she wasnot taking the sippy cup and she told me to stay on it and eventually she will get so thirsty, she will ahave to. Well after 3 days, she did. She was off the bottle, 10 days after she turned one. I did give her water around 10-11 months and that was no problem, but she would not take formula from it.

What worked for us was the NUBY sippy cup which has a nipple sort of like the bottles. That was her transition sippy cup and now she will take any sippy cup available to her . At 10-11 months, she was taking 24-28 oz of formula and now with whole milk and 14 months, she takes 14-16 oz of milk. Good luck and stick with it.

Have the babysitter feed him food. Put juice or water in the sippy cup and just sit it next to his food at the table. You can also make a game out of it and clap and sing when he does drink from it so it will be like a reward system. I would stop trying to give him milk or formual in the sippy cup. He's telling you loud and clear he doesn't want to drink it from there. Even at his age we have to respect and honor his needs. Just nurse him when you are around. He will be fine without milk for a few hours when you are away. Baby food and water/Juice will get him through. The older he gets the more nutrion he should be getting from food. You can slowly start to ween him from the breast, reduce one feeding a day every few days. That is awesome that you are still nursing and really babys should be nursed until at least 1. Hope this helps. Also babys should be getting their calcium from green foods such as spinich, broccoli, collard greens, etc etc. We are the only species that one, nurse from another species (cows) and two, nurses as adults, meaning why do adults still drink milk. Other species don't drink milk as adults. Just my thoughts............good luck, especially with finding balance while working.

I have the same problem with my 10.75 months old baby girl. She has been on bf since birth. She has stop solid for two months and only take bf and spoon feed formula. She throw up very easily especially anything she does not like and cannot push down. So I only give her bf and formula now and a little bit of solid. I'm planning to wean her off bf when she is one. But she wakes up like every 2-3hrs looking for my breast every night. What would be my best solutions?