I can not get my 9 month old son on a bottle. I have 2 other children and they were on a bottle from birth to 3 weeks after. I have tried all the different formulas and he will not take that. I don't want to give up breast feeding and I enjoy it but he is just starting to get board with it during the day and at night he will nurse every 2 hours. I do have a sippy straw cup that he will take but only with water down juice or water. I asked my peditrician and he said that just let him cry and he will eat, or let my husband feed him the bottle. Well my husband drives truck and his hours vary and sometimes he does not come home. He will feed him a bottle if I ask but alot of times all our child does is play with it. If he sees my breast he goes crazy. How do I introduce the bottle or should I just wait until he is 12 months and start the sippy.
Well I did it I got my now ten month old on a bottle and a sippy. The only problem is he quit breast feeding and now is on whole milk. I tried to nurse him but he will not take it so it has its ups and downs. Thanks for all the opinions and help.
If he doesn't want the bottle, just start him on sippy cups. My kids both started on sippy cups a little early because they wanted to imitate older kids they were around.Getting him hooked on a bottle now will just create confusion at this point if you were planning to start the cup at 12 mos.
I would have to agree with the pediatrician. With my first I had that problem introducing milk. I just kept offering it and eventually she learned she wasn't getting it any other way. At 9 months they do understand, but you are the mommy and you know best! Good luck
I started my breastfed baby on a sippy at 6 months. We just put water or breast milk in it for her and she hasn't put it down since. You can experiment with different sippies to see which he likes best. As your little one is 9 months old already, I wouldn't even bother trying to start a bottle now because you will then be trying to wean him from a bottle at a year. Just go for the sippy :o)
When I needed to get my daughter on a bottle my husband couldn't get time off to help so I had my sister help me. My sister spent the night and when my daughter woke up for her breakfast my sister got up with her and gave her the bottle. Of course she didn't take it and cried for a couple hours. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I got up and tried the bottle myself. She didn't take it right away, but after awhile she got hungry enough and took it. It will be hard for a few dyas, but just don't give up and give him the breast and he will realize that if he wants to eat he needs to eat from a bottle.
i would agree with your pedeatrician. maybe you have a friend that would come over to help give him the bottle. he probably smells the breast milk and "knows" it's there, so thinks he'll just hold out. But he knows if he fusses enough you'll give it up. We don't always like to listen to our kids fuss, but if it's truly because they're being stubborn, then sometimes we have to suffer through (short-term). If he's hungry enough he'll take it. and sometimes they have to get to that point before they succumb and accept it. Just be persistent, he'll get eventually, but he's just starting to test your will...and you have to prove your will is stronger.
Good luck.
I agree with everyone when your baby is hungry then he will eat! But you have to stay strong and don't give in. If you are truely ready to stop breast feeding then stick to that, but there is no reason that you can't start a sippy cup. I started both of my girls on sippy cups when they were about 8 months old and milk at about 10 months. Good Luck!!!
When my three year old was younger he was very stubborn, we could very rarely get him to take a bottle. He only like breast milk. I used a couple of tricks, first I would hold him like I was nursing him, but slip in the bottle instead of the breast. With my youngest son we have had great luck with the new soothies bottles, he will take those better than any other bottle so we switched bottles. We moved my three year old over to a sippy cup early. Avent had these great bottles that went in stages so we could use the bottle lids with a sippy cup top instead of a nipple and that worked great. Good luck.
I do not believe that a 9 month old baby is capable of doing anything to just "test your will". I think that he is just used to being breastfed and I am sure does not understand why things are changing. I would think that it would be best to try to do things gradually, rather than just cold turkey no more breastfeeding. I am sorry that he is having a hard time taking the bottle. I would agree that it might be best to just go with the sippy cup if he will take that. Try putting the breastmilk in the sippy for most times he eats during the day, and still offer the breast in the night. I think that it will work out, just try to pick up on his queues on what is and what is not working. I do not think that crying it out is a solution. Crying is a baby's way of communicating, and if you ignore them, they will stop crying, but not because they have "learned" anything, but because they have learned that you no longer respond to their needs. I would recommend reading Dr. Sears, the Baby Book, he has a lot of advice that might be helpful.
--Also, here is an excerpt I found on kellymom.com, you can also check out that site, there is a lot of information:
"Do not try to starve the baby into taking a bottle if he refuses to accept one. Your baby is not being stubborn, but does not know how to use an artificial nipple. He also may not like the taste of formula, which is understandable."
I wasn't able to get my daughter to REALLY take a bottle, sippy cup or straw cup until she was 13 months (a full month after she decided to stop nursing), so I understand what you're going through.
This is what worked for us, irt nursing during the day. Her room is only for bedtime (including bedtime activites, such as reading) so there isn't much that's too distracting in there. First thing in the morning when she would start crying, I would go in, leave the lights off, take her to the rocking chair and nurse her. I would usually have a quiet conversation with her. Then we would go have breakfast together.
At naptime, we would go to her room and read a book with the lights dimmed. I would then turn the light out and nurse her, being careful not to let her fall asleep at the breast. I would then put her down. When she got up from her nap, we would repeat the morning's ritual.
We followed this plan for her second nap, and bedtime as well.
Also, depending on how you feel about night-time nursing, you could gradually drop the feedings. There are other ways besides the CIO method, so if you're dead set against that, look around. One book I suggest is "Baby Whisperer." I would go in and comfort my daughter, but not nurse. After a couple of nights, she pretty much decided it wasn't worth waking up if she wasn't going to get to nurse.
Also, Nubby has some super cheap sippy cups with silicon tops - just pinching the sippy allows the fluid to flow out. We used these when my daughter wouldn't nurse or drink anything. She loved to chew on it, and while much of the drink would end up ON her, at least some was going down.
As long as he is still peeing, still has saliva and is still able to produce tears, I wouldn't worry about dehydration. At his age, children are still in touch with their body enough that if they're thirsty, they'll drink, if they're hungry they'll eat, and if they're full, they'll stop, so try to rest easy!
