I have a particularly stubborn 8 month old who loves the breast and has always refused to take a bottle. She has gone as long as 36 hours without nursing, due to some medecine I had to take, and just held out. I have given up on the bottle because she acts like she is being tortured. She will take a tiny amount from a sippy cup, but only maybe an ounce and not very often. I need to get her off the breast, if not full time at least to supplement. It doesn't seem to matter if it's formula or pumped breast milk or water. I could use some tips that have worked in similar situations. Help!
My daughter stopped taking a bottle at 9 months. If I wasn't around she took very little from sippy cup or we even tried a regular cup. We did add extra milk to her cereal and food and she seemed to be fine for the short-term (a night).
Go to your pediatrician or to target and get breast shields. They are small thin rubber/plastic shields that just cover the breast. It makes the breast feel more like the nipple of a bottle. It really helped us to ween our daughter. They are cheap and reusable. Good Luck.
My son is almost 10 months and never took a bottle either. I exclusively nursed him every 2 hours till he was almost 7 months old. I bought him the Nuby spillproof bottle (from walmart $1) and put apple juice in it and he took it. he also takes sippy cups but only with juice and water. what i do now is nurse my son 2x a day (am and pm) and i mix 4 oz of formula with 1/2 cup cereal which i add in with his bfast, lunch and dinners so that he is getting enough through the day. he will take a sippy cup with juice (no formula or breastmilk) during the day because he is thirsty. good luck! its not easy, i know :) D.
My little one was the same, I cut him down to nursing 2 times a day and then 1, I put extra milk or formila in his food. I did try alot of sippy cups till I found one he liked and just gave him water, I am not a big juice fan. I even didn't see him for 3 days and he still was waiting! at 12 months I saids no more and didn't offer anymore and when he asked just said "all gone" and within a week he stopped asking! good luck
wish I knew - my baby was the same way and I still haven't figured it out - now she's almost 16 months. saying no to her about that is incredibly difficult. the truth is, I'm not ready to give it up completely myself, I love that cuddling and closeness. what I want is to cut it back a lot so it's only a few times a day, like early morning and maybe before bed. please keep me in your loop of what you find out!! good luck!
I just let my 4 children wean themselves. Seems like she's not ready yet even if you are...
Try a sippy cup. Or even a real cup, she might want to do like the grown ups.
It is always sad when you cannot continue, since most prefer that you breastfeed for a year, but you have to do what you have to do...I completely understand. I had to stop at 6 months because of my health, and it was tough..my son would scream when he saw me and refuse a bottle, but at least he took one. If she can hold the sippy cup herself, I would not worry about the bottle, but I would start out with breastmilk instead of formula, so that the taste is familiar, and perhaps give up one of the feedings to daddy. Part of her need to breastfeed is comfort. And when she is full, start working on a new comfort routine, soothing with a blanket, sucking on the end of a cold washcloth. I hesitate to say it, but my son found his thumb to comfort him. We took the good with the bad. He probably will stop before he enters college.
Has your dr. said she can diluted juice? Maybe that in a sippy cup or even a bit in a regular cup or a cup with a straw.
Try having someone else give the bottle while having something of yours on them, like a shirt. Your child can smell the breast milk if you are giving them a bottle and will look for what they want.
I actually weaned a lot of my kids near 8 months. I used regular glasses. If you hold it for them they can learn quite easily to drink from a glass. I started with water, and then juices, and then milk. If you feed yogart or other Vit d type food, her diet will remain healthy. I would get down to a morning feeding and an evening feeding and then stop the morning one. It is easier to sleep if you empty your breast before bed..then just offer the glass to her during meals. Holding it may seem like a pain but they can learn to hold it instead of using a sippy lid. Every one has used sippy lips for so long but most kids could be just drinking our of normal cups by a year r so if they had the chance to learn. I think She will drink when she is thirsty if the breast if not offered during the day. My second baby never used a bottle either. When I had #3 I made sure to introduce the bottle with formula right at 6 wks so in case I was away once in a while I knew he would take the bottle.~D.
