Getting baby off the breast!!!!!!!!!

Hi Clare

Sorry to hear you are having a hard time at the moment.  Some BF-ed babies won't take a bottle off Mum because they can smell her milk.  Has someone else tried giving him a bottle?  It will take perseverance.  Remember, a healthy baby will not starve himself, so if it does come down to a battle of wills, he will take it if he is hungry.

Have you tried expressing breast milk and someone else offering that in a bottle?  He may find the taste off-putting.  At a year old he can have cows milk so won't need formula if taste is the issue.

I'm afraid I'm out of ideas after that.  Good luck with it, let us know how you are getting on.

Love

Steff 

Hi steff,

Here's some information that will hopefully be of some help to you. sx

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/breastfeeding/weaning/weaning/

Hi Clare,

I have never done it myself but a friend of mine weaned her boy off the boob last year and as far as I know she didn't use a bottle to do it. Have you tried giving him milk/water in a trainer cup or something similar? They do say that breastfed babies can go straight to a cup rather than having to have a cup with a spout (I have bought a doidy cup for my 4 month old and am giving him small amounts of water in it to get him used to drinking out of something different). How often is he having the boob still? I would imagine it would be easier to cut the milk out during the day than at the beginning and end of the day.

It might be worth trying someone else offering him a bottle, I know when I went to give my son a bottle a while ago cause I was just soooo knackered he wouldn't take it from me but he gulped it down from my husband.

I really hope you find something that works for both you and him soon. 

10 months is far too old to start using bottles he needs to learn to use a cup and fast by the sounds of it for your health and sanity  

you have to persevere and he will get the cup i promise you - babies have inbuilt self survival mechanism he wont die of thirst if given no other option than the spout on his tommee tippee to get his milk or water from he will use it, juts persevere and don't give in to his demands at taking it from the breast instead - you could be very adventurous and go straight for a doidy but I would go for a simple one hole tommee tippee no valve to begin with as three holes can overwhelm them at first, and valves don't work well with breastfed babies.  try giving him his doidy in the bath if you do want to use one to begin with as it will result in more water on the flor than in his mouth.

a lot of expressing for you but if you withhold the boob for a whole day and only offer him his milk via the cup he will take it eventually - there may be a bit of spillage/wastage and so you may consider giving him some water as well, or even milk and water to eke it out a bit.  he is mature enough for a cup he just needs convinced of the fact - speak to your HV for more help - she should come round and help you if you ask - it is one of the things they are there for!

I am in a similar situation although my baby is only 4 months old. I am going back to work in 6 weeks and will be in for a few odd days before that. I have been trying to get my son onto a bottle and he will take about an ounce or two but that takes about 2 hours of him crying/falling asleep. I have tried so many different types of bottles and the best seems to be the breast flow - you can buy it in Mothercare. My HV said that he wouldn't starve himself and to just persevere.

Clare, I really feel for you. My neighbour said her son (is it always boys?) would only take milk/water from a spoon - have you tried that?

What is a doidy cup? I'll try anything.

Let me know if you have any breakthroughs.

Kath

what about a straw?!

hi clare,

 i really feel for you it must be so hard, i breast fed my little girl for 7 1/2months and it took me a week of just refusing to give it her before she eventually took a bottle, but she didnt have anything for a week! all the health visitors said it just need you to have a stronger will than them and by the time you feel like giving in your milk should have dried up by then.

all the bestm, hope ive been of some help  xx

hi clare,

 i really feel for you it must be so hard, i breast fed my little girl for 7 1/2months and it took me a week of just refusing to give it her before she eventually took a bottle, but she didnt have anything for a week! all the health visitors said it just need you to have a stronger will than them and by the time you feel like giving in your milk should have dried up by then.

all the best hope ive been of some help  xx

I BF both of mine (girl now 5 and boy now 3). I had to cut down with both of them at 5 months as, like you, was going back to work. Since they were quite young we did go to bottles and had to try a lot of different teats - esp with my son, to get them to suck. What worked for my daughter did not work for my son !!. You can buy flatish teats, we got ours from boots, have to tried them ??.

I also found giving them a bottle impossible at first, because they wanted the breast, so the best thing you can do, initially, is to be well out of the way. For our son he would not take a bottle at all, and in the end we had to send him to nursery having had very little success at getting him to take from a bottle. I know it sounds harsh, and it was a worrying time for us, but he soon learnt !!. If he didn't take his bottle, he didn't get any milk. You might find that by leaving your child with someone else, they will accept a bottle.

It's easy to say, but try not to worry, they WILL NOT starve. You just have to be a tough cookie and stick to your guns.

Good luck !.