Can't get baby to stop BF!

Mely

You can buy 'nipple like' teats for bottles...would that work for him? Im just worried that he will get enough fluids if hes spitting it out. I know i had difficulty weaning 3 of my children off breasfeeding, but they were a lot older than 7 months, and would have tantrums when i said no...lol. They eventually got the message and drank out of a lidded cup.

nadnad

Violetta wrote: »

I'm sure I've heard straws are good for their little teeth anyway.
.

i thought straws were bad for their teeth?! i thought milk and water were ok but def. not anything else like juice. did i get that completely wrong!?

nadnad

Mely wrote: »

You can buy 'nipple like' teats for bottles...would that work for him? Im just worried that he will get enough fluids if hes spitting it out. I know i had difficulty weaning 3 of my children off breasfeeding, but they were a lot older than 7 months, and would have tantrums when i said no...lol. They eventually got the message and drank out of a lidded cup.

i've tried every teat under the sun - the big closer to nature tommee tippee ones, little ones, little ones with dimples, i've tried slow flo and fast flow ones. nothing worked. also i've tried just about every cup imagineable (not very money saving i know!), i've tried the free one from the HV( a free flow one), i've tried ones with a very soft spout, i tried sucky cups, i must have about 6 different ones, and I've given them all a good go ie i've tried him on the same cup for maybe 3 weeks. I've now narrowed it down to the free one :rolleyes: and the one with a straw.

yesterday i bf him first thing in morning (about 6am), then again at 8am, then at 2pm, 6.30pm (before bed), 10pm and 3pm (which is when he came into bed beside me and prob fed on and off til 6 - a bad habit i know). So during the day it was actually only once (at 2pm) - probably because OH was off work and did most of the child minding. So I guess he would manage alright at a childminders if he had too. I'll keep perservering with a cup, and i'm going to have to put my foot down about middle of night feeds I guess, especially if and when i get a job because i'd be shattered.

JoJoB

nadnad, I had exactly the same problem and like you ended up with about a hundred different types of teats and cups, none of which worked! However my LO is now 8 months and is finally drinking from a cup after 2 months of fretting that she would never be able to.

We are still breastfeeding too though, and I had wanted to stop at 6 months. But when the cup/bottle thing became an issue I just decided to relax about it and stop having these arbitrary "cut off" dates in my head, otherwise the stress of not keeping to this schedule becomes quite wearing. The middle of the night feeds I think I have to start getting strict about too as I know this is just a comfort thing rather than hunger thing and it is just easier for me to get sleep by giving a short feed.

I had success with a doidy cup at first, for getting little drinks of water down her and sometimes a little formula milk. I would always add some milk to breakfast too, and also to lunch and dinner, also supplementing with yoghurt/fromage frais.

The cups with valves were no good because of having to suck too hard. I took the valves out but we still had the problem of spitting out etc.

I continued with the doidy cup every day, just small sips and letting her play with it when empty. I stopped trying her with loads of different types of cups in case it got a bit confusing, then after a few weeks tried her with some formula milk in a valveless cup with the type of teat that is soft rubber that they have to clamp down on iyswim - more like the action of drinking from a normal cup than from a bottle. She drank the whole lot!

Sometimes I think they just need a little extra time getting used to the new way of feeding before it "clicks" and they know what to do - the doidy cup certainly helped with this I think. I don't advocate withdrawing the breast until they get so hungry they will drink from anything as I don't think they are doing it to be awkward, they just haven't figured out the new way of doing things yet. I wouldn't like to be starving and then presented with a puzzle before I could eat so why would I do that to my child!

Like with most things a child will not know how to do something then suddenly develop the knack for it, like clapping hands or sitting up. I was as panicked as you a month ago thinking I would never be able to apply for a job/do training etc because of the baby clamped to my breast lol, but I really think that as your LO gets a little older and stronger and figuring things out eaier the cup issue will resolve itself.

nadnad

thanks JoJOB! it is really good to know others have struggled with this too. Like you i had intended stopping breast feeding at 6 months, but once you get to that landmark its just not that easy, for me and for baby. I'll keep trying him with cups and formula in them when he's taking his breakfast lunch and dinner and see what happens. I'm hoping in a few months time, i'll look back and wonder what i was worrying about!

Nikabella

nadnad, we had a similar problem with our DD. She would was breastfed until my milk dried up at 11 months but would always take a bottle of EBM (or formula!) as we had problems when I got mastitis early on. However, cups were a whole different ball game! I realised at 7 months old she had been having 3 meals & about 6 lots of breastfeeding during the day, everyday! They don't really need so much breastmilk if they are eating 3 meals.

After starting to reduce the 6 feeds during the day over a week I soon realised that she really wasn't drinking much, if anything from a cup! We tried every cup under the sun but it made little difference, she slightly favoured the free flow cups. So when at 11 months I had to give up breastfeeding I was very concerned about her fluid in take. We let her have a bottle in the morning & at night but didn't want to introduce them during the day as by almost a year old she "shouldn't really be having bottles". In the end I had to simply ensure she had as much fluid as I could hide in her food, give her huge bottles morning & night & just encourage, encourage, encourage with the cup. At 13 months she went on to cows milk. In all honesty she was 16 months before we decided she was drinking enough out of a cup to drop the bottles & even then we knew that she wasn't drinking nearly as much bedtime milk from a cup. We just decided that stopping the bottles was the only way to encourage more cup drinking. She will be 2 next week & she is much better at drinking out of her cups but we still have to remind her sometimes that she must need a drink!

Try not to worry too much as it doesn't seem to have had a negative effect on our DD (she's been very poorly for the past year but unrelated) & I'm sure that at the end of the day a child won't let themselves die of thirst. To be honest I don't have the magic answer, I don't think there is one, nobody could give me one but I think that in the end it will all work itself out.

A.x

hayleyc_2

Nadnad, are you planning on going back to work full-timeor part time? I'm just asking because I went back to work part time when DS was about 10 months old and was slightly worried at how he would cope without milk all day. I work two full days per week, so on those days he goes from about 6am-6pm without breastmilk. How old will your little one be when you return to work? Babies change so quickly that you may wonder what you were worried about when the time comes. In my case he took to it really well. I express milk at work, so my supply isn't affected, and then freeze the milk so that my mum can give it to DS the next week. He drinks water and breastmilk from a cup whilst he's at his nana's. Now he's 14 months he also has cows milk and my body seems to have adjusted, so I often don't need to express milk at work anymore. You may find that when where isn't another choice, milk from a cup may seem a better option!

Good Luck
Hayley

nixinix

Krystaltips wrote: »

With the night feeding the only thing I could do was put my foot down and not feed, she screamed for hours at first because she wasn't getting what she wanted but I stuck with it... If you are inconsistent they realise and just keep going until you give in... Is there someone else you could send in for a couple of nights to settle her so she doesn't expect it from you?

If you want to stop day feeds too the best way would be to cut down over a period of time so you don't get engorged... Try distracting her a lot, going out... Avoiding sitting down... All habit breaking things... Again, be consistent. If you decide you are only going to feed at set times then try and stick to them, she will learn as long as you stick to the boundaries you give her...

Thank you. Night time only that we need to drop. I think I knew this was the only way to do it but as I don't know anyone who has done it I just needed th reassurance. Thnk you. A few disturbed nights ahead then!! How long did it take you for your lo to stop asking?

Thank you. :beer:

Krystaltips

You really want to know? lol... Actually she got the message that she wasn't going to get fed quite quickly (Considering I was on my own with her so had no option of sending someone without boobs in to settle her) but she still used to wake in the night afterwards, she went through a phase where she just wanted a cuddle then putting down and after that she went through a phase where she just cried but didn't want picking up, just left alone... But that could just be her... She's nearly 5 now and will still wake in the night and come in just for a cuddle...

The main thing is just stay firm, if you cave after an hour of crying the first night then she'll cry for 2 hours the next time you try because she'll be expecting you to give in...

nadnad

oh lordy, i'm really gonna have to start being firm about night feedings! but i've only just put him in his own room, so i'll let him get settled in there before i make another big change. he's def taking a teeny bit of water from a cup and today so far i have only fed him this morning at 7.30am and then again at 1230 after his lunch. So its really just that middle of the day one i need to cut out and try to get him to take some formula instead. its just a pity that you can only use the formula for an hour after you have poured it because he would take little tiny sips throughout the day, so i've bought 4 different types of ready made cartons to see if he has any preference and i'll just pour a little tiny bit out at a time.