Help me swap to bottle feeding?!

[SleepyBear]

My DD is a little over 1 and has never taken a bottle. I'm returning to work soon as well as some serious recent damage to my nipple from teething that I'm 100% done with breastfeeding and have an appointment booked with my GP to get medication to stop my milk. 

But how do I get her to take a bottle? I have tried different types, different formulas, different people attempting to feed and it just won't work and she cries when a bottle comes out now.

Feeling very desperate so please hit me with ALL the tips and tricks?? 

 

[LemonMyrtle]

Go straight to a sippy cup? One of those easy grip ones with two handles.  Then the association she has with bottles won’t be there. Put the milk in cold and she really won’t see it as even remotely like a bottle. It will just become a new grown up drink to have with her food.
how much milk do they need at 1 anyway? I can’t remember, but think after 1 it was offer solids before milk, and my older son drank very little milk after that cause he loved real food. I had to put his formula in his weetbix and porridge to make sure he was still getting all the vitamins and things. So that’s an option too, hide milk in other things.

Edited October 11, 2021 by LemonMyrtle

[Two-bit]

Obviously something to discuss with your DDs doctor but does she need a bottle? Can you just give her milk in a cup if she needs milk as part of her ongoing diet?

My middle child never took a bottle. Well he did once, literally once. Never repeated it. He gave up breastfeeding just before he turned one as well. At that point he was quite fine in terms of his growth and seeing a paed and MCHN frequently and they were fine with him not having a bottle.

[Greenbean]

,Mine never took a bottle. She does still breastfeed, but can drink milk from a cup or with a straw. She's also a fan of a babycino and I bought her a babycino keep cup

[CrankyM]

If she is over 1 then go straight to a cup and cow's milk. You don't need formula for a 1yr old unless there is something else going on. A sippy cup with two hands is great. Though my kid preferred those Take and toss sippy cups (we reused them). Also by going straight to a cup you won't have to wean off bottles

(I had a child who loathed bottles and as I never made enough milk I'm pretty sure I bought every bottle on the market at the time trying to get him to take one, often we'd resort to the 30ml syringe. To be honest his formula was in a cup from 5 months.)

Edited October 11, 2021 by CrankyM

[CrankyM]

Also make it a sippy cup that is easy to clean. I hated the draw cups because they were always hard to clean and others had so many pieces trying to get in and clean properly. The take and toss ones were good because the design is simple and easy to clean.

[SleepyBear]

Thanks all, 

Will try putting in her cup but mostly wanted her to take a bottle as she feeds to sleep. 

[CrankyM]

@SleepyBear you used to be able to get silicone soft top non-leaking sippy cups. Maybe try that? It might be a nice time to start transitioning to something else besides feeding to sleep (I moved my kids to a cup filled with water around this age. My kids are now 11 and 12 though so things might have changed with the cups).

[Lou-bags]

+1 for straight to a sippy cup. And also +1 for straight to cows milk, if you aren’t already - babies over 12 months don’t need formula.

As for weaning, perhaps a phone call to the ABA helpline who can give you some personalized advice on weaning safely (for you, I mean - ie regarding things like mastitis etc). I’m not sure a GP will give you medication for this as it’s not generally used/effective for mothers who have been breastfeeding for a while (best used right after birth), but you may have already discussed this with your dr of course. 
 

 

kellymom is a great resource too: https://kellymom.com/ages/weaning/wean-how/weaning-techniques/

 

Also ABA website

https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/lactation-suppression

 

Best of luck. I remember well the feeling of being so done! And also the stress of trying to get a bottle refuser to take one.

(also - be prepared for mixed feelings when you do wean. Even if you are done and wellllll over it, you may find you are hit with some grief and nostalgia too. Maybe not. But if you are, be kind to yourself. It can be complicated and it’s ok to feel all the feels )

 

[Bethlehem]

Medication for drying up milk generally doesn’t work after a few days post birth. 
Sippy cups and normal milk are options or open cups. 
 

If you can wean gently it gives your breasts time to adjust. Reduce time of one feed or drop a feed a week if possible. 
You might find that keeping busy and not sitting down can help too. 
If you do wean abruptly, you may need to express to avoid mastitis. 

[Bethlehem]

Oh yeah there’s a huge swing in hormones and the blues can hit pretty hard. No matter how over it you are. 

[Lou-bags]

On the feeding to sleep, I found not being at home for bedtime really helped to phase that one out. 
 

Mine were 2 years old though, which made it a bit easier.

[CrankyM]

1 minute ago, Bethlehem said:

Oh yeah there’s a huge swing in hormones and the blues can hit pretty hard. No matter how over it you are. 

Or in some cases, like me, you can finally feel the background blues vanish. I didn't realise how much if affected me mental health wise until I stopped. Younger kid self-weaned abruptly and I expressed what I could every other feed for a day or two then slowly tapered off. My supply wasn't great though (he was mix fed though until 15 months).

[SleepyBear]

Damn, I was thinking medication would be a silver bullet to supply . 

I'm feeling very mixed about finishing as I didn't want it to end like this but I have such serious damage that every feed is bracing in pain and tears for weeks now and she has further sliced me open today . 

 

 

[Lou-bags]

Is it because she’s biting?

Or just the way her latch is going while you feed?

 

[Bornagirl]

Ouch with the teething.  I gave it up at about fourteen, fifteen months too.  She'd be half interested, then not, then interested enough to bite in frustration that the milk wasn't letting down fast enough. I had mastitis three times after she was 12 months, after only having it once beforehand. I'd have loved to keep going, but it wasn't working for either of us.

Having someone else give them the sippy cup is a good idea, then they don't associate it with you.

 

[SleepyBear]

3 minutes ago, Lou-bags said:

Is it because she’s biting?

Or just the way her latch is going while you feed?

 

Normally doesn't bite but she bit me deeply a few weeks ago that I have had a large and deep puncture that every feed re-opens.

Then today she bit and twisted away and has managed to open that puncture up completely that it is now the entire underedge of the nipple and nearly 1cm long and probably .5cm deep... When it's happening I screamed and it started pouring out blood... 

[Lou-bags]

12 minutes ago, SleepyBear said:

Normally doesn't bite but she bit me deeply a few weeks ago that I have had a large and deep puncture that every feed re-opens.

Then today she bit and twisted away and has managed to open that puncture up completely that it is now the entire underedge of the nipple and nearly 1cm long and probably .5cm deep... When it's happening I screamed and it started pouring out blood... 

yikes! That sounds brutal! I want to cry just thinking about it.

I think I’d consider getting that seen by a GP!

Can you feed from the other side only for a while? And allow that one to heal - express gently for comfort only (and to avoid mastitis)?

Biting was quite a short phase for us luckily. I kept a finger at the ready at the end of feeds for a while (as that was when he, my DS1, was biting) and jammed it in to protect my nips if he even looked like biting. Plus putting him on the floor and giving myself a breather (even if he didn’t bite but only nearly did). Telling him ‘I won’t let you bite me, milkies is finished’.

It all sounds like a lot for you right now, can fully understand why you’re done with it!

[SleepyBear]

1 minute ago, Lou-bags said:

yikes! That sounds brutal! I want to cry just thinking about it.

I think I’d consider getting that seen by a GP!

Can you feed from the other side only for a while? And allow that one to heal - express gently for comfort only (and to avoid mastitis)?

Biting was quite a short phase for us luckily. I kept a finger at the ready at the end of feeds for a while (as that was when he, my DS1, was biting) and jammed it in to protect my nips if he even looked like biting. Plus putting him on the floor and giving myself a breather (even if he didn’t bite but only nearly did). Telling him ‘I won’t let you bite me, milkies is finished’.

It all sounds like a lot for you right now, can fully understand why you’re done with it!

Thanks! I'm booked to see my GP Thursday and going to have to stop feeding that side after today's injury as it's still bleeding on and off. 

Appreciate the support though!  

[Kiwi Bicycle]

I stopped at 18 months as DS just started to bite, pulling back with my nipple in his teeth and mucking around. After 3 nights of him doing this I said " enough" and just stopped. We were down to one feed before bedtime anyway. He didn't seem to care anyway.

We moved to rocking to sleep instead.

[Jenflea]

When I wanted to stop feeding to sleep I sent DH in to do the bedtime routine. 

She got milk in a sippy cup (the take and toss ones are the best, I agree)then we did the books and bed thing, it helped break her needing to feed to sleep and it helped let Dh do bedtime a lot (ok, a bit) easier. He'd sit with her in the room in the dark and shush and pat her, or just sit there. 

She wasn't a biter though, I'd have thrown her across the room if she drew blood like yours has! 

[SleepyBear]

4 minutes ago, Jenflea said:

When I wanted to stop feeding to sleep I sent DH in to do the bedtime routine. 

She got milk in a sippy cup (the take and toss ones are the best, I agree)then we did the books and bed thing, it helped break her needing to feed to sleep and it helped let Dh do bedtime a lot (ok, a bit) easier. He'd sit with her in the room in the dark and shush and pat her, or just sit there. 

She wasn't a biter though, I'd have thrown her across the room if she drew blood like yours has! 

Looks like I need some of those take and toss cups! 

I promise you I nearly did today. She went straight in the cot and I walked out to cry and calm down and had to let her scream herself to sleep. 

[LifesGood]

3 hours ago, SleepyBear said:

Thanks all, 

Will try putting in her cup but mostly wanted her to take a bottle as she feeds to sleep. 

Its been a long time, but I used the 'stealth feed' technique. Choose a time when your DD is neither hungry nor full, not tired but not super alert. When she is playing (in a play gym is ideal, laying on her back), quietly introduce a bottle (with a Pigeon peristaltic teat), making sure the milk is exactly the right temperature. Good luck!

[Paddlepop]

19 minutes ago, LifesGood said:

Its been a long time, but I used the 'stealth feed' technique. Choose a time when your DD is neither hungry nor full, not tired but not super alert. When she is playing (in a play gym is ideal, laying on her back), quietly introduce a bottle (with a Pigeon peristaltic teat), making sure the milk is exactly the right temperature. Good luck!

Nooo! Bottles shouldn't be used after about 12 months old. I definitely wouldn't be introducing one for the first time at 12 months. They affect the teeth, plus feeding to sleep is bad for their teeth if it isn't breast milk. 

SleepyBear: Definitely go for a sippy cup. What does your DD use for drinking water? I'd try something similar because she'd be familiar with it already. I used Sistema Dinkee straw cups for my DD when weaning her off bottles (she was formula fed). Looks like they don't exist anymore. Shame. They were simple, cheap and hardy. The Take and Toss cups come in a straw version too according to Google. My DD just couldn't get the hang of a normal sippy cup with having to tip it up to drink. I avoid anything with a non-spill valve. It made it impossible for her to drink because you have to suck so hard to get past the valve. Hopefully your DD will adapt to cuddling to sleep or something else instead of feeding to sleep. If you do end up using a bottle just use the simplest cheapest one you can get. Sounds like she'll bite it soon enough and you'd need to replace the teat often. If she's eating a good variety and amount of solids there's no need for formula at her age. Just go straight to full cream cow's milk. Way cheaper than formula too. 

[Jenflea]

You could also try some Bonjela on her gums or panadol 20 minutes before a feed so the teething pain isn't as bad, and give her LOTS of teething toys to chomp on at other times.