BF baby with cold refuses his usual bottle - How to get him back on track?

[* Paula *]

Good luck, keep us posted on how things go.

[lynners]

Hi Paula,

Hope you're well.  What a long break that was.

Since we last spoke my LO is now fully on cow's milk, one sippy cup in the morning and one at night.  Hoorah!

The questions I have are -

At the moment his sippy cup consists of the Avent bottle with the sippy cip spout.  The spout however is the soft one not the hard one.  Is there any advantage to their teeth if I swap to the hard one or do you think it's not worth the hassle?

His morning milk is still given to him snuggled in bed with us and his evening one is on my lap before bed.  Do you think I need to start making the first one part of his breakfast at the high chair?  Does it matter?  Giving it to him in our room works for us because then he's happy and will play in the room while we get dressed and then we either take him to the kitchen for breakfast, or take him to nursery for breakfast if it's a nursery day.

He still really enjoys his morning milk (180ml) and wants it as soon as he gets up, whereas the evening one is a bit more of a struggle - tends to guzzle 100 -120mls and then eventually takes another 100ml with a bit of encouragement.  He gets there but it's certainly not as easy as his morning milk.  Do you think I need to be doing any tweaking LO is 16 months now 

How's everything with your LOs? 

[* Paula *]

Hi there,

Yes it was a long break.  I did not even know that the site was back up and running.  It was just by chance that I tried to get on this evening.

Fantastic news on your DS being completely on cows milk and taking it from a sippy.  Well done to both of you.

I would not worry too much, I would do what ever works for you.  If your DS still loves to snuggle then by all means do it, believe me it does not last long.  My DS who has just turned 4 does not want any snuggles or kisses anymore 

We are only on 1 milk feed now.  DD only has milk in the evening - she is still on formula and still on a bottle .  She is sleeping much better with being back on her reflux formula, so am not going to stop it just yet.

We are aiming to get rid of her bottle by christmas - fingers crossed we can get it done.  She has started practicing with a proper cup, so hopefully we can just switch straight from there.

Otherwise we are all good thanks.  How you doing?

[lynners]

You're so right.  I really enjoy milk time with him so we should just keep it as long as poss.  I suppose I was mainly worried about the soft sippy spouts but it really is the way they suck not the hardness of the spout I suppose...and we brush his teeth afterwards so should be ok.

Glad to hear Little Miss is sleeping better.   What a relief for you.

All is well with us.  I've been back at work three days a week for about four months now which is going pretty well.  Gives me a good balance.  Any more and I think I'd miss Lucas way too much.  He seems to really be enjoying nursery and is just loads of fun.  He has his moments of course but all in all we're going through a really good patch.  hoorah.

All the best.  Take care. x

[* Paula *]

I don't think that that spout is too much of a problem, our DD still uses a softer spout cup.  I would say as long as they are not using it for an extended amount of time it should be fine.

How about trying to swap a cup over to a harder spout one - you could make a big fuss about it, and let him chose his own cup and see how that goes down?

[lynners]

Good idea.  Will see if we can swap.  He certainly doesn't suck on the spout for very long any more so no major problem if he doesn't go for the swap.

Thanks and all the best.

x

[* Paula *]

Good luck, keep us posted.

[lynners]

Have changed to hard Avent sippy spout - no problems    Two milk sessions and LO finished them as per normal.  Things are looking very hopeful! 

Nervous to change him over to something like his Tommee Tippee cup with handles though.  He uses this for water and has a really bad habit of just throwing it when he doesn't want it any more.  Worried he'll do the same with his milk.  With the Avent bottle he's still fairly happy for me to hold it mainly, with his hands just resting on it.

Thanks as always for your support.

[* Paula *]

Fantastic news.  Sounds like he is doing great.

I would keep the milk cup and water cup seperate for now.  At least he will know what to expect when he sees the cup.