question about starving to bottle approach

[Jennerific]

when trying to wean liam off the breast, pumping & offering BM or formula in a bottle we wait to the first bottle of the day & keep offering until they take it right?

what do we do about solids? do we not offer at all? wouldn't that mean NW'ings from hunger?

i'm just so confused about how to start this process & afraid of him waking again at night; but we need to bite the bullet, he has to get on a bottle

[Samuel's mum]

I'm going to pop this over to bottlefeeding. You'll find some more information there about the 'cold turkey' approach.

[ninav]

Hi Fawndoe

Have you been successful? Or like me are you putting the whole thing off.............I kept sayign tomorrow, tomorrow for a whole week!

We did exactly as you say..........waited till the first feed of the day and offered a bottle, then again offered until he took it (not every hour but once he refused the first bottle I waited 2 hours).

Josiah took a bottle because he wanted his nap but was crying because he was hungry. I sat him swaddled on my lap, facing forward (his back against my tummy with his head on my chest to avoid putting him in a position where he had his mouth near my boob), and as he was so exhausted he began to fall asleep whilst screaming and then his sucking reflex took over and he had a bottle. The second bottle he took was in this situation too. By the third feed he just took it whilst fully awake. 

He is now happy to go from boob to bottle.

The advice I read here said keep giving the usual amount of solids. Josiah was different as he had not yet started solids. Despite having less milk than usual that first day of cold turkey he still slept his usual hours.............I too was worried re night wakings.

Good luck, let us know how things go. It's hard but I'm sure your LO will get the hang of it.

Nina x

[Deb_in_oz]

when we wanted alex to take a bottle (just wanted to be able to leave her with a sitter etc)  and she refused, the approach we finally took at 7 mo was for dh to offer it to her at the 2nd feed of the day while i went out.  he had a 3 day weekend and this was the most gentle way we could thinnk of. this way she had her 1st feed and without me anywhere she could smell, dh had her to himself for the 2nd feed. in the begining when she only took maybe 1 oz, we had the 3rd feed to compensate and she was not "starving". by day 3 she was taking a reasonable amount and we then moved the bottle feed to bedtime so that between the 2 of us we coudl keep it going (dh kept doing it for a while and then we just did whomever was there - so if dh was not home in time i was able to do it).  she had previously taken EBM from 3weeks - 7 weeks on occassion to allow for an outing etc but after we got complacent thinking we had the bottle there for when we needed it (and only did it every few days) she just stopped accepting it, so while I was desperate by 7 mo for a break it was not health or work return  related so not urgent, therefore i did not feel total withholding was warranted in order to force the issue. we kept everything else as normal including her solids. the aim was to be consistent without making it a drama for her...

good luck.

[Jennerific]

thanks for your replies!

we have been putting it off. i'too scared & i do have some time... but i just need courage. i should just do it. it is reassuring that you were both successful.. \

i think the sucking approach is good b/c he has a strong sucking reflex & usually has a BF before his naps to calm him down & top him up so he sleeps 2 hours ... i worry about dehydration though

[jenniferr]

Hi fawndoe.
Just wanted to send a note to let you know that my DD did not start taking a bottle until around 7 mos (after several months of trying). One day, she was laying on my bed watching that Four Squares how on Treehouse, I put it in her mouth, she held it herself and chugged the whole thing. Have you tried laying him down, with his attention diverted? This was the only thing that worked. Only recently I've been able to hold her to give her a bottle. It's worth a shot! We use Dr. Brown's wide neck bottle with the best luck.

Jenn

[Jennerific]

i think we might skip the whole bottle debacle... now that i'm going back to work PT in July & FT in august, i've found a daycare 3 mins from my work so am planning on BF'ing at lunch; by the time august comes around he'll be 11 months & down to 2 BF's a day so i can do that morning/evening & then we'll be introducing cow's milk at some point in a sippy so it just seems pointless to try to get him on a bottle when we'll have to wean him from it anyway

does that make sense or am i completely missing something??

[Deb_in_oz]

not missing anything - it just comes down to what youwant in the next few months. if you don't have a need to cover a feed with a bottle to allow for time away (meaning you manage your time away around feeds or take him with you) then there is really no need to fret.  if the aim was to get you alone time you may want to try it anyway as august is still 3 1/2 mo away.  it really only took us 3 days with alex when we decided to do it the way i described above. no tears or anything and because she had the other feeds in the day she was not starving and because to do so meant i had to go on my own and leave dh to it i managed a day at the beach, a lunch with a friend and some shopping over the 3 days so she could not smell me. it was the first time i had more than 2 hrs on my own and did not have to worry abotu how far away i was in case she woke hungry earlier than expected...

fantastic that you found daycare so close to your work - that is a rare find here.

[Jennerific]

i already feel like i get away time, he goes to bed at 7pm & sleeps through until 7am, so i just go out after he's in bed to do whatever & during the day he is very portable. on weekends, i'll feed him then DH will take him (DH will feed him solids for lunch & then put him down for a nap) so i get away for +4 hours at a time.. it just seems like the best option for us, for right now. of course that could all change in a month - who knows? thats life.. gotta roll with it

[Deb_in_oz]

sounds like you are fine then. shops close early here so we don't have the option of doing things after bedtime (even weekends the malls close at 4 or 5pm). i always hear about friends popping in to the library or walmart after kids in bed in the states - not here! we have late night shopping at malls on thursdays but everyone and their dog are there so it is horrendus -

think you are doing the right thing just relaxing until august then

[ninav]

Sounds like you've got it covered! I think daycare right near work is a great find too.................is your job such that you can guarantee time to go and feed? Though the whole weaning to bottle thing was less traumatic than I thought, I'm glad you found a way to avoid it.
Good Luck Nina x

[Vicku]

Hi!
Sounds like a good solution! We went cold turkey to re-introduce a bottle at 8 months (hadn't had one for 3 months and was totally refusing) as I had to work a couple of nights a week and DD was on a milk-strike every time. Took us 4 hrs only to get her to take it from trying every hr from first feed in am. We then did 1 bottle/day to keep up with it and I enjoyed the greated freedom too as DD wasn't as good as your LO in the sleeping department... didn't sleep through 11pm-6am til she was 8 months, and then only occasionally :-/
Well, my point is, DD decided after a few weeks that she preferred bottle to breast, and at 9.5 months had stopped bf completely... just wouldn't have it anymore. Went from refusing one to the other. I would have liked to keep at least one feed for a while longer. Maybe if I had BW site then I'd have been able to get her to carry on both happily and it might be totally possible, but if you're able to solve the problem this way it sounds like an uncomplicated solution.

Hope it works well!

[Jennerific]

hi vicku question for you: when you did the starve approach were you using formula in the bottle or BM? did you go back to BF'ing the same day or did you keep offering the bottle after the time yoru LO took it? also, the next day, did you offer the bottle again first thing in the morning?

what position did you hold baby in that they took the bottle the first time?

i'm still flip-flopping on this issue... i really would like him to be able to take a bottle so i can get away to MTL for the weekend in June... but he's got a head cold right now so i don't think its a good time to try it. once his head cold is over i think i will give it another shot.

[Vicku]

Hi!
We used a mix, some bottles of EBM, but then ran out and used formula. Both me and her dad tried, and it was actually from me she took it first although it was easier to get DH to feed her later that day. The bottle she took was formula. Only took an ounce forst time, but we continued with bottle for the whole day as Tracy recommends in BWSAYP. In fact we pretty much did exactly as it says in there. I first bf at df that night, so had a 24 hr break (expressed at bf times) Then next day I bf as usual but substituted one daytime feed with bottle from that day on. Mostly formula as EBM stores were low.
If you decide to go for it I would really recommend doing it on a day where you're not on your own as it can be very frustrating and upsetting for you to withhold your milk when DS is crying and reaching for it. It definitely helped me stay sane to be able to hand over and walk away from time to time.

Good luck whatever you decide to do hun!

[brenda2]

when we introduced the bottle at 4 mo we just did it for one feed (the same feed) every day - an evening feed.   i'd give the bottle as Avery just wouldn't take it at all from DH until she was really used to it.   at first she would just take a few oz from it, or none at all and then i'd top her up with the breast so she wouldn't go hungry.   i was giving only expressed breast milk.  eventually she took more and more from the bottle until she was taking a full feed from the bottle.  then she got really good at it and would go back and forth bottle to breast no problem.   

then a few months ago we had major NW problems and i thought it might be hunger related and supply related so i pumped for 2 days and did only bottle to see how much she was getting...well that really did my supply in and Avery decided she liked the bottle better and weaned herself in about a week.     so now she's 8 mo and completely bottle fed now for about a month, a bit earlier than intended!!    so just a word of caution, if you give exclusively the bottle for a few days to get him on the bottle and pump just watch your supply because you might run into trouble.

good luck with whatever you choose to do