How to encourage baby to take more from a cup

[babygiraffe]

My DD is 11.5 months and has been breastfed from birth.

For the last few months (!!!) I have been trying to switch her over to formula so I can take a medicine that is not suitable to be taken while breastfeeding (this is for sure, please don't tell me to check with various places whether I really need to guve up breastfeeding - I have already done that.)

She has always refused a bottle, even with my milk in it but for the last month she has taken a few sips of formula from a sippy cup. She'll literally take a few sips, then stop, then maybe another sips 3 mins later, then stop, then another sips a couple of mins after that and that will be all.

It is already a huge step forward that she will take formula at all but how do I get her to the point where she will take enough to replace an entire feed? There have ben a few occasions, especially in the beginning where she would not fuss for breastmilk and on those occasions she would miss that feed but I felt she always made up for it at the next feed by feeding for longer. I am looking for ideas to make progress with this.

Her schedule looks like this:

7.00 - wake and eat (I give her formula in a cup)
8.30 - Solid breakfast, usually cereal made with formula
 *at some point between now and her nap she might take a breastfeed*
9.30 - Sleep
10.30 - Activity
12.00 - Eat Lunch with water
*she might take a few sips of formula between now and her afternoon nap. She will definitely have a breasfeed at some point between now and her evening meal*
14.00 - Sleep
16.00 - Activity
17.00 - Eat + water
*she will have a breastfeed between now and bed time, usually at 18.30*
19.45 - Sleep

[jessmum46]

Hi babygiraffe,

You are in a good position in some ways as at 11.5 months milk is not so completely crucial as it is if your LO was a bit younger.  The primary reason for giving milk from a year is for calcium, and there are a number of alternative sources besides milk.  I was in a similar position to you at this age, planning to wean BF at a year (my choice) and I was very worried about getting her to drink milk from a cup.  What I did was to gradually stop the BF one at a time (I think we did daytime, bedtime, morning) and just offer milk in a special cup at the time I would have BF.  With the BT one I changed our routine from bath, BF, bed to BF, bath, stories, bed and then dropped the BF and offered milk in a cup instead. 

For the first few weeks she actually took very little milk at each time, but I didn't force it and just made it available if she was interested.  Often she had none at all.  I made sure she also had access to water if she was thirsty, and gave her milk in other ways e.g. on cereal and in sauces.  I also gave plenty of cheese and yoghurt so I could be sure she was getting calcium and fat in other ways.  It was probably some time after I stopped bf altogether that suddenly she became far more interested in the milk from a cup and now she quite happily drinks a few oz in the morning and some before bedtime. 

For us, the key was time and patience, and realising that even if she didn't take any at all that at this age that isn't such an issue and there are other ways to ensure that her nutritional needs are met.

I hope that helps a little