I love both Lisa's line (I sooooo wish I could use it) and the shocked at the cruelty pantomime reaction. I would suggest a flat 'no, that's not really an option' or a 'did you do that when you were BFing?'. Did they/do they BF? If not, then they can keep their advice to themselves.
they are both my own age,give or take. & both have a I
very different parenting style to BW &me . they are
already think im odd... just for being me ! so i am adding
fuel to the fire by putting BFing ahead of my social life,kwim!
I get this all the time from my rellies (also from your general neck of the woods as you know). They think I'm totally loopy for the way I behave towards my children, teach them to sleep, speak to them like they're people, do BLW, baby-wear, etc. OK, I admit I'm towards the crunchier end of motherhood and I get that that might be unusual for them. But I don't accept their judging me (not any more, it hurt too much
and then I realised, damn it, I'm proud of what I do). I have been given the 'what a weirdo' treatment for not 'having a social life', so you are not alone.
As for the bottle, if that's something you want to do, great, keep on with it and the brilliant suggestions you're getting here. If you're only doing it so you can go to some social event someone else thinks you need to go to, I wouldn't bother. I was all set on getting LO1 to take a bottle, and he did, and then somehow we stopped around 6 mos, and just BF. LO2 would not accept any plastic in her mouth, so she was a bottle-free baby. It's up to you what you do, but unless you have a reason *you* want her taking a bottle, I wouldn't put myself through the hassle. Soon enough you'll be moving her on to cups, anyway.
I'm sorry I don't have a magic reply for you but I want you to know I get the same guff, probably for the same cultural reasons. If you want to go to the hen parties, do and have a ball. If you're not bothered because you'd rather stay with your LOs, then do that. And I'll be here to cheerlead either way. ((HUGS))
