8.5 Month Bottle Refusal

[CGV]

I am trying to wean my 8.5 month old daughter from breastfeeding, but she is completely refusing to take a bottle! I have bought every bottle on the market and tried sippy cups. She will drink water perfectly fine from her sippy cup, but when I give her one with breastmilk, she pushes it away. She is eating 2 solid meals per day (breakfast and dinner). If I were to nurse her, she would take the milk, so I don't think its that she is "too full" -- she just won't take it from a bottle.

Any help or advice is MUCH appreciated!

[Lolly]

Hello and welcome!

I'll move your post to the breastfeeding board as they have more experience with this issue over there!

One thing that often works with breastfed babies is to use a straw cup rather than a bottle. There's no developmental reason she needs a bottle other than ease for you so a straw could be a good alternative.

Laura

[CGV]

Thank you, Laura.

I have tried the sippy and straw cup, but the sucking from the straw seems to be a bit difficult for her. She loves her sippy cup, but only with water in it:(.

Thank you for moving my post to the breastfeeding board -- I wasn't sure which board would be more helpful.

Cortney

[*Ali*]

What are you planning on giving her instead? Pumped milk or formula? Do you have a pressing reason to wean now or can you do it gradually?

There's a FAQ about getting a BF baby to take a bottle.
Have a read through all the links.
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=173309.0

[quddlefish]

My 8 month old suddenly refused the bottle when we started introducing formula. At first we thought she simply hated the taste of formula, so I would add it to her solid foods. She went for it, so we tried giving her the formula in a bottle again. No dice. Went back to offering formula with food with some success, but not in the volume we needed her to take.

The major breakthrough was two-fold: we got faster flow nipples AND let her take the bottle, with warm formula, in an upright, seated position.

She used to be in a reclined position when she bottle-fed (typical 45deg). But with a faster flow, she was essentially drowning. In an upright, seated position, she can turn her head away from the bottle to give herself a break. She turns back to the bottle when she's ready for more.

She needed a few bottle-feedings (just 3 sessions) to get used to the new position and the new flow, but now she's not turning away as often and can better control her own intake. Hope this helps!