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She won't take a bottle but it's time to start weaning... Help!

shawnandnickieshawnandnickie
in Babies: 9 - 12 Months

Hi ladies...

My daughter is 10 months and has not taken a bottle since she was 4 months old.  I don't know what caused her to stop, but then again, I wasn't all that consistent with giving her bottles, so it's probably my fault :(.  Anywho, while I've been extremely lucky enough to have no problems BFing, it's about time to start weaning a little and getting her to take a bottle and/or sippy cup of some sort again.  Here lies the problem, though!  

 I've tried numerous types of bottles, nipples, sippy cups, etc., but it's just a no go.  The most she will take is maybe 1 oz, one time she took 1.5, but that was mainly because she was playing with it and happened to dribble in her mouth.  I'm pretty desperate at this point as it has been impossible to have a babysitter or have daddy feed her.  I NEED her to be able to take liquids from something other than me!  When I try, she gets incredibly frustrated and I don't know how far or long to push it.

Have any of you had this problem or have any tips?  Like I said, I am pretty much desperate and would greatly appreciate any advice. 

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Re: She won't take a bottle but it's time to start weaning... Help!

  • NicoleR524NicoleR524 member
    have you tried an open cup?
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  • shawnandnickieshawnandnickie
    Ooh, not yet...  Not trying to sound dumb, but how do I go about that?  :)
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  • QmommyQmommy member

    have you tried an open cup or straw cup?

    My DD has always rejected a bottle and never drank well from a sippy.  I introduced a straw cup at 5 months and there's no looking back!  Of course she prefers the boob but she does really well with the straw.

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  • carrotcake06carrotcake06 member
    DS will not take a bottle from me or even if I am in the house. I have to be gone, literally for hours, or he will not take a bottle. I tried everything you did but in the end, it was me. He's been in dc since 9 mo & takes 2 bottles there every day just fine. He does well w a sippy but it's only ever had water in it. And he's real only done well w the sippy in the past few weeks.
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  • ToothyRoothy78ToothyRoothy78
    I'm in the exact same boat.  DD will not take a bottle at all.  I've tried sippy cups as well, but she doesn't sit down and drink an entire 8 oz, she just plays with it most of the time.  I try to resist the urge to nurse her, but I don't want her to dehydrate, either!  My bewbs are drying up quickly, though!  I might try the straw and see how she does.  She's so attached to me (Literally!) that she tries to lift up my shirt and nurse any chance she can get!  Guess I should have listened to my pedi when she said I should introduce a bottle early on.  Live and learn.
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  • numeria11numeria11 member
    I second trying just a plain old open cup.  DD takes a bottle fine but has zero interest in sippy cups but any time she sees me take a drink out of a glass she is facinated by it.  So last week we started just offering her a little bit of water in a glass. Show your little one what you are doing by taking a drink and then offer it to them, definitly make sure you are the one holding it though at first.  Tip it up for them and let them wet their lips and most likely they will be intrigued enough to keep trying it. She loves it and laughs now everytime we let her have her big kid cup.

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  • TheyWillGetOverItTheyWillGetOverIt
    For the session you're trying to drop, DO NOT give in and nurse her until it's time for the next session.  She will protest, but if she wants her milk and has no choice, she'll take the bottle/cup.  A baby will not let themselves starve or get severely dehydrated.  They will give up before it gets to that point.
    All kids cry. They will get over it. Giving parents the obvious answer since 2011.
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  • NicoleR524NicoleR524 member

    I gave DS an open cup from the time I started feeding him solids.  Whenever I gave it to him, I'd hold it to his mouth and put both his hands on the cup and hold them on while tilting the cup back so that the water touched his lips and then make sure he got some in his mouth.  It took a while but now when he sees the cup he gets excited.  he automatically grabs the cup with both hands and helps lift it to his mouth and sometimes he lifts so fast he gets a mouthful of water and coughs a bit but he likes it.  i hold onto it while he's drinking so that he doesn't drop it but he mostly does it himself. 

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  • lawyerinlawyerin

    Have you tried feeding her with a real, regular-sized straw...medicine dropper style? DD is EBF and never took a bottle either, but she loves to drink from a straw, both by herself and if DH or I feed it to her.

    I have never tried feeding DD breast milk via straw, but she will take water and now cows milk that way without a problem. 

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  • homebirdhomebird member

    Evie wouldn't take a bottle either. Like you, I don't think I was consistent enough. I think you might want to try giving her a sippy cup instead of a bottle. Around 9 months I started giving her a sippy of watered down juice. She didn't want anything to do with at first, but I gave it to her at every opportunity. She started out by playing with it (tossing it around, chewing on it) but wouldn't drink from it. I took the stopper out of one of the sippy cups and tilted it so she'd get some juice in her mouth. She veeeery slowly started drinking from her sippy and now we can't get her to stop. :) The whole process took about 3 months, and I'm still nursing 1-3 times a day, depending on her mood. I'm taking a "don't offer, don't refuse" approach.

    I think you just have to be patient, especially with EBF babies. A sippy cup is a tough sell to a boobie baby. :)


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  • shawnandnickieshawnandnickie

    Thank you ladies!

    I went out and bought three different types of cups with straws (desperate mommy!) so hopefully one of them will begin to spark her interest.  I did try an open cup yesterday, and she seemed to instinctively open her mouth, but didn't like too much liquid going into her mouth, which I understand.  Hopefully I will have good results soon, and I will keep being persistent, although yesterday we had a day-long battle of the wills (and I lost)!  Good luck to you all with everything!  :) 

     

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