My 10 Mo Old Son Won't Take Bottle, Sippy Cup or Any Drink Aside from Breastmilk

Just keep trying, don't give up? Do you offer the breast milk in a cup/bottle? if not try that, also you can't give them straight milk you'll have to mix it with formula/breastmilk ounces at a time until their little belly gets used to it. My daughter like White Grape juice over any of the other juices, and really didn't like water at all. I was able to give her flavored water at sometimes.

I work in an infant room in a child care center and what we do, is put breast milk in a cup and once they start to taste it and realize it can also come from there, we start to SLOWLY add formula and decrease breast milk. (I have also known some doctors that will go ahead and start milk at this age if baby refuses formula altogether)
Juice from a cup is not necessary and often confuses the milk taste from a cup. As long as your child eats fruit, they get more nutrition and fiber from the actual fruit than from juice. Plus less sugar. Offer water.

Will he drink breastmilk from a sippy cup or bottle? If not, perhaps it's the delivery method. If he is drinking from a bottle/sippy cup, then try mixing your breastmilk with the formula. Then slowly put less breast milk and more formula.

My son didn't care for juice or water until he was well over 1 year. You shouldn't need to give him juice unless he doesn't get any fruit in his diet. I try my hardest to stay away from juices since they contain so much sugar.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Hi Ellen,

Has your pediatrician suggested whole milk? My daughter began drinking whole milk from a sippy cup around that time. She refused the bottle, but did drink whole milk from a sippy cup. I didn't totally wean her until she was 15 - 18 months old (night time only).

Good luck!
A. D

Well my the time he's a year old and if you're not there chances are he will take something from someone else. I would strongly recommend that you forgo the bottle at all costs. It's only one more headache to wean them from.By the time they are a year and if he doesn't want one. Don't bother trying to give him one. Try to stick with the sippy cup. You could also try different ones. Sometimes it's a matter of trying out several different types first. You could even still nurse and just do it in the morning before work and at bedtime. It may be a comfort thing for him.

You may want to try getting yourself a water bottle with a top that you have to suck on to drink from (like the biking ones). Let your son see you drink from it, then offer to share. This is how my son started drinking water. Now he loves water (from any vessel) and hardly drinks anything else. My dr said not to worry too much about the amount of milk he drinks, as long as he is getting plenty of dairy from other sources (cheese, yogurt).

Hi Ellen,

My 12 month old daughter has never drank out of a bottle or a sippy cup. She does drink water out of an open cup or a straw cup. Both of my children started drinking out of regular straws not the nonspillable straws by 10 months, it does take practice since they get a large amount of liquid at once. If your son is around older children maybe if they drink out of a straw or open cup he'd also like to try, they learn so much by watching others. I personally woulnd't be too worried about your son not drinking out of a bottle a this point, b/c that will be one more thing that you would need to wean him off of in just a few short months. But, I know how you're feeling that you'll try anything at this point!

Good luck!

pump and but in cup or bottle and mix it with formula as he gets use to it

I had a similar milk problem with my son, however I was able to get him to take juice from a cup. In reguard to the milk, I continued to nurse him first thing in the morning and before bed so that I felt assuered that he was getting some milk. I continued to offer it in a cup too. I tired everything i could think of, chocolate milk, soy milk, rice milk, flavored milk, hot milk, cold milk....nothing worked. He got interested in eating cereal and from there slowly started to drink milk. For whatever reason he would only take it from a cup with a straw, but that was fine with he! Now he LOVES milk, and you would never believe that I ever had a problem. I would reccomend being patient and continuing to offer milk in cups. I might skip the formula though because you will be faced with yet another obsticle when you switch him to milk. My pediatrician actually suggests you transition at 10 months instead of a year. If you limit your nursings eventually he will drink liquid from a cup. I would also suggest trying different kinds of cups, maybe something new and different to get him excited or one with a favorite character. Good luck!

Hi Ellen,

Don't worry! My son (though he would play with a sippy cup of water from 6 mo on) refused absolutely EVERYTHING. He would only breastfeed. I just always made sure that there was a sippy cup of either water or formula/breastmilk near him at all times. I began weaning him around 11 months by first cutting his afternoon feeding and then his morning feeding. Finally, on his first birthday, I cut his evening feeding as well and replaced water, breastmilk and formula with milk. He loved it and to this day, he continues to prefer milk to anything.
When you start to wean you son, he'll learn that if he's thirsty, he has to go to the sippy to get something to drink. Don't worry, everything will be fine. Best of luck!
K.

Hi Ellen,
I wouldn't worry to much about weaning to go back to work. Once of the great things about bfeeding is you can nurse as much or as little as your life/schedule permits. Nursing after work and in the evenings/before bed will be a great way to re-connect and help you continue the routine you already have and adjust to the new routine. In the beginning, your breasts may be very full, but they will adjust within a few days. It's also a nice way to start your day with your child, as long as you allow some extra time in your morning. I'm sure your son will learn to drink from a cup when you're not around to provide his favorite beverage. You won't really have to worry about formula too much, as long as he's eating well, getting a multivitamin, etc. Talk to your doctor about the nutrition and the idea of nursing when your not working an his getting nutrients from his food/supplements for the rests of the day. The dr. may agree it's enough.

Best wishes!

I know that it might be a ain, but I would keep trying the different options that you have already. He is at the stage well past nipple confusion and is very much in with nipple preference. I would also like to ask where you are (physically) when he is trying these options? If you are close by he might refuse them just becuse his happy warm nipple and milk are nearby. I would try to have another person try to give him the items with you weel out of eatshot and smelling range. I would also try several diferent types of sippy cups. They make them with soft nipple like materials, but he just might like the plastic kind because its NOT like your breast. Preferance is hard to tell at first. If you have friends that have small children maybe you can borrow some different types of cups to try untill you find the "magic" one that works for him. It will help save you $ from buying all those extra cups and will help you at least narrow down on the ones that he dopesn't like/does like :)

Hi Ellen. I think the trick here would be for Dad to give him the sippy cup or bottle that has mostly breastmilk with a little whole milk mixed in. Gradually add more and more milk into the bottle as he gets used to taking it. You might have to remove yourself from his vision and hearing at first, that's what I had to do with my youngest. She would NEVER take a bottle from me until she was weaned completely. Don't worry too much about it, kids have funny tastes, and you have to keep offering everything over and over. Just because he refuses it once or twice doesn't mean that he doesn't 'like' it, it may mean that it tastes 'different' and he only wants what he is used to. And really, have you ever tasted formula? Ewwwww! Good luck and best wishes.

Don't worry about him taking formula. My daughter breastfed until she was 12 months old. You can try putting the breastmilk into a sippy cup. This will get him used to the cup first. My daugher just went right from breastfeeding to regular milk in a sippy cup. I had to have surgery due to an accident, so we had no pre planning. She did just fine. Don't forget, when you aren't around, he won't be able to smell you, and will probably take the milk from whoever is his caregiver.

When you feed him meals, offer him water or juice in a glass, but don't worry about pushing formula. When you go back to work, you may find that you want to be able to breast feed him at bedtime or first thing in the a.m., and your milk supply will adjust to that after a few days. and remember that he's MUCH moee apt to take a bottle from anyone other than mom, whom he knows has the good stuff. You could try leaving him with a family member and seeing if he'll cry it out and finally accept a bottle. But, really he doesn't need the nourishment so much now that he's getting food, and he will adapt.

I would just offer the glass, and let him learn to drink from a real glass, or cup, that you hold for him. At some point, he'll have fun feeding himself, and having a drink while eating his meal, may be something he likes. :-)

But don't panic. All things in good time. And in the meantime, enjoy your son. He'll grow up so fast, and it's wonderful to simply relax and enjoy the babyhood moments.

Hi Ellen,
I had the same problem with my son. From 6 months on he refused to take a bottle of anything!! Including breast milk. I work 2 to 3 days a week, so it was very challenging. What we did was give him more liquids mixed with his cereal on the days I worked and gradually got him used to the sippy cup. He couldn't use a regular one at first because they are so hard to suck out of. I found that the cheap, Take and Toss ones worked though, because I could put it in his mouth and squeeze a little bit, so he got the hang that liquid would come out. We never used formula, and started to introduce Whole Milk when he was 11months. I had discussed it with his doctor at his 9 month check up and she recommended starting the milk gradually then. (We did 1/2 water 1/2 milk and then gradually all milk). He did great and was weaned from breast feeding by his 1st birthday. The last feeding ot go was the bed time feeding and I actually think it was harder for me then him! Good luck! If you have anyother questions you can email me: ____@____.com

If you have good milk and he is getting what he needs WHY MUST you wean by 12 months? It is very acceptable to nurse past the age of 2. You were given the perfect tools to care for your baby, why not use them -- he sounds happy.

My daughter was the same way. Sometimes, your baby is trying to tell you something though--especially if you have a family history at all of any allergies.

Are you really WORRIED about weaning your child by 12 mos? Have you ever considered nursing beyond that or doing child-led-weaning? Many women don't know (myself included till a few months ago!) that the quality of your breastmilk actually increases over time! The antibody levels actually GO UP as your child gets older, to make up for the fact that he/she will be taking in a lower volume of milk. That way they get the same level of protection against viruses, bacteria, allergies, etc... as they have been getting. Isn't that just amazing?!

Personally, I would continue to offer water or maybe some very watered-down juice in a cup every now & then, but a lot of babies just aren't interested & they don't NEED anything else until they "tell" you that they do (generally by showing a sudden interest in cups).

Hang in there & keep up the awesome work!

We went through this with my son at that age--part of the problem was that he hated the formula we were trying to wean to! We switched to toddler formula and he liked it way better. The other part was that I had to cut waaayyy back on the number of times he was nursing before he got thirsty enough to bother drinking from the sippy (I just pumped one or two times a day and froze the milk, to keep my supply up, and then mixed the frozen milk in to his formula after he was weaned). I didn't have much luck until we got down to just once a day. Also, it took about 3 weeks for him to settle down to the idea that he was going to have sippy only. It was an awful month, but we got there, and you will too. Good luck!