Seeking Help

Have you started cup training him? If he is going to be a year old then it is time to take him off the bottle completely anyway. So maybe that is what he is trying to let you know. Hope this helps. Good luck

Have you tried getting him to drink from a cup? I weaned my kids off of the bottle at 1 year so maybe he'll take to a cup now. They have lots of different kinds these days. Good luck!

Hi R.,
I really sympathize with you. Neither of my children wanted bottles. So I ended up breast feeding both of them until they were ready for drinks in cups all the time. At your son's age, you could try cups with him, giving him whole milk and juice from a sippy cup with a lid. It will make him feel like a "big boy". But for his nourishment, don't fight him. If he prefers to breastfeed then let him. He must not be ready to wean yet. Don't get yourself frustrated, that will just negatively affect your milk supply, etc, plus your son will sense it. Good luck to you! --A.

iv nursed 2 and weaned. hes nearly 1 so the formula/ breast milk is not as important as it once was when it was his only source of nutrition. i never bottle fed but when i wanted to give my children milk i gave it to them in a cup. at first i cheated and sweetened it with a little ovaltine- it has vitimans- so that theyd want it. (breast milk is naturally sweet and formula is nasty.) then i gradually stopped putting the ovaltine in and they drank regular milk shortly after turning 1. i continued to nurse them until they were 18 months but that was only for comfort. neither of my children would take a bottle. its better to just go straight to a cup anyway that way you dont have to wean them off a bottle too!
put bandaids on your nipples and tell them they are ouchy now. i wore bandaids for 2 weeks until my daughter stopped asking.
good luck. dont sweat it. he will drink when hes thirsty.

I'm having a similar problem with my 9 1/2 month old. I work 4 days a week and pump milk for him to drink durring the day and all of a sudden he is rejecting the bottle at daycare. He still nurses fine. I talked it over with my pediatrician and she doesn't seem too concerned since he's still nursing in the morning and at night, but she told us to mix in his milk into his meals so for breakfast we mix milk into his oatmeal -- at lunch, some milk goes into his potatoes or whatever it is he's having. His doctor also suggested trying to give him milk in a cup. She said that he may just be done with the bottle which isn't necesarily a bad thing. Good luck!

Oh, I feel for you, I've been there. Have you tried pumping and going directly to a sippy cup? My son fought the transition from breast to bottle and I wound up buying the avent sippy cups and using them. They come in fun colors now and even with designs I think (My son is now 7). I like Avent because it has a soft spout instead of the hard plastic. Perhaps that will be just enough of a change that he won't consider that a bottle? Good luck. You might also try having Daddy do the feedings instead. Mommy smells like mommy and breastmilk and that means that mommy is supposed to breast feed and Mommy doing anything other than breast feed is just plain wrong to your little guy.

Good luck!

I would try a sippy cup.

My nephew did the same thing and once my brother switched him to a cup (like everyone is suggesting), he had no problems drinking his formula. If that does not work, remember that you can start giving him regular milk once he turns one and maybe he will like that taste better. Good luck!

Maybe even a baby cup and straw would help get him interested in other means of drinking. My daughter got so excited to drink out of a straw like me around that age.

try a sippy cup instead!

Try a sippy instead. Bottles aren't necessary.

Hi, we went through something much like this. Some big things to try are you have to get out of the house while your husband is trying to feed him a bottle. If mommy is around nothing will be good enough. Second, enlist your friends. This is sort of the next step if daddy can't get him to take it. You both need to leave him in the house with a friend and let them work out the feeding. Obviously, this is a very patient friend:) I had the worst trouble getting my child to take a bottle and oatmeal for that matter, it was really my nanny that taught her how to do it.
Good luck
M.

Relax! Babies pick up on your tention quickly. He also may be picking up that he is losing his mommy breastfeeding time. Don't let the bottle be a replacement. He's 11 mos so he can handle a few days of getting not much milk from you. I had the same problem, low milk supply and a baby who refused a bottle. Right around 11 months as well. I stopped getting so frustrated and just let him nurse for a few days. He wasn't getting much at all from me so it got boring. I started letting him nurse then dribbling the milk from the bottle down so he was drinking it off of me. Then let him take some from the bottle then me then back and forth. I just didn't want him to think he was losing that time we had together. Once he realized that he got to cuddle with me and get milk that he was not getting from me anymore he realized it was a much better deal. Just give it time and relax. Do what works best for you, try a sippy cup if a bottle isn't working. I also would give him milk in a cup at meals so it was something different and not associated with losing his mommy time.

Good luck!

My oldest went through something similar at about the same age. Just a thought, since I know it worked well for us... Why not give him formula - in a sippy cup? I found a spoutless sippy cup (still no-spill) at Target that my kids love. It works just like a "big kid" cup, but with the convenience of a sippy cup/bottle. Find out how many ounces it is and you can mix formula in it just as easily as you can in a bottle.

Presentation means a lot for little kids. So maybe present that idea, when you present the cup to him, that he is now a "big boy" and needs an appropriate cup for his new status! :) To ease the transition, maybe mix in a little flavoring with the milk at first, and then gradually taper down the amount of flavoring until you're doing straight milk or formula. (If you don't like the idea of chocolate sauce because of the amount of sugar, you could always use cocoa powder sweetened with a small amount of juice (preferrably apple so the citrus doesn't turn the milk sour) and then add that mixture to the milk/formula. (That gives the bonus of nutrients from the juice, too.) Or use carob powder, which has a great chocolatey flavor, too. There are many natural sweeteners besides Splenda that work well and would be safe for your baby.) Anyway, just a thought. That's what worked for us. I hope you find something that works well for you!

~ Kat

PS. I just thought... What if your son is turning down milk/formula because it makes him feel bad? Sometimes allergies take awhile to make themselves known, and it could be just now kicking in. He might be wanting to nurse exclusively because he needs to feel more of an attachment to you. Have you recently gone back to work and had to cut back on your cuddle time with him? Anyway... Good luck! :)

I was going to recommend trying a different type of bottle nipple and bottle. My son didn't like the nipple that we used, but when we changed to the playtex nurser, he did fine drinking from the bottle. He cried and wouldn't drink from the Advent bottle.

If your son is 11 months old, you may want to just try using a sippy cup. Try one with a soft spout - more like a nipple. Good luck to you!

I agree with everyone about the cup. The Dr Brown training cups worked great. They don't have to suck as hard to get it out. My baby just turned one and he will not drink milk at all. He hates it. I have tried soy, flavoring it and watering it down. No luck. I have been cooking his food with whole milk. He eats yogurt every morning. I got the suger-free pudding and used whole milk to make it. He does not have is one year appointment until Friday. We will see what the doc says. I weaned him any way. Over the Thanksgiving weekend while my husband was around. We had no problems. He eats anything though. Also, I had a friend that had the same problem and her doc said to give her son the calcuim enriched OJ. Hope that helps!! T.

Many babies are weaned from bottles by about 1 year old. Will your baby take a cup?

Unless you're trying to wean from the breast entirely, I wouldn't worry about it. If he's drinking other things like juice or water from a cup, he'll be getting plenty of liquids from you. It's normal for breastmilk supply to decrease with supplementation and as the baby gets older. If you're planning on continuing breastfeeding, then there is really no need to push cow's milk. He will get the calories and nutrients he needs from what he gets from you since your milk changes as he ages to meet his needs. Aren't our bodies wonderful?

If you are trying to wean from the breast, then try the Nubby cups. Otherwise, a small regular cup like a dixie cup with a little water or juice in it worked for me. You just have to watch him and help him practice.

I see he is 11 months old. . .I would take this opportunity to transition him to a sippy cup. I started my kids at about 6 months getting used to them at solid food time and then they were very adept at them by 1 year. He will need assistance at first, but then it should be very natural for him. Good luck

Have you tried a sippy cup with the soft tip,like the Nubby cups?That way you won't have to ween him from a bottle later on after he turns one and he might not freak out because it is not a bottle.Also try slowly getting him off breast milk by mixing mostly breast milk with some formula at first,then slowly adding more formula as he adjusts to drinking from his new cup.It just may be to much change for him all at one time.Goodluck and keep up the good work.