My daughter is almost 6 months old and has been exclusively breastfed - maybe used a bottle once or twice. I started her on rice cereal a week ago one time per day around lunch time, the first day she wouldn't eat any of it, but since then she has eaten almost 1 tbsp each day. I was planning on also giving her a bottle of formula at the same time to start the weaning process, but she will not take a bottle. I tried using pumped milk in the bottle, that didn't work either, also tried using a sippy cup and having my husband give her the bottle/sippy cup. Nothing is working! Looking for suggestions I am getting tired of feeding her every two hours - just looking for a little break in the middle of the day. The cereal does hold her off for about 30 minutes, but I was really hoping to have her fully weaned by 9 months.
Keep trying, and mix small amounts of formula in mostly breast milk to ease her into the taste difference.
At that age, she should be nursing just every 4 hours. It would be really great to keep nursing her, instead of formula. Children don't know how to tie their shoes unless someone sits and teaches them. In the same way, gently, babies need to be taught.
why do you feel the need to force wean her? Her nursing will automatically start to cut back after her 6 month growth spurt. By 1 years old, you can teach her "wait", not to bite you AND still have a very cuddly, healthy, easy to comfort child.
Also - skip rice and go right to oatmeal... rice is very likely to cause constipation and stomach pain. At least oatmeal is fiber!
Please reconsider - for your child - to continue nursing to at least 2 years old... you'll be happy you did when the cold/flu/rotavirus seasons come thru!
Hey there.
I really want to encourage you to reconsider weaning at such a young age. At 6 months, your daughter has not yet had the full benefit of your immunoglobins. Wean her now, and she's likely to suffer a lot of unnecessary illness throughout her life, plus be prone to obesity. My husband was formula-fed as an infant, and he gets completely incapacitated by bronchitis every winter. I was breastfed, and I basically never get sick.
That said, the way I got my son to take a bottle (of pumped milk) at four months was by having an experienced childcare provider give him his first (successful) bottle. After that, he was willing to take a bottle from my husband no problem.
I hate to tell you this, but if you don't introduce a bottle by 5-6 weeks, a baby may never get on board with taking one. A few tips are: make sure the nipple is warm and the milk is body temp (don't even try to intro formula at this point, keep using pumped milk. Getting a breastfed baby to accept formula is another battle, you need to get her to take a bottle period first). Try having your husband bottlefeed her and try putting her in something like a bouncy seat instead of holding her.
That being said, why do you want to wean her? Starting now, with the introduction of solids, the amount she nurses will decrease until by a year she can be weaned off of breastmilk entirely. Maybe I am lazy, but I love not having to worry about packing formula, cleaning a bunch of bottles every day, etc. The breast is always there and always clean! I do understand wanting a baby to be able to take a bottle so you can leave her with a sitter or have your husband do a feeding (my husband does the last feeding of the day), but we use pumped milk. I have actually supplemented with a bottle of formula a couple of times as my supply has dropped, but I simply prefer nursing. It's faster, more convenient, great for bonding, and better for both of our health.
So, if she refuses to take a bottle, nursing a while longer at least has some benefits. :) If you need to leave her and she won't take a bottle, a sitter can give pumped milk with a syringe (not very efficient, but it works). When she gets a little older, she may also take pumped milk or formula in a sippy cup or regular cup.
