Hi, I'm having a hard time weaning my son off the breast. I started giving him milk in a sippy cup and he refuses it. If anyone has had this problem I'd like to know how you handled it. All advice is welcome. Thanks.
Hi, thank you for all of the advice. I tried giving him the milk in a bottle and he finally took it. I'm now down to one feeding, before bed. I think that will be the hardest feeding for both of us to give up. Thanks again.
My son also had a hard time with the weaning process becuase he never drank out of a bottle so the cup was a hard concept to grasp. We had success with juice box type drinks. He liked to drink out of the straw. They do sell milk in boxes if you want to give it a try. Good Luck.
Hi N.,
First off, congratulations to you! You nursed your son for a full year! (not a lot of mums make it that far).
The difficult part now is weaning. I would second the first message about dropping one nursing at a time. The emotional connection is still very strong and a slow wean is gentler and easier on everyone. I don't know if you've ever tasted your milk but it's actually quite sweet (a little like sweetened skim milk, if you will) and he may not enjoy the taste of the cow milk. Does he like yoghurt? My son didn't like milk either but he's a yoghurt monster! So i gave him very diluted yoghurt to drink from a bottle and he took it. (Like 2oz to 4oz milk).
Resist the temptation to put juice in the bottle because that can lead to trouble teethwise down the road. The nutritional value is very low and it coats their teeth with sugar.
Okay, so to summarize: drop one nursing at a time. I would say about 3 days in between (give or take). Try other things in a bottle (you'd be surprise how HIGH their sucking need still is even after a year, it's biological) such as yoghurt milk or even unsweetened ovaltine or pediasure.. anything like that. And don't forget to be patient with yourself and your son.
All the best!
C., CLC
my son wouldn't drink any substantial amount of milk until he was 18months old. at 12months old I was breastfeeding him 2 times a day and by 15 months he was weaned. the pediatrician seemed to think he was ok by drinking water & eating a lot of dairy...I just kept offering him milk in a sippy cup and gradually by 18months he'd drink it
now I have son #2...and he doesn't seem to care for milk either...
does your son drink from a bottle when/if you go out and leave him w/ someone else to watch him? is it formula that he'll drink from a bottle?
anyway, you might want to try milk in a bottle
or if he'll drink formula, give him a bottle of formula and slowly replace the formula with milk (a few days of formula in the bottle, then a few days w/ half milk & formula, etc) and then you'll have to work on getting him to drink the milk from a sippy...
Oh yes, this was a big challenge for us as well! My biggest piece of advice (seriously) is to wear high necked shirts! Out of sight, out of mind was a great help, believe it or not. My ped also suggested that I mix milk into his foods (cereal, mashed pot, etc) in order to supplement. When you DO nurse, take him off a little sooner each time. It takes a while...Good luck to you both!
Oh lord some cases is very easy some other take a wile and other are jut like feeling of not wanting but willing:)) I breastfeed my girl until she was almost 2! But my dilema is she does take the bottle and at time the sipping cup but when she is driking it she want to hold on to my breast! It ok sometime sometime I feel annoyed:( But it did belong to her I just have weaned her off on that to:))
Just be patient take big and deap breath tell the baby you have a boo boo and it hurts:) Im sure he would know what a boo boo is:))) Im sure he would understant I did it with mine:)) It is a little tiny wipsy lie! But it wont hurt to try:)
Best wishes
A.
I breast feed until my daughter was 13 months old. I know people say not to do this but I got her used to a bottle putting half breast milk and half cows milk to get her used to the milk. I weaned slowly and then she exclusivly took the bottle. Now she is 17 months old and is almost off the bottle, (her choice) I give her a choice of a bottle or a sippy cup next to each other and she chooses. I think that my daughter was not ready to give up the sucking so the bottle was the best transition for us. Ever baby is different, just do what makes the baby and you the happiest and don't rush it.
I think that its great that you nursed so long there are not many of us anymore but its the best for mom and baby. :-)
Good luck, hope this helps.
E., and Madylin
I'm having this exact same problem! I have tried eliminating one session at a time and some days it works and other days he is hysterical until he can nurse. I plan to continue the nursing, but would also like to have the flexibility of him drinking from a cup.
I didn't really have problems with my son but I stopped nursing when he turned 15 months, by choice. I started to wean him gradually by cutting one feed and so on until I was nursing only before bedtime. And, by then, I could tell that he didn't really need it anymore. But if I were you, I would try to give him a bottle instead of a sippy cup if he already takes the bottle. You may try to give him breast milk in a sippy cup too or bottle if he still refuses the bottle. The key, is to be persistent and he will at one point take the sippy cup. My son refused to take the sippy cup until he was around 14 months but did take the bottle. Good luck.
