Problems with changing baby from breast to bottle

[ashleasmum]

I have been trying to get my 8 month old to change from breastfeeding to bottlefeeding for over a month now with no success. I have been able to get her to take a bottle but only with breast milk or water. She flatly refuses formula. Has anyone else has a similar problem and if so what did you do?

[lil monkey]

Check out this forum for other posts on this by doing a search as there may be something from the past that may help!

When getting Tayla to go onto bottle, I would mix breastmilk with formula, probably 80/20 to start with and gradually reducing the amount of bm etc.

I found after 2 weeks of doing this, she ended up preferring the formula and not the bm!

[MissSparkle]

I had to same prob wit my lil one! Only he won't take a bottle at all! It has to be a cup and he won't drink formula so I was advised to TRY a lil bit of cows milk to see if he'd have a negative reaction which he didn't. He now only drinks cows milk from a cup and even then he won't drink a full bottle! Ive taken to hiding his milk in his food etc for brekky he has wheatbix and i use formula in that coz he doesn't notice. For dinner i mix in formula with his mashed potato, pumpkin and sweet potato so he gets nearly all his days milk in his food which means he can drink water and baby juice during the day!

[JanetF]

My son never agreed to take a bottle of ebm so I never pushed the point. I tried a few times but then never bothered. Your wee one is still way under the 2 year mark which creates optimal health so why would you want to go to the expense and fuss of feeding your child a breastmilk substitute when you're already doing a brilliant and perfect job of nourishing him? Stick with the booby and give him the best start in life! :)

[cosmic]

I was actually going to ask what is your reason for wanting to change? If it's for the convenience of someone else being able to feed her from a bottle, is there a problem with expressing? In the long run, it is better for her (and cheaper!) and since she obviously loves it, maybe stick with EBM for a while? Like I said though, I don't know your reason for wanting to change. :)

[dannii]

Hi,
i dont have any good advice to give you, but reading people's response i noticed that some people have a way of making you been bad for making a decision to change to bottle.
i also don't know the reason you wish to stop and thats none of my business, i just wanted to say that im sure you done the best you can and 8 months is a great effort anyways! :p

Do whatever you decide for you and not someone else.
Oh and good luck trying to make the change, if thats what u end up doing.

[cosmic]

Dannii, nobody is disputing that 8mths is a fantastic effort!! And I'm sorry but I get really tired of people saying that someone else is "making them feel bad". The baby will take a bottle, but she won't take formula. So I asked why not put EBM in a bottle? You're right - it's none of anybody else's business but I thought it might have been a simple solution!

[ashleasmum]

Thank you all for responding to my question. I am happy to report that I have been successful in getting my daughter to accept breastmilk mixed with formula. Thanks again.:)