11 Month Old Won't Take Breastmilk or Formula from Bottle/cup/sippy

join the club! my son started using regular cup with very small diameter opening after we've tried every possible toddler drinking devices in vain. It came by accident (Sea World souvenir cup) shaped as a cone - he tried it once and was sold! Mechanical explanation - the opening is so small that unlike drinking from a regular cup there was NO danger of liquid ending up in the nose, and as exclusively breast-fed baby he did not see a need to suck from anything else, incidentally, he did not use straws for very long time as well,but would not mind to drink!
Good Luck!
V

Hi S.
Have you tried having someone else give him the sippy with milk while you go in another room? Chances are if you are there or the one giving him the cup he's going to refuse, why drink from a cup when moms boob is right there and it's so comforting??

You should also try the born free sippys if you haven't already. Get the up to 6 months nipples not the 9 + because those are hard. The younger ones are soft, my 11.5 month old prefers the soft ones.

Keep trying, one time he will decide he likes it and that will be that. My son didn't take a bottle ever but he liked the sippy by 6 months. Only water, I've never given him milk from anything but me so I don't know if he'd drink milk from it.

I feel your pain! I'm a Mom of 14 month old twin girls. Still nursing both! But now it's only a little in the am & then to sleep. They did nothing but nurse until about 12 months. They refused bottles too! It literally took MONTHS of introducing the sippy cups every day and they also just played with them at first. I think they got more interested when I'd give them cold water when we were out for walks or away from home somehow. They got used to the novelty of it after a while, so eventually, I tried the formula COLD also, and they finally started taking it. By then, it was a fun thing that they had learned to do, I think.
Good luck! It just takes time of trying again and again and one day, he'll be ready!

Go out. Start with short times, but during a feeding, and have someone else offer the cup. Don't do bottles at this point. To hard to break later. I handed my daughter a cup with water in it, and let her drink or not, but didn't offer the breast. We are still breastfeeding, she is 22 months, but I can leave for all day and she is fine. When we are together, she will often ask for booby, but I decide if she gets it or not, and she is mostly ok with that. We are down to two to three sessions a day, so that is better...
Good luck
R.

If he's nursing 4 times a day going away will just be agony for you (engorged and full after 12 hours). My last three girls all refused sippy cups but they were very open to my regular glass. I would give them water and they drank it fine. My last two kids nursed until they were 23 months, my other three had self-weaned by 14 months. So it was difficult. They did transition to sippy cups in their beds at night which was really nice since they could find those themselves :-). Some kids just never get the hang of sippy cups and the Dental Association is actually discouraging the use of them because it's causing developmental problems with jaws and teeth for what it's worth.

Your baby will only be a baby for a very short time, I know you would like to get away with your husband for a weekend but think about all the time you will have in the future when your well transitioned, confident baby will be more than ready for you to go for a while.

It sounds like you and your husband need to have some serious conversations about you getting some time to yourself and where he is with the kids. There are lots of things that you can do with your husband that don't involve running away.

Good luck

My daughter turned 15 months yesterday, and it is only today that she suddenly seems able to control the sippy cup. For the longest time she has taken too large a gulp & spits most of the liquid out, hence we have only been practicing with water. I think it takes some kids a while to get the hang of it. So I might start letting her have other liquids in her cup now. Your son might just need more time.

As for the breast feeding, the longer you can go, the healthier it is for your son. Obviously you've been doing the attentive mommy thing for a long time since you have a 3-year-old. I can imagine wanting a break. But you might have to just treat yourself to an afternoon off or an short evening break until your son is older and more ready.

The thing I miss most is the opportunity to sit with a cup of tea and read a newspaper. So that is my big outing for myself. I leave my daughter with her dad for an hour and go and sit at a cafe with a newspaper. For together time we watch videos at home or take evening walks with our daughter asleep in her stroller. I don't know if that is helpful, but maybe nice to know that other moms are right there with you.

I had the exact same issue! Several months before weaning my 12 mo. old from breastfeeding (she always hated bottles) I tried to introduce sippy cups. I tried diluted juice and plain water, but nothing seemed to work. Finally my sister gave my daughter a regular straw in a cup (plain water). She was a little hesitant at first, but once she got the hang of it, loved it! I then found a kids travel cup which is basically a sippy cup/straw cup combo. The straw can be exposed or covered, and only leaks a little when upside down. I never had to use juice, she just loves plain water!

Go away for the weekend and have the sitter do the transition if they can be trusted and are willing. Even at his tender age he understands how long to wait you out to get his way. He will make the change when he has to.

My daughter also refused milk from any other source than me. She wasn't a fan of sippy cups or bottles, so I went straight to a straw cup. That has worked really well for us. She's 2 1/2 now, and still won't drink milk ( I b/f until 2 yrs) but loves juice or water from her straw cups! Hope this helps!

My daughter breastfed until she was 15 months old buti am teacher and in spetmeber when she was 9 months old and I was going back to work i had the same dilemma. I found a sippy cup by nuby that is a straw one and it is soft like a nipple. Because she had to suck on the straw it was more like the breast and it worked for her. BUT I did not start off with milk in it. We are not juice drinkers, but I put juice ( and water) in it and first spooned her a sip of the juice and then put some around the edge of the straw to get her going. soon she was drinking fron it.
At the same time I started putting pumped breast milk in her cereal at first a mixture of milk and water until gradually it was just milk. SO she got used to the milk flavor not from breastfeeding only. then when she was good on the sippy cup and good with the cereal with milk i put the milk in the sippy cup... you might have to dilute it at first with juice and water and slowly add more milk... but try it!

It can be a tricky thing and take many different approaches or tries, but eventually your son will wean more and more or at least start getting more liquids and solids than now. Neither of my children took a bottle (3yo son, 16mo dd) and interestingly they approached sippy cups, regular milk, straws and solid foods very differently. My son couldn't use a straw for a long time, LOVED regular milk from sippy cups (though the transition to cups and sippies was gradual), and ate a lot of solids. My daughter has used a straw since she was young (maybe 6 months? only water), mostly just plays with sippies, eats solids like a bird and is a very social eater, but absolutely hates regular milk, no matter how it's given to her (except a little in milk or to dip graham crackers into). So, I just want to remind you that each child is different. They all do things in their own way and own time.
As much as you want to get away with your hubby, easing your children into different life changes is so important. It sounds like you've been doing a great job being there for your children so far and I understand your desire for breaks. But, I have to agree with a few other moms who suggested taking smaller, more realistic breaks for now until your son is in a different phase, can be away from you for awhile without feeling abandoned and eat and drink from another caregiver without issues. For now, you could do weekly date nights or do more family activities where you find time to be with your husband more, even with the children still around.
It may take a few months more, but remember this is just another phase! While you're in a tough time, it's hard to see that. Think about what you want in the long run. In a year from now, you'll look back and hardly remember how difficult this issue felt, but you'll remember how you approached the situation and if you are pleased with the decision you made.
I hope this made sense and helped at least some.
~N.

This sounds a little like my son who is now 14-months-old. He was breastfed for a year. He didn't like to drink anything out of a sippy cup at 10-11 months but also would drink some water out of a regular cup. The cups that seem to work the best for us were the First Years Take and Toss sippy cups because of the wider spout (I notice when he drinks from it, it looks like he still "latches" onto it the way he did when he nursed). It took some time before he actually got around to drinking from a cup but I guess it wasn't until my supply started to diminish at about 11 months is when he started to ease more into drinking out of a sippy cup. As I started to wean him, I would increase offering the sippy cup from twice a day, to three to four times a day. He would nurse at night and first thing in the morning until he turned 1. Not sure if my response helps but it's what worked for us. Just had to be consistent. Good luck and hopefully your son will eventually be drinking out of the cup soon enough. :)

By all means--go out for an evening!!! If your son is stubborn he is stubborn. But I had a terrific pediatrician whose advice was "They will eat/drink when they are hungry." Her daughter went the better part of week drinking very little after she was weaned. It's OK. Really. And by a year and after they should be drinking a lot less anyway and eating a lot more solid food--that is what they are made to eat in the long run. Give yourself a break.

Sounds like my son who is also 11 months old! I just went through this! Anyhow, I haven't read all your other replies so I apologize if this is duplicate. I think I tried just about every sippy cup on the market- the ones with soft spouts, straws, handles, etc. and every liquid we could. My son thought they were fun to hold but he definitely did not drink out of them! What finally worked---get this-- is MY sports top water bottle. He has fun holding it a little and I squirt a little into his mouth. After a few days of doing this he grasped the sucking concept and he now takes full swigs of water out of it. Yes, full swigs! I'm trying to find a smaller size one for him so he can do it all by himself. The only drawback of the sports top is it will be messy if he turns it wrong side up. But it's a start, right?

Hi Sarah, To me it sounds like he is getting enough food and opportunity to drink from a cup. I would encourage you to keep nursing him...well at least during the morning and evening feedings. It is just a short time longer...and it is so good for him. If you are looking for freedom, a dinner out or an outing out. I would just leave him with food and drinks in a cup (try a regular cup and see how he does with that). he will be fine...especially if it is only for a 3-4 hours. You can feed him once you get back! I would imagine that if you cut your feeding sessions back to just morning and night, you might feel a lot more free to come and go. he will be fine if you were to even leave for all day. I would just make sure that he is left with foods that contain a lot of fluids in them...even things like jello, fruit...and of course he will figure out that if he is thirsty, he will drink from the cup. I would wait for a few more months before you schedule a weekend away. But, I would go ahead and schedule one...so you and hubby have something to look forward to. If you gradually cut out his feedings if you are ready to wein, then I would cut out one feeding over a 10 day period....and when you get to the point of going on your trip, be sure to leave him with someone who is willing to listen to him fuss and cry it out. That is what I had to do with my second baby....I had to leave him for a weekend so he could learn to take a bottle! He was 11 months....in hind sight, i am still sad that I couldnt continue nursing him. I was told that I couldnt be on the birthcontrol pill and still be nursing him. What those stupid nurses never told me was that my milk production would go away naturally! They just told me that I couldnt nurse...and my son didnt know how to take a bottle and couldnt drink from a sippy cup. Your son will be fine, if you wein him gradually...he will feel the need to start to want to drink things from the cup. At this point, he doesnt feel the need to drink much liquid because you are still providing him with what he needs.
Best of luck with your endeavor...
T.

Dear S.,
My second son was that way...but even worse...he refused solid food at all and would only nurse until about 14 months. Then I got him onto graham crackers, milk and scrambled eggs and he ended up with eccema (sp?) all over his face and behind the ears and had to take him off eggs, milk and flour. They can be very stubborn...if he really is you might want to get Dr. Dobson's Strong Willed Child to know how to handle him. He didn't write it until my son was 4 and I wished I had had it earlier... This too will pass and I am sorry you feel trapped. Do you get to the park or gym in a parent and baby program? Or do you have a friend that has little ones that you can have visit and go to her house once or twice a week. Some adult companionship really helps the "trapped" feeling...which I know I had too.
God's blessings on you two beautiful boys! I am boy prejudice...have three:)
Harrie

Our daughter never toke a bottle and at 13 1/2 months still breastfeeds but not as much during the day.
The trick. My husband's. Not mine.
Up to this we had been trying show her how to use a straw. One nice hot afternoon my daughter and husband were out alone together and he decided to get a milk shake and share it with his daughter. It was a thick shake so he brought the liquid all the way to the top and talked her in to suck it the rest of the way.
While I was not pleased with the sugar. She now takes milk(cows) from sippy cup with straw attached. (little hard to clean.)
Good luck. This just happened to us 3 weeks ago

He's close enough to 1 year that you can start giving him the whole cow's milk, teach him to make chocolate milk then lesson the chocolate after time he won't care.
also just help him to have drinks with a regular cup or a straw so that he can see the liquid. Once he is off the breast and is use to the cup taste and feel he will be more open to sippy's or whatever you want, but don't go to the bottle. He doesn't need as much milk anyway just replace the breast with snacks and table food. He well train himself to drink more once your boob is not around. Good luck! J.