My little girl is 8 months old. I have been nursing her, but she has had bottles all along as well. I previously weaned her from day time feedings when I returned to work in April (I am a teacher). Over the summer, I began breastfeeding her more frequently again as I was home. Now I am trying to wean her from the day time feedings to prepare for the coming school year, and I have also had to start taking medication which I can't nurse with. She is REFUSING the bottle from me. She will go for the whole day without having a bottle, and have tantrums until I give her the breast. She is getting dehydrated. She will sometimes take the bottle from my husband, but he is not home in the day time. The screaming tantrums have me at the end of my rope. Any advice??? How do I wean her.... when she is with me, she wants to bresastfeed.
I would try a sippy cup. My oldest son didn't want a bottle after weaning (about 8 1/2 mos.) It will be something different and may help make the transition easier for her. She may have more interest in something "new."
What about trying sippy cups. She may be more willing to try something different than going back to the bottle.
General rule of thumb here is to have another caretaker continue to give the bottles until she is used to them again. You could also decide that you are going to nurse only x times per day or at specific times during the day so that she understands that she isn't always going to get to nurse with you. This schedule of feeding (reinforcement of her nursing behavior) is going to be the most confusing for her, though. Getting what you want some of the time when you ask for it will make you ask for it all the time to increase the chances of getting it. You could pump milk and bottle feed that all the time.
Hi S.M.
Contact your local La Leche League consultant at:
Hope this helps. Good luck. D.
.
How exhausting! My lil stinker was the same way...they really know what they want, eh? lol
Best advice I got? In a sentence, when you are weaning, DON'T SIT DOWN (this "assumes the position" and your dd will want to nurse). Seriously, it seems simple, but it was the best peice of advice I got! Oh, and I second the sippy cup idea. :)
don't worry about her getting dehydrated. I talked to my doctor because I was trying to wean my girl and she didn't like to drink anything...the doctor told me that your body is designed to not want you to dehydrate, so don't worry about it, if she is thirsty enough she'll drink.....the doctor told me to just give her lots of juicy fruits like peaches and watermelon....
I have always heard that if you want to wean to do it gradually. Replacing 1 feeding per week till you are weaned. Otherwise you run the risk of clogged ducts or mastitis.
Regarding the medication, have you checked on LactMed to verify that you indeed cannot nurse while on it? Here is the website to check, http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT. I have seen myself, and heard that many times doctors have incorrect information on breastfeeding and medications. Lactmed.com has a list of tested and approved medications that can be used while breastfeeding.
The reason that she will not take a bottle from you is that she can smell your milk. Its like being offered store bought cookies while having fresh homemade cookies wavied under your nose. She WILL take a bottle when you go back to work. She will not let herself starve. You really don't have to press the issue right now.
Does she take a bottle when some else has her? If she does then I wouldn't worry about weaning her. She will nurse when you are there and will take a bottle from someone else when you are not there. My advice enjoy this last month nursing her as much as you can and not fighting with her.
