Need Help Transitioning from Breastfeeding

Hi C.,
i remember those days! Kudos to you for exclusively breastfeeding, I did the same with all three kids. Just keep giving her the sippy cup at every meal, show her over and over, it just takes a little while! Stick with the sippy cup, NOT a bottle, at this point you won't want to deal with weaning from a bottle! And if you intend to breastfeed for the entire year which is reccomended, you are more than half way! Good luck mom, you are doing great!

The best thing for your baby is breast feeding. Nurse as long as you possibly can!!! 7 months is WAY to early to stop in my opinion. Most of my children were 12 months old when I transitioned to a bottle, then sippy cup. My youngest was even older. Just enjoy it! The nursing and baby years will come and go so quickly!!

C.

Congrats for you for nursing this long!! I nursed my son for 13 months and he rarely ever got a bottle (unless we had a sitter or daycare). But as far as a sippy cup, just keep offering her it everyday, with every meal. I was very dissappointed at first too when my son wouldnt drink out of it, but we moved from nursing to drinking milk out of a sippy pretty good. Try a few different types of cups (gerber makes a lot), try ones with handles and ones without, just keep doing it and she will pick it up when she is ready. It took my son awhile. Now I use sippy cups when were out and the cups that just have a sippiy type lid (tupperware makes them), I use for meals so he gets used to a real cup and when the cup is almost empty, I take the lid off and let him drink (spill) the rest of the milk on his own.
SO just keep at it, you know she is on her own schedule so when she is ready just makes sure you have it there for her.

Good Luck, hope this helps.

My son was 11 months old before he figured out how a sippy cup worked. We tried 5 different types from when he was 6 months old and they were just toys for him. The Nubby sippy cup was the first one he was able to drink out of, but now just 4 weeks later he's a pro with all the sippy cups we bought for him.

My girls are two now I they still don't do sippy cups very well. I'm still giving them a bottle at nap time and bed time. I'd keep pushing the bottle, if she's hungry enough she'll drink it.

I also watch a 6 month old during the day and when she went back to work after 3 months she gave me this kid that had never taken a bottle. The first day was hell but I would just hold her firmly and put the nipple in her mouth and she eventually got it.

I was just in your shoes a few onths ago. I tried transitioning at 7 months as well, unfortunately it didin't work for me until 9 months. I rec'd great advice from everyone about trying different bottles, having my husband do it instead of me , we tried it all. In the end it was a timing issue, 7 months was just too early in terms of my son's development to do the sippy cup, and he WOULD NOT take a bottle.
Some things that helped me stay sane are...

1. Nuby sippy cups, they may have more dripping problems but they are definetly the easiest for them to use.

2. If at first you don't succed, try 2-3 days later.

3. I finally got my son to do the sippy cup by adding chocolate flavored carnation instant breakfast to the formula...it smelled and tasted pretty good actually. Of course then it took me 3 weeks to wean him off the chocolate..but it was well worth it.

GOOD LUCK!

Our first was just like this, except we didn't have a choice about a bottle. I had lost my milk and I was desperate to get her to take a bottle. I tried all sorts of things. The thing that finally worked for us was we found a nipple that matched her pacifier. She took a nook pacifier so we gave her a nuk bottle nipple (same material, rubber for rubber, silicone for silicone) and that was the end of the prob. Our second, using the same trick, didn't take nuks, she took soothies, and we started to use soothie bottles and we didn't have any trouble transitioning her. Anyway, hope this helps!

Transitioning takes consistency. You should give your little one a sippy with 2 handles on it. They seem to work better for transitioning. If you are trying to give the sippy in place of one feeding everyday, keep doing so for that same feeding. Eventually she will understand that the sippy is providing the milk.

I have 4 children and my youngest daughter just turned 7 months on the 15th.

HTH & Enjoy your week!

S.

I don't know if you are transitioning her off breastmilk, or just want her to take a bottle of breastmilk while you get some mommy time.

My son does take a bottle at daycare, and we lucked out with him taking the first bottle we gave him. I would try a few others IF you want to go to the bottle. If you want to go straight to a sippy cup, you will most likely need to assist her - as at 1 my son still needs the help to get the cup tipped up enough. I bought about 6 different kinds and they all seemed like toys to my son.

Have you tried drinking out of the sippy cup? I tried one of my son's and my gosh! I could only get a few drops out. It makes them suck abnormally hard. The BornFree (I found it at Whole Foods), flows more naturally without drowning them. and I think it will be easier to transition to a normal cup.

That one seemed to click. We still only have water in it, so he can get used to it without wasting milk, but my sister just shipped up more, and tomorrow night my husband is going to try the sippy cup with milk while I am out. If he doesn't drink, he will be fine (and so will she). Dad may have a crabby baby, but if they are hungry enough, they will take it. If they aren't, then they will be okay till the next feeding.

Make sure that you take that time for yourself.

I think the biggest key is introducing it young. Since you're past that, it's going to be a lot harder. Our second never took anything until 11 mos. when he took an open cup. He also liked Avent cups and Nuby cups with soft spouts. Our third took a bottle until 4 mos and then didn't have one for a while. At 7 mos., she started to loose weight, so we had to start giving her formula. She refused a bottle. The cup she was the most receptive to was the Avent trainer cups, so we've stuck with those. We've offered it for 3 meals a day for the last 3 months. She finally took her first drink the other day. She still won't take enough to replace a feeding, but we're headed in the right direction. Sometimes it's easier to just go to an open cup, but your little one is probably a little young for that. GL! I like the suggestion of matching the pacifier. I think I'll be stopping at Babies 'R Us today to try that!

I would keep trying with the sippy cup. Definitely try one with 2 handles. Eventually they stop playing with it and drink. My daughter decided she was done nursing and 6 1/2 months and wouldn't take a bottle. I tried a sippy cup without valve first, because she wasn't strong enough to suck through the valve. But then you have to help her hold it, because it will spill. Eventually she learned how to hold it and suck through the valve. Not having to be bothered with bottles was nice. I wasn't excited about having to buy formula, but my milk all but dried up after she stopped, even with pumping. Good luck!

We had this same problem with son #1 and honestly, it took a lot of time to straighten out. Our pediatrician warned us to start a bottle early so we wouldn't have the problem you describe but we didn't do it and it was a huge issue. The only thing that worked was time and the Nuby sippy cup. You can get them at Walmart, Target, wherever. They have a soft, silicon "nipple" that he liked much better than the hard nipples on the other sippy cups. Just keep trying, try not to get frustrated, fill a sippy cup with a bit of juice and the rest water and let her play with it. She WILL get it but it may take some time. My son transitioned to a regular cup by 12 months but by then he was also using a sippy cup. He's 26 months now and does fine with both. Good luck! PS: Next child, start giving them a bottle by 1 month for a feeding a day and it will never be an issue.

The best advice I was ever given was to give my daughter one bottle day stating at 3 weeks even though I breastfed full time, but you are of course way past that option...

You will see that if you give your daughter a real cup, even with water, is will go everywhere! Sippy cup is really your only choice. For now I would just keep giving her a sippy cup with water every day. I had one in all my daughters play areas, high chair, diaper bag ect... we used it all the time and she loves it. She is 11 months and ready for real milk soon and I can see how setting her up with the sippy cups this whole time, will help the transition.
But be warned that even with the sippy cup they tend to drool it out or spit it out everywhere- especially if she sucks too much in. My daughters shirt is usually water soaked :) So you might have milky shirts.
Another option is to just keep trying the bottle. It may take time, but not sure you have any other choice.

The good thing is you are close to getting to the age where your little one will start to eat more and more food and give your body a rest. My daughter was eating big people food around 8-9 months and hasn't stopped since. So make sure you don't wait too long to start introducing her to all those new food textures.

Good Luck

My son and daughter both would not take a bottle. I tried much harder with my daughter at first, but pumping and then feeding her was just too much work considering that I work from home too. She is now 11 months old and will not take a bottle at all. I understand the desire for a little freedom. First, now that your daughter can eat more solids you can extend time between feedings a bit more. That will give you a little bit of freedom.
My daughter will take a sippie cup now -- but at 7 months she just played with them. Make sure you get one that has a soft top at first (that worked with my son as well). Then when she gets more teeth or starts just chewing on them you can move to one that has a harder top.
And finally, cherish the time you have to breastfeed your baby. They grow up way too fast and soon you'll have more freedom from her than you want.