[mh21]

I'm currently nursing my second child who is almost one year's old. My problem is how to wean since he dislikes the bottle and sippy cup. He drinks small quantities of liquid through a straw but it's not as efficient as a bottle.

I really need some advice on what to do.

Thanks!

[SwirlyGirly]

My kids were both older when I weaned them so I never had this problem. I know friends who were worried for the same reason and they all said that once their babies realized that the breast was gone, they adapted quickly to accepting a sippy cup.

[merika]

I weaned my kid when he was older than a year...I just started giving him a cup during daytime. At night time he would like to snuggle, so I would lay him down on the bed same as when I fed him, and give him a bottle instead. By that time he didn't really want the bottle or the breast, it was just my presence he liked.

Maybe you could try to get him used to a bottle by feeding him different liquids he might like the taste of. I don't think breast milk alone is enough to keep him hydrated at 1 year, so try giving him orange juice or other kinds of fruit juice in a bottle, so he associates the bottle with something that tastes nice.

On a different note: I once went to pick my son up from a play date, and found my son's friend's little brother who was about a 15 months old running around with a bottle in his mouth filled with soda! I must have looked horrified because his mother said "I'm just trying to make him not breastfeed". It seemed to be a giant leap from breast milk straight to soda!

[mh21]

Originally Posted by SwirlyGirly

My kids were both older when I weaned them so I never had this problem. I know friends who were worried for the same reason and they all said that once their babies realized that the breast was gone, they adapted quickly to accepting a sippy cup.

Can I ask whether you or your friends just stopped breastfeeding completely or whether you replaced a feeding with the cup/bottle until all the feedings were at the cup/bottle? KWIM?

[mh21]

Originally Posted by merika

I weaned my kid when he was older than a year...I just started giving him a cup during daytime. At night time he would like to snuggle, so I would lay him down on the bed same as when I fed him, and give him a bottle instead. By that time he didn't really want the bottle or the breast, it was just my presence he liked.

Maybe you could try to get him used to a bottle by feeding him different liquids he might like the taste of. I don't think breast milk alone is enough to keep him hydrated at 1 year, so try giving him orange juice or other kinds of fruit juice in a bottle, so he associates the bottle with something that tastes nice.

On a different note: I once went to pick my son up from a play date, and found my son's friend's little brother who was about a 15 months old running around with a bottle in his mouth filled with soda! I must have looked horrified because his mother said "I'm just trying to make him not breastfeed". It seemed to be a giant leap from breast milk straight to soda!

Well that's the thing I've tried apple juice and water in the sippy cup and bottle, but he still refuses. I've had more success with him drinking from a straw but the flow is a little too much for him to handle. I think he just loves the security and feelings of being held in my arms and fed hence he refuses the sippy cup and bottle. My son takes sips of water in between feedings, but he doesn't glug anything down.

Breast milk to soda is too large a leap. I am very disapproving!

[Swanky Mama Of Three]

Drop one nursing /week and just be VERY, VERY consistent and offer whatever he LOVES in a sippy cup at every meal and all day long. He'll get it, it may take 2 weeks, but he'll get it.
If he prefers straw sippys, that's even better, straw sippys are BEST for speech development.

How many nursings do you do now?

[mh21]

Originally Posted by Swanky Mama Of Three

Drop one nursing /week and just be VERY, VERY consistent and offer whatever he LOVES in a sippy cup at every meal and all day long. He'll get it, it may take 2 weeks, but he'll get it.
If he prefers straw sippys, that's even better, straw sippys are BEST for speech development.

How many nursings do you do now?

I nurse 6 or 7 times during the day and twice during the night (I haven't sleep trained him or withdrawn nighttime feedings). During the day he only feeds on one side (he started this very early on). The only time he consistently feeds on both sides is just before he goes to bed and the first time he wakes up at night.

The straw is the only thing he accepts but I think the flow is a bit too much. Sometimes he coughs after he has swallowed or the fluid dribbles out of his mouth. I just bought some disposable straw cups for him and the packaging says it's meant for 18+ month babies.

[Swanky Mama Of Three]

try the ones that aren't disposable, the valve in them should slow the flow.
That's a lot of nursing for that age, you should easily be able to drop at least one I'd think.
Is there a feeding you'd like to drop or that would easily be dropped?

[Quinn's Mom]

I had the same issue with DD not liking the sippy cup (she rarely had a bottle when she was under 1).

Here's what worked for us.

I pumped and gave her the breast milk in the cup. That way she still had the taste of the breast milk so it wasn't a complete "loss of mommy"

Gradually I dropped nursing before meals. The easiest to do was lunch. I would just hand her a sippy cup. She played with it more than anything. When she would put it to her mouth, then I would tip it up so she could tasste the breastmilk. Try and find a sippy cup with a soft spout. I liked Gerbers. They can chew on it and play with it a bit more than theharp sippy cups.

Once she accepted the breastmilk from the sippy cup regularly ( took about a week and a half). I then switched to whole milk.

It's a step by step process. Don't try to replace mommy milk and nursing in one step....First replace the nursing, then the mommy milk..

And wean gradually...it can take a month or two...

[mh21]

Originally Posted by Swanky Mama Of Three

try the ones that aren't disposable, the valve in them should slow the flow.
That's a lot of nursing for that age, you should easily be able to drop at least one I'd think.
Is there a feeding you'd like to drop or that would easily be dropped?

I have two non-disposables. A Playtex straw cup with a valve but the flow is still fast, and a Gerber one where the flow is too slow and you have to suck really hard (I tried it myself).

Yes he still feeds a lot for his age. Since he only feeds on one breast at a feeding he feeds more frequently. If he fed from both in one go he would only be feeding four times per day.

He is going to be one in a few days and then I'll introduce cows milk. I'll start with dropping his feeding he has at breakfast. Ideally I would like his breastfeedings at breakfast, lunch and dinner all to be replaced with cows milk. That would free up so much time for me and also speed up meal time. It would also make eating out easier too.

[mh21]

Originally Posted by Quinn's Mom

I had the same issue with DD not liking the sippy cup (she rarely had a bottle when she was under 1).

Here's what worked for us.

I pumped and gave her the breast milk in the cup. That way she still had the taste of the breast milk so it wasn't a complete "loss of mommy"

Gradually I dropped nursing before meals. The easiest to do was lunch. I would just hand her a sippy cup. She played with it more than anything. When she would put it to her mouth, then I would tip it up so she could tasste the breastmilk. Try and find a sippy cup with a soft spout. I liked Gerbers. They can chew on it and play with it a bit more than theharp sippy cups.

Once she accepted the breastmilk from the sippy cup regularly ( took about a week and a half). I then switched to whole milk.

It's a step by step process. Don't try to replace mommy milk and nursing in one step....First replace the nursing, then the mommy milk..

And wean gradually...it can take a month or two...

It takes that long?! I never had these issues with my first born. He was mixed fed so he knew how to drink from the bottle. Then around 7 months he wanted to wean himself.

I bought an Avent hand pump when my second son was born but only used it twice because I just couldn't get much milk out. I didn't have the technique. So it's sitting in the cupboard and I don't feel like renting one (cost issues), but I know what you are suggesting will make the transition easier.

I think I'll just do it the hard way and replace the first feed of the day with cows milk and once he accepts that replace lunch then dinner with cows milk too.

I don't know why but I'm feeling really anxious!

[Swanky Mama Of Three]

^^I agree about the eating out
How much table food is he on now?

Just keep on w/ the sippy, he'll get it/self adjust to the flow soon.

[mh21]

Originally Posted by Swanky Mama Of Three

^^I agree about the eating out
How much table food is he on now?

Just keep on w/ the sippy, he'll get it/self adjust to the flow soon.

I haven't really measured the amount of food he eats. He eats a mix of table food and baby food, and he eats about 5 times a day, plus he likes to nibble at what we're eating.

His favourite foods are tortilla bread, cottage cheese, banana and my homemade quick breads.

[Swanky Mama Of Three]

the reason I ask about table food is babies should be on formula or breastmilk until they're MAINLY on table food, otherwise they don't get nearly enough vitamins and minerals.
I wouldn't switch to cow's milk until he's on almost all table foods.

[mh21]

Originally Posted by Swanky Mama Of Three

the reason I ask about table food is babies should be on formula or breastmilk until they're MAINLY on table food, otherwise they don't get nearly enough vitamins and minerals.
I wouldn't switch to cow's milk until he's on almost all table foods.

That's very interesting Swanky, thank you for taking the time to respond. Today was my son's 12 month check up and somehow my son was booked to see the nurse practitioner instead of his usual physician. My son's weight has now dropped to the ninth percentile, but height and head circumference are fine. Anyway, so I tell the NP my son is virtually exclusively breastfed (plus eating a mix of table foods and baby foods) and she told me he isn't getting much nutritionally from breast milk and that he needs to eat more to gain weight! I kind of felt sheepish at this advice, because it made me feel like an inadequate mother half starving my baby. It's not like I don't feed my son, but after a while he stops eating (like any child) and wants to be topped up with breast milk. So I told the NP my older son was thin too and wouldn't eat much (he developed a hearty appetite after hitting age two) but is now a 38 lb three and a half year old. So the NP orders some lab work for my one year old to find out why he isn't gaining that much.

My three year old was tall and skinny at one year's old, but his physician never ordered any blood work to find out why, and now he is fine. I'm thinking may be the NP is being overly cautious.