Hi all,

I would like to move from BF to FF now LO is 6 months but she won't let me... refuses milk froma bottle or beaker though will drink water from beaker. Any tips please?

Should I just refuse to BF until she drinks formula or is that too harsh?

I've never had any experience with this as LO is still breastfed but I wouldn't advice just refusing to BF, I think it could be a little traumatic for your baby and therefore yourself.
Have you maybe tried expressing some breast milk and offering that in a bottle to start with to ease the transition? As it would be a familiar taste he/she may take to the bottle easier. You could then maybe start mixing breast milk with formula changing the amount of each slowly until you are just giving formula.

I don't know if it would work but that's all I can think of

Are you trying to feed her from the beaker or bottle yourself, or is someone else doing it? She may associate you with breast feeding and wonder what is going on, but she may take the bottle from your OH when you're not around.

I haven't tried this myself but i've heard other people say it works.

Have you posted in ff? There will be ladies who have already done the switch there...

My friend did this when her boy was 6mths and initially he wouldn't take a bottle either. She used the baby whisperer method (I think) and her oh offered the bottle every hour until he took it - with no boob bei offered in the interim. They stayed at her parents to do so though as she knew it would be traumatic. It took one weekend i think. Maybe not how I would choose to do it, but each to their own

http://www.breastfeeding.com/reading...me_gently.html

Incase you are not aware current advice is 'exclusively' breastfeed until 6 months, but feed at a minimum until 2 years with solids.

Wow, this has left me speechless! I am a breastfeeder and absolutely believe that bfing is best for baby. However, some people want or need to move on from breastfeeding for all sorts of reasons. I clicked on the link and gobsmacked to read a poem about weaning baby gently, followed underneath by all sorts of sensationalist comments.... I didn't read any further, but - this is clearly a pro-bfing website and as prev. said, I breastfeed but am not feeling comfortable with this at all!

Also, the OP has said her LO is 6 months, so surely she has absolutely given baby the best start possible? I would personally want to breastfeed as long as my DS wants to, but unfortunately (for him and me) the reality of life and finances means I have to return to work when he is 7months old. I will be unable to express milk whilst working, so he will have to take formula. I also have the same prob in that he now completely refuses a bottle, so for the last 2 weeks I have just given him a break from trying this. This weekend I'm going to start trying again with various bottles and beakers, and just keep persevering!

I also don't want to leave him to cry and cry until he's so hungry he has to take a bottle, so my worst case scenario when back at work is giving breastfeeds through the night and in the morning, and if he refuses milk in the day so just has a lot of milky food to boost his milk intake. I want to add that I have been very anxious about this, combined with the thought of returning to work. So to OP, you're not alone and ignore links to websites like the one given above. I certainly feel godawful about it enough without added pressure. Good luck my dear, and if you crack it let me in on your secret!!! Xxx

I didnt read the comments just the poem. I thought it was a nice way of saying not to go cold turkey but do it gently one feed at a time.

People stop for all sorts of reasons. However some people think they have to stop at 6 months for no reason and this is what ff ads market/play on. So I was just making the OP aware if there is no reason to stop then there is nothing wrong with carrying on.

That's completely fair enough, sorry I did go off on one a bit oops . I do agree witb the not going cold turkey bit, as said in my post... hubby thinks this is the only way to get Ds onto bottles but I'm really not happy about doing that, it"s not fair on either baby or me. Also of course peeps should def be made more aware that bfing can carry on as long as they want to. It's shame that circumstances like mine means bfing is cut short. For anyobe that feeds up to age 2 and beyond, that's amazing!!

My LO completely refused formula and I was in a complete panic as I have to go back to work and I tried expressing on a KIT day and it was just horrendous and the freezer broke so my entire milk stash had to go - I was gutted!!!!!
What finally worked for us was the sippy cup but you said you tried that.
When I was making up her purees etc I would use formula milk rather than breast to get her used to the taste that way too.
Def get someone else to try and give it away from you. It was a battle but she takes her formula beautifully for anyone now and still loves her morning and evening breast feeds!
Hope you can get it sorted xxx