Bottle Refusal, Returning to Work & Water Intake

[jsst]

Short story

We've just started weaning with my 6 month old daughter, after breastfeeding from birth with the odd expressed bottle. We're also trying to get her to return to a regular bottle after a short break, as I'll be going back to work shortly. She's almost consistently refusing the bottle, leaving me worried if she is/will get enough liquids. Question - can she get enough liquids from me breastfeeding when I'm with her, to last 9 hours when I'm away at work.

Long story

My daughter breast fed from birth. She regularly took a bottle of expressed milk roughly once weekly until about a month ago. She was always enthusiastic feeding from the bottle and would even cry when the bottle was taken away. For various reasons, we missed out on a regular bottle feed for a few weeks (3 or 4 weeks).

We started weaning her about a week ago. At the same time, we tried to give her a bottle of expressed milk as I was away for a couple of hours. She refused that bottle, and has basically done so with every bottle since. She'll cry like shes hungry but won't take it. Occasionally she'll give in and have a sip but then go back to crying.

We've tried a lot of tricks. Changed teats, tried a beaker. Tried when she's hungry, tried when she's not. Tried with me in the room, tried with me away. Tried cup, tried spoon, tried water. Tried forcing the issue, tried letting her play.

But, at the moment, she's lying on the floor laughing with her dad, despite having had basically no liquids since a bottle/breast feed this morning (so 7 hours without any serious fluid intake). She does not look like a seriously dehydrated baby!

My concern is that when I go back to work, I'll be away for about 9 hours per day. If she refuses to take any other liquids, will she be OK until I get back? Anyone any similar experiences.

 

[PurpleIvy44]

I understand your fear and situation. They say that the baby won't starve themselves but at 7 mos she's probably on some form of baby food too so it's not just milk. I would see if her caregivers can get her to drink for them. I would think she would be upset if she didn't get fluids regularly over a period of time.

My DD has refused a bottle since 4 weeks old and she just turned 5 mos. We stopped trying to get her to take one when she was about 3.5 mos old. Some babies never take it, some, like yours, take it then stop. Who knows why but it's so frustrating. I'm blessed that I work 3 minutes from her daycare so I go and nurse her twice a day but if I wasn't that close I really don't know what I would have done. Her pediatrician said she's heard of some cases, like yours, where they go all day with out milk and then they're up all night nursing making up for what they lacked during the day. I got a few sippy cups that I'm waiting to try and see if she'll use. She needs to be a little bit older but I would just keep trying and maybe being in a totally different environment will help make her want to use them again.

 

[noon_child]

Will she drink other fluids with her food?