Help! Want to introduce bottle at 9 months

[freckleonear]

So I am starting to hope I can stop breastfeeding soon. Now that Aaron has so many teeth it is rather uncomfortable and to be honest I'd just like to have my body back to myself again.

I know that the best way to wean off the breast is to gradually increase bottle feeds and reduce breast feeds. The problem is, we've been exclusively breastfeeding so he has no idea how to take a bottle. I tried giving him one today but he just chewed at the teat and nothing came out. He drinks water from a beaker, and I've tried giving him milk in that, but he only takes such a small amount that it wouldn't be enough.

Any ideas how I can persuade him to take a bottle? Or other ways of getting milk into him? He has only recently started eating solids and is currently having one meal a day, gradually moving up to two at the moment.

 

[smartie]

What size teat did you have on the bottle? Perhaps using a different sized one will help x

 

[freckleonear]

For today I just bought a cheap bottle from the corner shop, which said "variable flow teat". I'll buy some more when I go to town tomorrow, what size teat would you recommend?

 

[smartie]

tbh I'm not sure what size to suggest if he didnt get anything from a vari-flow. He might have more success if the teat is one of the ones that are supposed to mimic the breast. I use the tommee tippee closer to nature bottles and even though I now only breastfeed once a day my LO never had any problems going between breast and bottle.

I hope he takes to the bottle soon

 

[Margerle]

He's ready for a sippy cup. I'd not bother with a bottle, but that's just me.

 

[freckleonear]

He has a sippy cup but doesn't get much out of it, it seems like it'll take forever before he manages to get a whole milk feed out of it. Guess I can persevere with that though, I'm sure he'll learn in time. I was just kind of hoping for a quick fix!

 

[Margerle]

See if he'll take from a regular cup. sippy cups are a recent invention and though it keeps spills and messes to a minimum, a regular plastic tumbler works too Just don;t fill it as full