My baby won't take bottles or milk/formula well either! And he just turned one July 1. I am following this to see if there is any advice.

My situation is a bit different as I'm still nursing my 18 month old, but only twice a day. I weaned at night first, so for a few weeks, my husband handled night wakings because if my son wanted to nurse, I couldn't be the one trying to comfort him. Then I started spacing out the amount of time between feeds until one dropped. I work, so I weaned from pumping when he was 14 months and continued to nurse morning and bedtime from there. We just did it very gradually over months and spaced out time. Also, I would say go ahead and try a straw cup with your child and keep trying to see if your LO will take it. It took my son awhile to get used to it!

Can someone else get up with her at night? That is the only thing that worked with my son. He was waking up 2-3 times a night, and would nurse back to sleep for comfort not because he was hungry. At about 9 months, instead of me going in to get him, my husband would. After about 4 days of that he decided it wasn't worth getting up.

Have you also tried different flow sizes for the bottle nipples? She might have a preference for how fast the milk comes out. Or what are you giving her in the bottle? With my daughter, we would start with 3/4 bottle of expressed breast milk and 1/4 bottle of formula. Gradually we worked it to a full bottle of formula. And then did the same when she graduated to whole milk.

Good luck!

Oh and either way I'm sure you will want to try a bunch of sippy cups to find one that works for you. Sometimes that can be a daunting task but try to be patient.

I agree with Lizb214. There is absolutely no need to introduce a bottle. Baby also doesn't need to nurse at night - and this from someone whose babies both nursed every 2 hours through the night until 10-11 months old.

Baby doesn't need formula, or milk for that matter, if she doesn't like it. She just needs whole foods and calcium. One of my children drank milk, the other didn't. One didn't mind formula for a bit, but not long. The other wouldn't even touch it.

Night weaning is hard. There is a routine that's hard to break. My suggestion would be to keep everything the same except the feeding. For example, if there is a soft light or music, a rocking chair, things like that.

I found the book 'Bed Timing' very helpful for getting my children to go through the nights. It's about WHEN, not HOW to sleep-train.

Good luck, and I hope you get your full night's sleep soon.

There's no reason why she can't have three meals a day and breastmilk. The breastfeeding should teeter off naturally once she's getting enough of everything from food. My daughter is 10 months, has three meals (of picking and trying foods), snacks and breastfeeds six or more times a day. Just work out what works for you

I am trying to wean my 2 year old (probably over the next 6 months-1 year :yawn: )
She has only recently started sleeping through the night, but I stopped feeding her in the night as often at about 1 year because it was 5-6 x per night and now its only when she really kicks off :sad: .

I am cutting out feeds at particular times of the day e.g. 'mummy only makes milk in the morning...' etc and that seems to be working. Im sure cold turkey would work more effectively but we aren't up for that kind of torture :laugh:

I also wouldn't advise starting a bottle. Mine started using proper cups before 1 year and quickly got quite accurate with them. Much easier to clean properly! Try watered down fruit juice in a cup as well as milk and water. Baby can learn that although breastmilk tastes best, nice things can come from elsewhere too?

My daughter is 14 months and currently breastfeeds twice a day, when she wakes up in the morning and when I get home from work. It's still comfort/bonding for her and I'm not going to rush her to fully wean. I did find that once I stopped feeding her in the night, and when I stopped pumping while at work, those two changes decreased my milk supply dramatically. Even after she breastfeeds in the morning she will still go to the refrigerator to ask for milk because I just don't produce that much. As your body gradually adjusts to producing less, the baby will naturally adjust. I agree with other posters though that it's really whatever you're comfortable with, nobody else's timetable is relevant to your decision of what's best for you and your child.