Expert: ruth kraft - 9/18/2009

Question
my daughter is 9 months and 3 weeks she has been strickly breast fed and still will not take breast milk from a bottle or sippy cup. she has bad sleeping habbits wich is my fault , we co-sleep and she will use the breast as a pacifer wich she also will not take! i was wondering if i switched her to formula if it would fill her more at bed time and she would sleep longer she has been on the same routine since birth and has allways gone to bed at the same time . she is also teething and i know that that may contribute to the wakefull nights but she also has not been eating her solids very well she seems to be more interested in whats on my plate wich i give her little bites of. so how do i switch to formula with a cup or bottle instead of the breast? sorry so long maybe to much tmi

Answer
Hello :) you didnt give too much info , it was just right :)  Unfortunatly if you switch to formula, the issue might get worse as the formulas tend to make babies more gassy and constipated. At 9 months she can eat what you have on your plate. and it is actually better for her than the jar food. If she can chew it and gum it to swallow it then she can eat it.  She is also resisting more foods now because of her age. around this time babies start to focus more on major motor skills rather than food. so dont be suprised if this happens. However, you can still try to cut down the night nursings. they seem to be related but they arent really.

So what you need to do at night, is feed her as much as she will take at night before bed. maybe a half hour or hour before bed you can mix some expressed milk with barley cereal ( rice cereal is flavorless and no nutrition ) and then nurse her to sleep. when she wakes up for nursing next time,  hold her off and tell her the breasts ( or whatever you call nursing ) are tired and need to rest more, and dont give them to her. have your spouse cuddle her if that makes it easier. replace it with a toy or snuggle blanket etc... sometimes that doesnt work they just have to get used to not nursing. This will be your first lesson in boundaries with her. it isnt always easy, but this is where you start to teach her that she doesn't always get her way when it comes to someone elses body. Basically you are starting to wean her night feedings so you both can get more rest. stick to it... make her wait so many hours before feeding at night, she may then pick up more feeding during the day.

Co-sleeping is a wonderful thing and meets many more needs than sleeping apart. So dont think you are doing anything wrong. you are doing what is best for you and her. Breastfeeding while co sleeping even reduces the chance for sids!

I hope that helps!