10 Month Old Won't Breast Feed Outside of the Home or Take a Bottle. What to Do?

Hi K., since she's 10 months I would put her on a cup, I have an 8 month old in my daycare who is on a full time cup. If she has teeth the cup would be best for her, to help her teeth stay healthy, if breast milk is an issue, you can put in a cup, she mentioned she refuses the bottle, in my opinion that's a good thing, it kind of sounds like you give her a lot of control as to what she will drink in what, even At 10 months you need to be in charge, of what she eats and drinks and how, they learn how to get things their way at such a young age, instinct will not let her go thirsty or hungry if you don't give in she will eventualy change her habits. My kids did, I bent a little, but not enough to where they were in charge.
J.

Hello, Have you tried putting the breast milk into a sippy cup? It might work. If it is just occasionally, she should be just fine. My breast fed babies weaned themselves around 10 months. I was less ready than they were. :-) So she might be getting ready for weaning. Ask your pediatrician for the best "milk" nutrition for her to transition to.
Good luck with your precious little girl.
K. K.

Release your worry and your daughter will eat when she is hungry. My daughter was distracted with the world around her at that age, too!

Hi K., You need to breastfeed at home and feed your child the baby food and water or juice that she wants. There is a normal transisition from breastfeeding and it sounds like your child is making it.
I wonder if it's just easier for you to nurse than have to be prepared now. Some children take years to change over and some less. the beauty is that you can make nursing a wonderful time of closeness and interactive connection at home. In a restaurant, at some one else's home it's not private or special, it's nourishment. Treasure the time you have now and relax. This is just the start of doing things your way and not worrying whether its "what every one else is doing?" your child is totally within normal. have fun, seldom does a child have poor nutrition in the US with an educated mom, check the USDA recommendations and increase your knowledge. It's a wonderful world!! Deb

when your daughter was growing in a few mo. you should have mxed in bottle . at 10mo. well breast feeding should stop. she has teeth and shes almst one. it she drinks juice from a sippy cup and water thats fine. maybe try to put the milk in there. if not then i guess you should have mix that too as she was growing. i tried with my daughter to introduce regular milk. just a little when shes 11mo. closer to 12. wic says not til 12mo.-1yr but if she takes that then try that once in a while. u can even mix with flavor when she older. i even gave her banana at 3mo. just to try. she took it. no problem. doc. and wic say so much to do and not to do. but try and if it's fine then u know its ok. even ask family. thats what i did. now my dtr is 7yrs. old and as a baby i had no problems.

Give her a sippy cup or straw cup. Many kids this age can and do use these drinking sources.

I would abstain from giving her juice out of a bottle otherwise a baby can get bottle-rot teeth. If continuing on with a bottle for her liquids... only use water in it... or if she takes the breast milk, but don't leave it in the crib with her or while she is asleep... this also contributes to rotten teeth.

But, try the sippy cup first. Maybe she'll take that.

Then, when you do try and nurse her outside the home... is it with a nursing apron? Someplace quiet? Someplace right in the middle of everyone? In the car? In a dressing/changing room in a store? On a bench in the mall? In a restaurant?
Perhaps, its the manner in which she is nursed?

Even if she won't take breastmilk/nurse outside the home... just keep her hydrated with water. She may learn that she will not get nursed if out. But then will marathon nurse once she gets home and make up for it then.

good luck,
Susan

Hi K.,
If you try to transition your baby to regular milk, and she doesn't like it, you'll have to mix the two together until she gets used to it. My daughter didn't like milk. The way I got her to drink it was I mixed a little bit of milk in her formula for a few days, and then I would add a little more milk and a little less formula. I did this until I no longer put formula in it.
BUT, this is not the problem you are having, she won't drink from a bottle when you are out. What about giving the breast milk in a big girl cup, sippy cup or a cup with a cool straw. Maybe she will drink it if she can learn to drink from a straw.
You'll just have to experiment with different things. Start giving it to her in the house first, then transition to out of the house so it is not so strange.
It should be a concern that she doesn't take a bottle when you are out. But, if you can give her solids and good snacks, then I wouldn't worry to much about it. Is she underweight? Is the doctor concerend? If she is growing at a normal pace, then I wouldn't worry.
Good luck!

your child wiil learn to breastfeed whenever he or she is hungry at any time trust me they will get hungry enough to eat. i have two handsome boys whobroke themselves at about 10 months at this age they are ready to start with a sippy cup. you can put the breastmilk in the sippie . It takes time to get them used to the idea talkto your pediatrician about this once they see how kewl it is to be a big kid they will love it.. use positive reinforcement just like you would when they are learning to use the potty " Good Job" , "you are such a big girl", "That is so cool " and let her know how cool she is and how proud you are of her for trying ince they figure it out you will be on your way to bigger things and the positive reinforcement is the best we do not bribe or give them the choice of getting their bottle back. at nite time we gave a sippy with water in it.

My 13 month old son doesn't always breastfeed well when we are out because of the noise. He is easily distracted and doesn't want to miss anything. Some babies also don't like having their heads covered by a nursing cover. I think as long as you aren't having those days out often where she isn't drinking a lot of breast milk, it shouldn't be a big deal. I always just give an extra feeding or two in the evening if that happens to us. The sippy cup idea that others suggested is great as well, for water and juice as well as breast milk. I wouldn't introduce cow milk yet, you don't want to mess up your own milk supply, and she still needs a lot of breast milk.

At 10 months my daughter started to refuse her daytime bottle. I work so she used to get 2 bottles of pumped milk/day, then at 7-8 months went to 1 bottle/day...and by 10mo she stopped getting milk while I was at work. We tried cows milk a few times, but she didn't seem to like it, so we stopped offering. Since she was still nursing a few times a day/night her Ped said she was getting enough milk from me...even though she no longer got any during the workday. She is now 17mo old and I nurse her in the AM, when I get home sometime between 3-5pm, before bed and then usually once or twice during the night. On weekends we sometimes sneak a pre-nap one in too. She is a happy camper with that so I don't worry about it. I think as long as she is eating solids and drinking water on days you are out, she should be OK. But if you think it's a bigger issue, consult her Ped. Feel free to contact me directly if you want to chat or just need some encouragement!

Don't worry, they make up for it later. Around 9-11 m many kids are easily distracted while nursing, it's a phase that will pass. Keep up the great work.