BFing beyond one year - bottles or sippy when I am not with DS?

[deborah_r]

DS still nurses about 4-6 times per day. And he is pretty dependent on nursing before going down for the night. Tuesday night was our first "girl's night out" with my playgroup mommies (we had a BLAST!), and when I got home my spirits were immediately dampened by a very cranky DH who bitched at me about how DS wanted to nurse and there was nothing DH could do for him. It was enough to make me want to just make sure I am always with DS until we stop nursing. :(

So I'm thinking I should work on getting DS back to drinking EBM in some form, but since he drinks juice/water in a sippy, is it regressing to go back to a bottle for EBM? I thought I would use a sippy, but I'm thinking before bed he might find the similarity of the bottle nipple to my breast to be more comforting than a sippy.

He won't really drink cow's milk yet, but if he does start, would that really work as a substitute before bed on rare occasions, if he is still used to nursing every night? Or would I need to switch to always giving him cow's milk before bed and not nursing before bed.

I'm so confused. We are talking about maybe ONE night a month here.

[kaitlinsmommy]

Oh Deborah, I can relate. DD drinks plenty of cow's milk from a sippy but hasn't had a bottle in ages. And I do MNO once a month and always experience the same welcome when I get home. I can't give any advice, really, but think it would help if my dh was in charge of K's bedtime once in awhile. Maybe a bottle or sippy would work when you are gone but maybe not if you are always the one giving them. That's just my 2 cents.

I'm working on weaning since I'm going to Palm Springs with a gf in 2 months & think it's important my dh gets into the routine with her before I go.

Good luck! And I'm glad you had fun with the girls.

[Momof3Labs]

Deborah, in our case, we would use a bottle at the pre-naptime and pre-bedtime feedings when I was gone, but that's what Colin was used to getting all along (I work away from home one day a week, and have since Colin was 4 months old, and get home after bedtime on those days). Though when Colin starting rejecting the bottle around 15 months, DH used a sippy at those times quite successfully. And after we moved Colin to lactose-free milk, DH used that at bedtime and naptime instead of EBM, even though I would nurse Colin at those times when I was home.

So I think that the bottom line is there is no right or wrong answer in general, so do what works best for you, DH and DS! But I agree that getting DH more involved in bedtime on a more regular basis might be a good idea - once a month isn't very often, and will make it more stressful for both of them.

[gisele]

My son in 14 months old and is still getting bottles of EBM when I'm working although his doctor wants him to use a sippy cup. I nurse him at home esp before bed and in the morning. Recently I had to go on a business trip for 4 nights. DS got a bottle of EBM instead of nursing before bedtime. Basically, husbands need to find another way of getting him to sleep other than the breast. After the bottle, my husband paces with our son over his shoulder in a dark room and does a number of things to calm him. It is harder for them than you and me who have the breast, but they can do it. Plus, it's good for your son to have other ways of calming him before bed if you are not around. My son also takes cows milk in a bottle. He drinks water out of a sippy, but doesn't like to drink milk out of it. I've been trying to get him used to milk in a sippy at mealtimes.

Oh, and don't let you DH's crankiness get you down. Mommies deserve a night out too and Daddies also need to learn to get the little one to bed. It's probably at least twice as hard to get my DS to sleep without the breast for my husband, but he knows that I've been there for DS nursing all the time, pumping milk, etc. Don't let your DH off the hook!