Anyone completely skip bottles?

[trcy]

DS is EBF, I have not yet introduced a bottle for no other reason than I haven't gotten around to it. I know there are some sippy cups labeled for ages as young as 4 months. I see no reason why I couldn't continue to EBF for another 2 months (he currently 2 months old) and introduce a sippy at that time if I needed. Thoughts/any BTDT?

[jgenie]

Neither of my DC took a bottle. I'm a SAHM with a DH that works crazy hours and no back up so it was just me caring for them. I nursed both to 18 months. We introduced straw cups earlier than most but I can't remember at what age.

[ett]

DS2 never took the bottle. He was EBF and I was a SAHM. I tried introducing the bottle and he didn't go for it. We didn't do sippy cups either. Can't remember when we introduced straw cups but it was most definitely before age 1.

[Blue Hydrangea]

Are you a SAHM? If so, I see no reason why you couldn't try, since the sippy cup would just be for "fun" and practice. My babies all went to daycare at 3 months and needed to take a bottle while there.

[mmsmom]

I know several moms who didn't use a bottle but they EBF until a year then went to sippys. If you will always be with your DC to BF then you won't need bottles; but if you ever want to be away for a feeding then I think you would need a bottle up until 8 months or so. IME they don't drink the quantity from a straw or sippy cup they would need for a full feeding. So the cups are fine when they are older and also eating solids but when they are only eating BM or formula they probably need a bottle to get a full feeding.

[MommyAllison]

I used a bottle a handful of times combined with my 3. DD1 only took one once, at 5 weeks, then never would again, so I didn't try much with my other two. Generally I wasn't leaving them for more than 2-3 hours, so I nursed them right before leaving, and again when I got back. They were fine. :) We introduced straw cups for water at 5-6 months, solids at 6-7 months. Honestly, it was way easier for me to just nurse them than to mess with bottles, but I know that's totally ymmv!

[vludmilla]

I'm on a two year maternity leave with my 18 month old and she's never had a bottle so it can definitely work. I agree, however, that it will be difficult to be away from the baby until around 10 months or a year if you don't use bottles.

[123LuckyMom]

With DD I never used bottles. It did mean, though, that I couldn't be away from her for very long when she was little. I didn't pump with DD, so I only ever fed her from the breast. For some reason, though I had been a prolific pumper with DS, with DD, I could never get any decent amount out of pumping. It really proved to be a problem only a couple of times that I can remember. She started solids with baby led weaning at 6 months. We kept BF for a couple of years, but she could have solids with a sitter instead of BF.

[georgiegirl]

ds2 never had a bottle. I never left him for long until he was 11 months and by then he used a sippy cup. My other kids had a few bottles here and there, but they drank from sippy cups by 10 mo.

[abh5e8]

Inadvertently, twice. My boys refused them, from a very young age. It made for very miserable first days back to work for me and especially daddy at home with them. They reverse cycled, got plenty of milk when I was home and took a cup early. I did come home for lunch most days.They were both healthy, big thriving babies. (And I feed them every two hours all night long, in addtion to working all day. Not ideal :) but it worked for us.)

[sunnyside]

Neither of my children used a bottle. My youngest is 8 months and I have left her for a couple hours at a time and it hasn't been a problem. I meant to try a bottle, but never did.

[zukeypur]

We tried every brand of bottle on the market, but DD never liked them. She refused them all, and nursed exclusively until 19 months. We did introduce a sippy cup, but even that was a struggle.

[umsh]

Never used for all three kids...tried to with DDs but they refused. Didn't try with DS but he wouldn't even take a sippy...went straight from EBF to a cup...but he's always had his own way of doing things :)


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