Breastmilk in Sippy Cup??

[Pearl1]

Hi mamas,

I need some opinions/thoughts/advice:

I am still breastfeeding my 9-mo daughter. Since she was 12 weeks old, I have been working full-time. I leave a bottle of breastmilk for mid-morning, I go home to bf at lunchtime, and I leave another bottle of breastmilk for mid-afternoon. She's always taken the bottle okay, but has never been terribly fond of it: she only takes ~3 oz from the bottle, saving most of her feeding for in-person breastfeeding (which has been fine with me).

Her solid food intake has really picked up in the last month and my babysitter has started reporting that she is refusing her bottles. She eats fine otherwise (fruits, veggies, water, nursing when I am home), but just doesn't seem interested in the bottle any more.

Today I got a message from my babysitter that she put the breastmilk in a sippy cup and baby loved it. That kinda freaked me out for some reason...I guess I don't want her to think she can get breastmilk so easily and start refusing the breast, where she has to work so much harder.

What do ya'll think? Is breastmilk in a sippy cup okay? I have a ton of pumped milk stored, so should I just be happy she is getting it some way??

Thanks in advance,

Sarah

[texmati]

I think if you are ok with possible spills, there should be nothing wrong with bm in a sippy. Have you seen a disinterest in the breast with the refusing of bottles?

[Pearl1]

Thanks for your feedback! Yes, she's definitely nursing less during the day now than she was even a month ago. She's on the verge of walking and just cant seem to sit/lie still enough to nurse anymore! On days I'm home, I try to offer the breast frequently (and always before giving her solid food), but the nursing sessions are shorter because her lower half is trying to crawl/walk away, even when her top half is nursing! She is still a champion nurser in the evenings and at night.

Sigh...I'm just not ready for such a decrease in our breastfeeding relationship!

Thanks again,

Sarah

[Ruthla]

She's likely to pick up the nursing again when she's mastered walking. Co-sleeping and nursing at night is a good way to maintain the nursing relationship with a busy toddler.

I don't see how it could be a problem to get ebm in a sippy cup instead of a bottle- it's a time when you're not available to nurse anyway, and it's better if she fills up on breastmilk instead of over-eating solids.

I just did a double-take on your signature line- I thought you were pg with twins and I was wondering if maybe your milk supply is declining. But I see that it's your wife who's pg, so that's not affecting your body or your milk supply at all, although you are likely to have the usual sibling effect of "my baby sibling is nursing so I want to nurse again too" when the babies are born.