At what age did you start to phase out the bottle all together? We started with a morning, after lunch and after dinner, have dropped the middle one and are in the process of dropping the morning one. I was just wondering what age other people started/finished doing this?

does anyone know of a good bottle/cup for a toddler that says leakproof, and be leak proof? all the bottles/cups i have tried, all say they are leak proof , but a few days later they start leaking.

I bottle feed my daughter & have right from the start.  I was given all the right information & I still chose to bottle feed.

My  4 month old is a happy, healthy baby who is doing all the things she is supposed to at her age.

She has had one little cold in her short little life & that is it so far.  My sister breastfeed both her kids & they constantly have colds despite living on a farm.

I breastfeed my 8yr old for 10 days & hated every minute of it.  He is a smart, healthy boy.

I'm sick of reading all the breast is best blogs & articles so I wrote this. I am also very close to both my children & just because I'm not breastfeeding doesnt mean I miss out on special cuddles with my daughter.

Sorry,had to get that out of my system.

Cheers Dee

Miss Caitlin is now on one bottle of milk and one bottle of formula a day and going really well. She is getting really squirmy though and at night would rather run around with her bottle rather than cuddle which is a little upsetting!
But we are keeping her on formula for the extra added nutrients at the moment and will just keep deciding if we are going to continue at the end of each tin of formula.
Hope everyone is going well!

ok.  So now Acacia is mostly bottle fed.  Unfortunately, due to her being such a rubber neck, she has given me up in favour of a quicker feed and therefore more time with her sisters.  Not entirely happy about it, but this little girl knows what she wants.  Got to do what is right by her.  And hasn't she just stacked on the weight! lol.  She is suddenly over 5kg.  And such a happy little monster, who now dribbles her bottle all over me.  hehehehe.  At least I'm not the only one coping it now.

Well, Acacia is looking for a bottle at about 3pm these days, even if she has just been on me!  Cheeky monkey!  It does mean she is sleeping better in the afternoon and she is not constantly in my arms.

Oh, and of course, she gets daddy time!  Oh well, shouldn't really mind, but sometimes I want to have the snuggle time with her.  And the time on the couch with my feet up!

Laurel is almost totally of the bottle, maybe one or two a day.  Usually at night to help her sleep, or is she needs an arvo nap.  She did give up the dummy though, a while back now!  Thank goodness too!  Got sick of the famous dummy hunt!

That the bottle feeds Acacia is having are helping the feeds I give her.  she is less figety and actually feeds better.  She also loves the time she spends with her dad.  Poor little mite, by the end of the day she is sick of me! Don't know if I should laugh or cry! lol.

I tried to breastfeed with my first 3, and didn't quite make it.  They ended up being on formula, which, while not exactly what we had planned on, was just as good as tugging at my boob all day.  It meant greater freedom for me and my partner was able to spend time with his little girls.  He did the over night feeds too. lol.

Now, #4 is 1/2 and 1/2.  She gets 2 formula (sometimes mixed) feeds a day.  That's fine.  Daddy once again gets to feed her and she settles better over night.  sick of me I guess. 

I know, I probably shouldn't be here, but I too had to bottle feed.  I think that there can be too much force against bottle feeding and I certainly think that whatever is going to keep the weight piling on and bubs happy is better than nothing.  Mine have no allergies or any of the things they say comes from formula, so it can't be all that big a problem.  They are just as happy and healthy ( in some cases more so) than a B/F baby.

Yeah, washing bottles is a pain.  But a microwave is a blessing.  No more tubs of solution on the bench for little fingers to pull over, and yes, they have done it too me before.

Ok, so bottle is my second choice, but I think us mums who have no choice, or chose to go with the bottle, are just a special and good at being mothers as those who don't.  Hey, they don't get sore nipples for starters!  Something I was greatful for with the other 3 and still suffering with #4.  Oh well, Daddy's about to give her the afternoon feed.  He loves it and I'm sure she does to.

If you don't think I should be in this group, send me a raspberry!  I won't stay if I am in breach of your code. lol.  Just have had to take the so called easy road too.

Hey guys,
                  here's a great link to some info I found on bottle feeding. Hopefully it's useful for some,

happy feeding,

www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Bottle_feeding_with_formula

fi xoxoxo

I just thought I would blurt out my story and hope it helps someone. Our little roo latched on to the breast pretty much straight away. My Mum who had been a trained nurse,midwife and of course mum,had encouraged me to toughen up my nipples,with witch hazel,as she was aware of the problems of first time breast feeding. After five day's I had blisters on both nipples. I showed the midwife but she said that was very common and that I should keep going, it will subside soon. She recomended nipple guards. So with nipple guards on I set too with teeth firmly clentched. Roo would not latch. Tried different makes,still no latch. My Mum who was staying with us,suddenly took ill and was whisked off to Hospital,shouting, remember whats best for mum is best for baby,you have choices. Four day's later I started to bleed,the midwife was not concerned and gave me some lame advise about using one breast only for a day or two. Now I'm bleeding from both breasts and feeling really sore and angry. So I am at home alone,hubby is working away for a couple of days,Mum is in hospital and Im not allowed to visit, because of the type of ward she was on, (Bowels). So I hop next door, drop bub off and head to the super market. I stand in front of the baby bottles and burst out crying. Howling in fact. A lovely lady comes over and puts her arm round me and asks what the matter is. I Explain that I have come to buy milk and bottles but know realise I dont know what is what. She gave a little laugh and explained about formula and what her daughter's used.We picked SMA Gold and told me to buy a couple of different bottles,just incase,bub had difficulty with the teat type.We pick out steriliser and all the cleaning tools. I paid for them and she came home with me and showed me how to get started. There are some real live angels in this world. I went next door to get Roo who was demanding food and she gobbled her first bottle and I swear she smiled. The next day I went to the docs,who had a complete fit. Both breasts had become infected and I needed anti-biotics. She had harsh words with the mid wife. Later that day,the family was called to the hospital.My mum was dying and she only had weeks, they were flying her home,the next day. I literally lost my milk that night,boom gone not a drop. So we got the bottles just in time,as I would have had nothing to feed Roo that night and the shops would have been closed. My Mum believed I had made the right decision and so did I. Also the great thing was that my Mum got to feed her first Granchild a few times before she died. It also meant I could spend time in the Hospice with mum and leave Roo insafe hands at home,when it became too much for her to have baby around. I also ended up bleeding and infected with Piglet. I tried to breast feed and that is it.No guilt no justifying,you just go with what is best for mum and bub.Happy mum happy bub.Happy bub happy mum.

Hi guys,
              I was just reading another members blog about breast feeding (yep, AGAIN) and just wanted to add that while breast feeding is the "natural choice" it's not the ONLY choice. Life is all about choice not only parenthood and we all have the right to choose what is right for us. Sorry everyone, just needed to get that off my chest..... or should I say bottle lol!!!!!

Happy bottle feeding everyone,

fi xoxo

We were at Mums Group last week and one of the other mums has a 5 month old as well as a 2 year old, her 2 year old was breastfed until he was 9 months old and she's currently feeding the 5 month old. Anyway, we were sitting there and she asked me how Leannika was sleeping, so I told her that most nights she goes down at around 10:30 and sleeps through until 5:30 - 7:00 (it has been nearly 8:00 the last couple of mornings!), and she turned around and said "You bitch (jokingly)! Oh well, I know that if I put Mitchell on the bottle he would sleep all the way through too, but I want to breastfeed him for as long as I can." I felt like saying "Hang on, your two year old didn't start sleeping through when you put him on the bottle and he still doesn't, so what makes you think Mitchell will?" The way I see it I'm just lucky to have a baby that sleeps through and all babies are different. Bottle fed babies might sleep a bit better but there's no guarantees!! I think I should have been the one calling her the bitch because she is able to breastfeed therefore she saves a lot more money than me and doesn't have to spend half her time sterilising bottles!!

Also, the same woman got an abses (sp?) in her boob when the baby was a bit younger and the baby wasn't feeding properly but she was determined to breastfeed him because she did her first and because of this he wasn't feeding properly and his weight dropped off the chart in their clinic books . And I know that if she bottle fed him that it probably wouldn't have happened because we go to the same clinic and the clinic nurse and I were talking about it one day about how small the baby still was and she said "yes, but she' determined to breastfeed." Why can't some people just see that yes, breastmilk might be best but sometimes breastfeeding isn't? I think we should put the health and wellbeing of the child ahead of whether they are breast or bottle fed!

My girl just turned one so we decided to try her on the 12month formula. But when we did she started suffering serverly from wind. I tried to burp her after her bottle as per usual but after a few days she got really bad and that was the only thing that had changed.

it is the same brand as we usually use. Does anyone know the reason for this? I have gone back to the level 2 formula for the time being but am unsure about what to do as she doesnt like cows milk either.

Any help Minti's??

I can post this in the Q&A section but I thought I'd start here first. My son (6 weeks old) has been taking a bottle since week 2 and still gulps and takes in a lot of air. We've tried so many bottles and with no difference. One of the reasons we ended up bottle feeding was because he couldn't latch on to me, so I'm thinking maybe this is also causing a problem at the bottle. We were hoping it would work out as he got older but it seems that all the air he takes in causes him to have a lot of gas. Does anyone have any advice or had a similar situation?

hi guys,
              was flipping through this weeks New Idea and came across an article about breastfeeding. One comment really stood out to me and I thought I would share it with you all.

Quote" Breast is ideal of course, but in some situations the human body isn't able to adequately breastfeed he says, with reasons for this including the breast milk has dried up, the baby is screaming out of hunger, the baby can't latch on or expressing at work is difficult. This can be exhausting and demoralising Dr Pecoraro continues. In one case, I had a patient who wound up in intensive care with secticaemia (blood poisioning) and two breast abscesses because she was made to feel so guilty about not breastfeeding' (from the new idea article "New body").

Food for thought................... if we support rather than condemn then situations like the one Dr Pecororaro described may not even have to occur.

cheers everyone,

fi xxoxoxo

Similar to what other people when through with attempting to breastfeed, I went through two weeks of misery trying to breastfeed my baby boy. Everyone kept telling me, "what you are experiencing is normal." Well it wasn't. Getting Mason and I together was like trying to put two puzzle pieces together that were from different puzzles. His tongue is anterior and tight so he had a poor latch and an extremely high palette. This was compounded by how large I had become with the milk and everything. I became tight and flat so he couldn't get me into his month where he needed to get food. When we did get latched he really hurt me, we've not be nursing for about 2 weeks now and I"m still sore. Then with the cracking he had caused I got and infection and couldn't even produce enough for him to eat so I started pumping basically around the clock because the consultants said I needed to. It was ridiculous and frustrating for everyone involved. Finally I came to the decision that we should move to formula because while I was trying to do what's "best" for my baby I really wasn't because I couldn't spend time with him due to the pumping. We are much happier and he's still as healthy as can be, I still believe breast milk is best from a physical point of view but there are so many other aspects that have to be considered. Thanks for creating this group because it is hard to find support for formula feeding. Good luck to all!

Hi everyone.  I began breastfeeding my baby boy but after 2 days I knew something was wrong. I tried telling midwives, doctors, child health nurses everyone that I had very little milk and my son was hungry. He cried and cried during and after feeds, chewing his tiny hands in frustration. But they insisted I keep feeding its about supply and demand. The demand was there but no supply! I tried and tried but it was no use. He was hungry and getting upset that very little was coming out, I was upset that I felt like I was failing my baby. We started supplementing with formula and the midwives hit the roof! You must not give him a bottle to supplement keep breastfeeding they demanded. I could not see how if there was very little breastmilk to begin with, how hourly feeding was going to rectify that. Finally when he was 4 weeks I said to my husband we're putting him on formula I dont have enough to feed him. My husband was raised on formula and was supportive whichever way I went. We put bubby onto formula and he has been happy ever since. A happy bubby is a happy mummy!

Our three week old girl is on Karicare Gold. I was hoping to breastfeed her as our son was only breastfed for a week, but I did express for a month after that before he was exclusively on the same formula as our daughter. She's a little chomper and made me so sore within two days that I couldn't take it any more and now both her and I are a lot happier and the rate that she drinks I wouldn't have any boobs left if I was feeding her lol!

We are currently using similac advance. The blue container, it is just their regular milk based formula. Madison is going to be 9 months old on July 30th. I was wondering if at this point I should switch her to the older babies formula of similac, it is for babies 9-18 months or something like that. Does anyone know the difference, and and I have to have her off the bottle by 1 year or is it better to wait? Thanks.

My daughter is 17.5 months old and we stopped buying formula a few months ago, but then I found I was still going through a 3 litre bottle of milk every 2 days if not more and at over $3- a bottle it mounts up so I gound the payless Full Cream Powdered milk which is about $7 and bought that.  One bag lasts us nearly a month which is soooo much cheaper than both formula and bottled milk and Bub cant seem to tell the difference.  I just pour it into an old formula can and use their scoop.  During day time (still has day time sleeps with a bottle) I do 200 ml with 2 formula scoops of powdered milk and for the night time I add 3 scoops.  Just thought if you were into saving some money it has worked very well for us.

by the way, thank you for the invite I like this group already xo