I would love to breastfeed my 6-month-old girl but she refuses the breast and she loves her bottles so much. Sometimes I express milk but it’s a lot of work for me and it tires me so I give her formula most of the time. She was born with unilateral cleft lip and her palate was intact. The nurses and her paediatrician advised me to bottle-feed until she has had her surgery then I can breastfeed if I want to after she has recovered. She’s now fully recovered since she had her surgery when she was 3 months old but she doesn’t want the breast. My paediatrician advised me to just bottle-feed her if she doesn’t want to breastfeed but I want her to breastfeed. I am tired of washing bottles and boiling water and waking up in the middle of the night to mix formula. Is it too late to start breastfeeding her?
Esther Kimani Staff
It is not late and do not give up! Breastfeeding will make you and your baby bond and it gives her comfort, which helps in growth and development. Just put her to the breast when she is hungry and she will like it. When you start a child on the bottle they tend to get what we call “nipple confusion” and therefore they tend to go for the easiest and of course not the best, the bottle. I like your determination to breastfeed; it will have good results especially in her growth and development even in the future.
