Thanks everyone - there's a couple of new ideas here.

PZ - I've tried that bottle - DS didn't like it (I've spent at least $300 on different kinds of bottles and teats - what a waste).

kelebek - my husband and my mother in law have both tried feeding DS when I've been out of the house - no luck.

I haven't tried a medicine cup - I have a soft (silicone?) cup with 2 handles that I've been giving him after his solid feed - with water in it (currently just lunch as we just started 2 weeks ago and he's only eating a tiny bit). He lets me put the cup in his mouth and tilt it, but he mainly chews and if liquid goes into his mouth he spits it out or he swallows it incorrectly and coughs.

On Monday, I'll have in hand a sippy cup from Ikea that I've been told has no valve so the liquid just flows...I'll also take a look in safeway and coles (the 2 chains close to us) and also see if I can remove the valves from various cups

I've tried a cup with a soft straw - the first times I used it (with water), he just chewed the straw. The next time, I filled it with formula to see what would happen - and because I mixed formula it was quite full which meant the liquid came up the straw very easily - and he cried and cried!

FlyingButter -that open cup sounds interesting (although it may not be that different than the type of cup I have already tried) - let me know if you remember the brand

I have 1 Tommy Tippee that came with one of my many bottle purchases but it has this weird spout protector that is like a flip cap (doesn't detach from the cup) and it gets in the way of DS getting the bottle in his mouth - maybe it is made for an older child?


Barb - I'll continue to try the straw and the juice box is a good idea, however I don't want him to only want sweet juice. My preference is to stick to EBM/formula/water. I wish they made a box with water in it just to get me started (but how ridiculous and non-eco would that be!). Solids are new to him...and I am, so far, the only one who has been with him during his solid feeds so far...but my carer will take that on during my work days. My main concern is peace-of-mind (mine) - I want to know he'll take a full feed from a bottle/cup/whatever - as mentioned, in 6 weeks I will be away from him for 48 hours (this is fixed and cannot be changed) and each day that goes by where he cries when an alternative is presented, I freak out.

Arcadia - now that's creative and worth a try - I'm going to get on to that - thanks!

Thanks everyone else as well. I've expressed a whole bunch of milk to practice with this weekend - I hope something works!