Will not take a bottle...I feel trapped

My 7m old wont take EBM from a bottle.....
I have been trying persistantly for 2 months and it just is not getting anywhere! I have even tried formula when I started solids thinking she may be more likely to take milk that isn't my milk (IYKWIM)
I'm hoping she will just drink it straight from a sippy cup or cup now I have started giving her water as well during the day.

Any other tricks etc I can try as I am feeling really trapped that I can't go and leave her for anymore than 4-5 hours and she is almost 8months old.
I have also tried other people try to feed her and that doesn't work either......;-(

Why not try a sippy or straw cup instead? They're like toys with milk benefits.
Can you plan half-day breaks away? If she's drinking adn eating other things then you probably can leaver her longer - she'll make up the milk feeds when you're back.

have you tried giving the EBM to her in a sippy cup? - my DD initially didnt like EBM from a bottle so i tried a sippy cup (she was 8.5months) and she took it fine. then one day my DH gave her a bottle of EBM which she took? so not sure what happened but the sippy cup worked first before the bottle did!

Your predicament is identical to one of my friends.
She tried everything you have mentioned and as a final resort, went to Tresillian's for a visit which resulted in bottle feeding.

Wishing you all the best :hug:

Sorry to thread hijack - at what age can they try a sippy cup? Another non-bottle drinker here...

My bub is the same! She will drink water from a number of different containers, but just rejects EBM. I keep offering (DH too), but no success. DH is meant to be looking after DD on Saturday whilst i work, but it is looking more like he will be bringing her up to me for feeds.

CharlieBrown what is Tresillian's?

OceanPrincess she is 7 and a half months and she is just starting to master the sippy cup so I am going to put EBM in it very soon and see what happens!

Lucky I am not at work so its not a major issue but I have a couple of things coming up at night that I don't think I can go to till after 7.30pm when she has her last feed. I reckon she will be hard to feed out of anything other than my boob at bedtime feed as she gets so snuggly and tired and seems to use it as comfort too..

Ughhhh so frustrating cos you know BF is the best thing to do but gosh it can kinda trap you!

Sorry, Tresillian is a NSW organisation...'Family Care Centre' that is a parenting and sleep clinic.

In terms of parenting it prodominately leans on the 'control crying' scale of parenting techniques. However, my friends that have been found the assistance from the midwives positive and encouraging in terms of gaining confidence in their parenting.

I googled 'Tresillian Victoria' and I came across a link on the Tresillian website listing other state contacts.

DD2 is 10.5mths and still wont take EBM, i am going to try a cup with a straw and see how she goes.
At night she is fed to sleep and she doesn't take a dummy so it's hard to leave her with anyone, now she's having 3 solid meals a day plus snacks i am thinking i can work in a chance to slip away during the day, she can have food & water and then a feed when i'm home....

Will be watching for more ideas in case she wont take it.

My DS was fed to sleep but we were still able to go out ocasionally and leave him with his granma. he went to sleep for her (no ebm, wouldn't have it either). He'd often wake again just after we got home and have his milk then.

Funny how they're all so different. Ds has had ebm maybe five times and is fine with it. Have you tried different teats? And different temps?
She will be able to go to a sippy cup now no worries, I think I started ds around 6-7 months.

You can try a sippy cup from about 4months. I found the Heinz basics range quite good but the easiest option is the take and toss cups. No valves with is important. The valves require coordination and a strong sucking technique.

Magmag have good sippy spouts too. They're soft :)

Have you tried expressing and giving it to her straight away? The reason I ask is that once frozen and defrosted, the taste of EBM is different. Had a sip yourself and even you'll be able to tell. Perhaps try her on the fresh stuff and see if it helps her try it.

The work of mothering can seem never ending. It's easy to feel trapped - and this applies whichever way you feed your baby. A baby's attachement to his/her mother is strong. Many mothers of bottle feeding mothers can attest to the fact that their baby very much needs them.
Have you ever tried having anyone else put her to sleep? My babies breastfed for a long time and when I was home I always fed to sleep - it was so quick and easy. But when I wnet out (which was fairly frequently) my husband would put them to sleep without me - and it worked (well at least everyone was asleep when I got home!) Daddy may need to do things differently - lying down with baby or just cuddling them to sleep in front of the TV. Sometimes it's not the drama we think it will be.

4 months hey... Hmm... DS is over that now... Might need to look for some other sippy cup ideas, I think my Tupperware cups are would be too hard for bubs.

Leesha this was me about 3 weeks ago. I was tearing my hair out with a baby who barely slept during the day and would NOT take a bottle, not matter what was in it.

I tried several times to get him to take it, with fresh ebm, defrosted from frozen, room temp, heated up etc... nothing worked. I tried different bottles, teats etc.. When he was hungy, not hungry... you get the picture!

In the end, DH ended up kicking me out with strict instructions not to return for an hour! I went and hid at a friends place around the corner and he tried the bottle. Little brat took it first time! Drunk everything in 5mins!!!! I got a text from DH telling me ds2 had finished it and I literally cried. He then gave him a bottle about 3 more times over the space of a week, then my mum gave him a bottle one evening, then I tried one evening when dh was home to take over if need be.... and he took it!!!

I think the problem we had was that coz ds2 was smelling milk on me and I was putting something foreign in his mouth he just wasn't impressed! Take me out of the equasion and DH had success, he doesn't smell of milk! He fussed a bit the first time I gave it to him, I did it in the evening when he was tired, after a bath so he was nice and relaxed. Now he has a bottle every evening, sometimes ebm, sometimes formula and I feel fantastic! He's still boob fed through the rest of the day and even though I don't often go out without him just knowing I CAN has made the world of difference to me!

I read that you've had other people try but have you been around when this has happened? I left the house when ds2 was asleep so I think it was a case of out of sight out of mind. But I was close enough I could have been home in 2mins if needed to!

Good luck! Hope she takes ebm for you soon! :)

I don't want to highjack, but some of your replies make it sound like it so easy. My bub won't take EBM from a sippy cup or any other cup. She won't take it from me or DH or my MUm or another mate who has tried. She won't take it if i am there or away. I've left her for 5 hours and she still wouldn't take it. She is fed to sleep and just won't go to sleep without boob, even though we've tried many methods (non-cc) to try to get this happening. I have expressed and DH has tried giving it to her straight away (i wasn't in the house), tried cold, warm, hot.... cup, spoon

I am looking for suggestions, i hoping i can find something that works. But just cos you found something that worked, its not going to be the magic solution for everyone and every bub.