Wont take the bottle!

I have about 4 weeks until I have to put my (now) 4 month old into child care 2dpw, and I'm trying to get him to feed from a bottle to get used to it.

I didn't worry about this too much until now, as he had to have some expressed milk in the hospital when he was born, and DH has fed him from a bottle once before (quite early), and he seemed to take it no problem. But now, he absolutely REFUSES.

I've tried :

- not doing it myself, but getting DH to try.
- giving him half a BF first, so that he is not TOO hungry
- different positions, including on our lap facing away from us
- two different bottles, the medela ones (that come with the pump) and the Tommee Tippee ones that are supposed to look/feel like your nipple.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'm really starting to stress as putting him in child care is going to be hard enough without having to stress about the fact that he might not EAT!

Thanks

MJ went through a stage where she stopped taking the bottle of EBM, we found that it was the flow rate of the nipple. Possibly the bottle that your baby had was the right flow earlier on, but now needs a faster flow?

Worth a try... i was very stressed about the whole thing too, i think that MJ picked up on that too which didnt help.
I also found that it was better if i have been out for a while, like go out shopping or something and get someone else (like your DH) to do the bottle while you are out... MJ knew i was still there and when she was relearning to take the bottle she wouldnt have a barr of it if i was in the house.

I HTH, it can be quite a worry :hug: but rest assured your baby will not starve himself and if he does refuse at CC they will be use to it and have other stratgies to help.

:hug:

tanyah... hate to say it but bub might not EVER take a bottle.
It is a lot harder to get them to take abottle at this late stage (rather than introducing in the early weeks).

DD NEVER took a bottle. we tried all types of teats, flows, bottles etc... spent a forturne! then She went straight to a spouted cup at 7 months (we tried a bottle for months but nothing!!!) this was the only other thing she would drink from...

have you tryed anything else. A bottle is not the only answer? A cup even?

I'm going through the same thing now. My 3 month old ds wouldn't take the bottle . He had the bottle once when he was 2 week's old and he was fine. Then I haven't worried about doing it again since . I've got a wedding next weekend and I want my mum to babysit so I've been expressing. I've done a couple of trial runs and he won't take it. Over a hour of screaming every time:wall:. I was using the Avent one which he didn't like. So I thought to try a different one just a supermarket one , he didn't take that one. I thought it's probably the teat so i bought a Nuk one with a wider teat rather then a skinny teat. He seems to take it better but he doesn't like it and it takes me over a hour to feed him because he mucks around chewing it. It normally only takes me to feed him 15mins by breast so it's very frustrating:wall:. But you just need to persist and I think the hungrier they are the more likely they'll drink it. Maybe try different types of teats to see what works for them and make sure it's the right flow teat for your bub goodluck:)

Don't give up hope. My DD#2 refused a bottle too. In fact, she refused 9 different bottles, all with different flow rates on the teats. We tried everything - different temperatures, different people, different times of day, before a BF, after, during. You name it, we tried it. Got to the point that the only thing left was me literally not feeding her at all - I was told by Ngala and paediatrician that no baby will starve itself and WILL take a bottle when they're hungry. After 18.5 hours I syringed formula into my DD's mouth because she hadn't read the same books she had! We were in hospital for a couple of days and every nurse came and took her to try with one of those "you're obviously doing something wrong, I"ll show you" looks. Each one came back expressing disbelief and admiration at my daughter's will power. She wanted booby and that was that.

Your baby WILL take a bottle. Eventually. My DD at 4.5 months decided she'd had enough of the fight and had made her point, and started taking bottles from me for no apparent reason. Nothing had changed. She is now fully bottle fed. The bottles that worked for us were a Nuk bottle first, and then a Pidgeon. She still will not take any other bottle. The Nuk is a bit of a pain because she chomps it shut a lot of the time. Pidgeon is definitely the most successful. Keep trying, and try all the different things like feeding positions, different people, different times.

Good luck. It is so incredibly worrying when there is a real need to get your baby onto a bottle.

We've been going through this for months now... Tried from early days but has only ever taken 1... I have purchased EVERY type and style of bottle i can find and nothing. I have tried sippy cups, spouts, straw type teats and actual straw cups...


I am contemplating a trip into work to extend my ML til the full 12 months.

I feel your pain! My DS flat out refuses as well. I have tried different bottles (even bought an Adiri one that is supposed to be like a boob, cost $25), sippy cups, straw cups, normal cups...nothing has worked...he just wants boob!!
I left him with a baby sitter last week and ended up getting a phone call to come home, Jack screamed for over an hour and just would not drink from the bottle. As soon as I got home he fed fine from the boob.
Jack drank fine from a bottle a few times when he was a few weeks old, but I dont think he will do it again!
Sorry that I haven't been any help, just want you to know you are not alone.

By the way, I have a freezer full of EBM if anyone wants it, LOL.

A few suggestions - keep trying lots is the main thing!

Try lying him on the floor on a cushion, and lying down next to him. He has to make a "kissy mouth" for bottle drinking - so keep the bottle further forward in his mouth than you would put a nipple. Don't let him get too grumpy - put 20ml EBM in the bottle and try for 10 minutes and then go back to the boob. Keep trying a couple of times a day for a few weeks and he will hopefully get the idea. Can you get him sucking on your finger and then swap it for the bottle?
At this stage his tongue thrust reflex is pretty strong - so his automatic reaction is "get that plastic thing out of here".
good luck - it took us a couple of months to get to the point where he will take a bottle from someone else and drink 100ml (and he was a bottle fed bub for the first month or so....)

If your bub really really doesn't like a teat, maybe a small cup (medicine cup or shot glass) could be an option. Medela also make the "Soft Cup Feeder" that attaches to a bottle and delivers small amounts of milk that is managable for bub...maybe an ABA breastfeeding counsellor would know more about these as they are specially for bubs who have breastfeeding difficulties, and to avoid nipple confusion and then enable subsequent successful breastfeeding. They are pricey but might be easier for a child care worker to deal with? (link to look at them is Soft Cup Feeder)
All the best - my son was exactly the same and it ended up being too traumatic for all of us, so I decided not to return the casual work I was considering.

I also feel your pain, my DS never took a bottle and still doesn't to this day!
Made returning to work very stressful..
Lucky for me though he now drinks from a sippy cup but only when I'm not around, other than that it's booby or nothing!
I hope you get something sorted soon.
xxx