breastfed baby won't take bottle. please help

Michelle - posted on 05/23/2010

I agree with Lerin . Anything you ad to breast milk is going to alter the flavor .

I would most definitely seperate the 2 . Try to stick with the syringe method and have someone else give him his meds , and you breast feed him. Once he starts associating you with the yummy good stuff and no longer fussing , then start giving him his meds via syringe .

I was always told it is better to not use the bottle method for meds . Diluting it with other liquids , you don't know how much he is getting if he refuses it due to taste . My Ped always said use a syringe or one of those pacifier type med despensers .

Good luck !

Lerin - posted on 05/23/2010

Also something else I thought of, if the medicine has any taste to it at all, mixed with the expressed milk in the bottle is possibly what's causing him to refuse the bottle, b/c he associates it with the taste of the medicine and not just the way your milk tastes. Maybe you just need to keep medicine and bottles seperated completely now that he's older and more aware. And perhaps once he gets used to just having milk in the bottle, then he'll be alright with them, but at this point, he's probably confused about what's in the bottle.. kinda tastes like mom, etc, but not quite... Good Luck!

Lerin - posted on 05/23/2010

I recommend Avent as well. How old is he? You say you will be returning to work in a few months- maybe by then he would drink out of a sippy cup?
As far as the meds go, my daughter hasn't always been on something, but was sick alot in her first few months, and we tried everything- sometimes she would take one of the medicine dispensing pacifiers, and sometimes not. The syringe method is my preferred choice. Yeah, they get mad, but you can squirt little bits at a time into the back of their mouths and have less chance of them spitting it back out b/c you can control the amount & aim.
Also as far as bottle feeding goes in general- if he knows (by sight, sound or smell) that you are around, then he's going to refuse b/c he'd rather have you and he knows that you're there. So maybe get hubby or Gran to offer a bottle when you're on a short excursion and have them offer it before he gets so hungry that he's fussy.

Jessi - posted on 05/23/2010

I would try the playtex ventaire bottles with the nipples that are shaped like the breast plus they curve upward to prevent gas

Nicole - posted on 05/23/2010

i believe its the playtex bottles with the slip in insert....has helped with babies who wont switch or are fussy about it....its somethin with the nipple of the bottle i believe

Sarah - posted on 05/23/2010

hey there i was in the same boat as you for 4 months exept the pill thing, my son apsaloutly refused the bottle it drove me insane, i could never go out i tried the tommee tippee bottles and nope nothing i tried nuk, johnsons ect. a friend of my suggested the avent bottles from the chemist i bought a little one they look like an ordinary bottle but some how bub finds them very diffrent, so i tried that and at first he'd push it out of his mouth with his tongue, i tried bouncing him while he drank and walking around but nothing seemed to work but strangly when i walked past the tv he got very consintrated with that and just started to drink lol or i put him under the lights and he watchs them whilst feeding, plus the avent bottles are anti colic good-luck and i hope my advice helped you