How do I get my exclusively breast-fed baby onto bottles?

Jackie - posted on 11/13/2009

To Angela: Thank you for the advice, but most of the Breastfeeding safe BC (pills, Shots, Etc) are Progesterone Only and I had severe mood swings and depression from the Pro. Only meds. The combo meds, while not Breastfeeding Safe, are less likely to send me into Spirals of Depression and endanger my children.

Update To All: I'm not sure why, but my son took to Soy-Based formula this afternoon and drank 2- 4oz bottles happily. Wish me luck with this continuing. Thank you all for your help

Angella - posted on 11/12/2009

The only suggestion that I can give is to get another type of birth control. If you talk to your gynecologist and tell her/him that you would like to keep breast feeding but you need a birth control that wont hurt your baby. They will give you one. I took a breastfeeding safe pill after I had my daughter. Good luck!

Laurie - posted on 11/12/2009

What I did was I gave my baby both bottle and breast... Try switching through every feeding, first breast than the next feeding do the bottle and eventually your baby will get it. Good Luck!

Jackie - posted on 11/12/2009

He has taken a bottle Twice. This was a week ago when he stayed over at his grandmother's so my guy and I could have a night out. She said he screamed for a long time, drank maybe 2 ounces and fussed himself to sleep both times. When I picked him up I ended up being trapped for nearly an hour while he made up for all of the food he'd missed over a 12 hour period.

Melody - posted on 11/12/2009

Look into fertility awareness. It is a very flexible method of birth control, and I promise you it is very effective if you follow the rules.

Amber - posted on 11/12/2009

Oh and I second the ladies who said maybe try different BC The paraguard IUD has no hormones. And really after it is in you don't think much about it. I have had an IUD after all my pregnancy's. I will never do another form of BC.

Amber - posted on 11/12/2009

Good luck with that. My son would NEVER take a bottle. We tried every bottle we could find and nothing worked. He finally took a sippy cup at around 8 months. Though he would not drink BM out of it.

Jessica - posted on 11/12/2009

Breastflow Bottles by The First Years are a good start, and begin by leaving the house completely when its bottle time. Someone else should start and he'll do better than wanting to go back to breast...too much of a tease for you to try to feed him the bottle. Good luck!

Theodora - posted on 11/12/2009

I started by introducing the bottle as a toy he could play with. It had water in it so he knew he could get something from it. And then slowly introduced it by replacing feedings during the day that were more like snacks than meals. I hope that helps.

Jackie - posted on 11/12/2009

I was on a pregesterone-only shot, but I started getting depressed soon after getting my second dose. My Doctor thinks its a matter of my body needing the estrogen to help balance things out. I discussed the IUD and the implant, but they just don't seem like something I'd be comfortable with. I'd rather have a cranky baby than risk something happening due to depression

Minnie - posted on 11/12/2009

Can you not use a form of birth control that is compatible with breastfeeding? An IUD, perhaps? A progesterone-only pill?

Jackie - posted on 11/12/2009

My Vin is 4 months old. He wont take a pacifier either. It doesn't help that my 21 month old likes to steal the bottles from him. I'll see if I can find those Sippy Cups you mentioned. Thanks!

Miranda - posted on 11/12/2009

Hi! I'm going through this with the little girl I'm a nanny for. Does your son take pacifiers? If so, try getting the medicine-dispensing kind and put the milk in there to get him to start sucking something a little less round than a breast. Of course, this may or may not work. How old is your son? If he's 6 months or up, you may want to try to get him onto soft-nippled beginner sippy cups. I can't remember the brand but they have them at Target for about 6 bucks(2 cups) and they are "sippy cups" but have soft silicone nipples. Good luck!