My 11 week old daughter won't take a bottle.

Krystal - posted on 03/10/2009

some people have to try tons of bottles/nipples before baby finds one they like. keep trying them all!

i had to trick my son into taking a bottle. i would nurse him for a few minutes and then when he would stop sucking i would quickly break the latch (don't just pull him off - ouch!) and put the bottle into his mouth. don't move him out of the nursing position. In the beginning he would only take 2 sips and then cry for the breast again but eventually he took the bottle with no problem. i know most babies seem to not take bottles for Mommy but for us he had to be comfortable with the bottle from me before he would let Daddy feed him. 

good luck!

User - posted on 03/10/2009

My son is 6 and a half months old now and I am having the same problem.  I have tried about 5 different bottles and 4 different nipples.  The only type of nipple that my son took for the 2 weeks that he would take the bottle was the orthopedic nipples but now he refuses to take bottle at all.  Have you tried pumping and putting the breast milk in the bottle?  That is the only thing that I can tell you.  My mom told me that I may have to quit nuring him cold turkey so that is another option/.  Babies will never let themselves starve.  That is all I can tell you ,   good luck!!

Suzanne - posted on 03/10/2009

My daughter did this....but at 4 months...it was very frustrating for me because I had to go back to work...There is light at the end of the tunnel as my daughter took about 2 weeks to take it :) Also, she probably wont fight you when you take away the bottle at 12 monhts. My daughter didnt even notice (yay!) Your daughter will get the hang of the bottle (she will realize, if I suck on this bottle thing, then my tummy wont hurt anymore...oooh!)....Just try to hang in there!

Get someone else to give her the bottle when you are out of the room...Have this person (who knows how to give a bottle), hold her facing out with the bottle in her mouth, and try having the person walk a little around the room or rock in the chair....it takes some coordination at first but its easy...something about the motion of walking is relaxing...We tried playtex drops in and she eventually took those...She WILL get the hang of the bottle, they all do!!

Kimberly - posted on 03/10/2009

My son has always had a huge preference for nursing and hated bottles. But I had supply issues (from an old surgery) and had to supplement him with formula for his first 3 or 4 months. He hated every single bottle feeding, it seems. Eventually, I was making enough milk and so I just quit the bottle supplements altogether. But then my hubs wanted to start giving the baby a bottle before bed at night. So we started that when he was maybe 5 months or so and he just took right to it and has never had a problem again! It's weird, but I guess he grew out of his bottle hatred, or he got more comfortable knowing that I wasn't trying to take the breast away altogether... The only reason I shared this rambling story with you is that maybe your daughter will grow out of her bottle phobia...? (I know that doesn't help in the short term) Oh, one other thing, though. I always tried on PURPOSE to use bottles that were not shaped like a breast, because I didn't want my son to develop a preference for the bottles when we had to give them to him. So if you've been trying all the wide base nipple bottles, you might want to try the skinnier "old-fashioned" style (I like the Evenflo glass bottles, but have heard they are not so good for breastmilk...?) nipple and see if that is acceptable to her...

Angela - posted on 03/10/2009

I don't know which bottles you have tried so far, but I know that the Avent bottles more resemble the breast and so do the Playtex nursers.

Silla - posted on 03/10/2009

I am having the same problem now with my 6 month old. But a friend told me to try the NUK orthodontic brand bottles. They are shaped more like a breast! I sure hope I can fix this too, it's so hard to just even go to the movies because I am worried about him eating!