Transition from breast to bottle

Jennifer - posted on 11/19/2009

Thanks for all for your advise. Kalina is 4 months and 2 weeks now. I will try having her dad giving her the bottle and I guess I'll see what will happens. Thanks again

Caithlin - posted on 11/12/2009

Try having someone else give her the bottle and go to a different room or even leave the house. My daughter will only take the adiri bottle and every baby is different...I know other people whose babies only take the first year's breast flow bottle. It has a double nipple so it works like a breast, it might help. Also make sure the milk is warm when you give her the bottle. You could also try to see if warming the nipple helps. Slow flow nipples could help too. Dont be worried if she will only take a few once out of the bottle at a time because she is probably only tiding herself over til she can get on the breast.

Rebecca - posted on 11/12/2009

It all takes time. Every baby and mother are different. What works for one may or may not work for another. lol I use to hate hearing that when I had or have questions. The truth is that is exactly right. I just like to hear from everyone so that i may get ideas and I would and will try it all til I find something that will work for us. You are already a great mom and everything will work so try not to get too frustrated. You will find something that Will Work.

Rebecca - posted on 11/12/2009

I went back to work part time when my little guy, Jackson was 8 weeks old. I pumped so that my mom or husband ( the only two I would leave my son with..lol) could cont. to feed him. I found that the soothie bottles worked best. In fact that was alomost the only type he would take. He would not take the bottle from me. When I was with him he would only have milk from the breast. I was fine with that. He was fine with the bottle while I was not around him.

Crystal - posted on 11/11/2009

Honestly with me it didnt depend on the bottle or nipple type it really was when he was ready. He did seem to like the latex nipples better but that still didn't solve the problem of him totally flipping out over the bottle most of the time. It was a slow gradual process between 5 and 11 weeks. Yes it took that long this is why mothers should offer it weeks before they are expected to return to work. I am glad I did. One day he just took every bottle and every nipple with no problem it was literally a relief and now he goes from breast to bottle with no problems and no complaints and it didnt effect his latch or desire to nurse either. The thing is be persistent trying everyday but not too pushy and once he or she starts crying back off and try again when the baby has calmed down.

Tammy - posted on 11/11/2009

dont give up i have breastfeed all my kids intell they where 2 it takes time and try having someone else feed her and you not be in the room .or put your shirt arond her when they try for your smell it work for me

Chelsea - posted on 11/11/2009

How old is the baby?

If the baby is older than 4 months I would suggest that you go straight to the sippy cup. This method has many benefits including:

No nipple confusion
No transition needed when it's time to move from bottle to cup around 9-12 months

Rebecca - posted on 11/11/2009

I always found that my daughters will take a bottle from someone else much better than they would take one from me. Because she's used to nursing from you it's an unnatural feeling/action for her to be taking a bottle from you. Maybe try having someone else feed her from the bottle. Good luck

Janet - posted on 11/10/2009

If she's over 8 months and never taken a bottle, she likely never will from you. Someone else may have more luck though. You can start her on a sippy cup after about 7 months. My first daughter never took bottle and I tried at about 3 months old. I started her on sippy about 8 months. She won't take much at first, but slowly can increase.
A friend said her daughter would nurse at night to make up for what she missed in the day. Good luck!

Ashley - posted on 11/10/2009

How old is your baby? If she is over 3 or 4 months she may not take the bottle...my cousins daughter never had a bottle and she's 1 1/2 now. At least your pumping and getting ahead of the game...breastfeeding is hard at first, for most women, but the pay off is soooooo much better than the work that goes into it (plus it is waaayyy cheaper!). My daughter took both breast and bottle in the beginning (mostly because she had some issues and needed to) so I don't have first hand experience with this particular issue, but I had similar problems getting her off of the nipple shield so maybe it'll work. Offer your baby the bottle first before breast (it is best to have somebody else do the bottle feedings at first). After a few tries (not too many because she'll get frustrated too) go ahead and nurse her. Eventually she'll get used to it once she knows that the "boob juice" (my husband's term hehehe) is in the bottle she might warm up to the idea. My friend had the same problem and the bottle that worked he best for her were the playtex drop-ins...I don't know why but her son seemed to really like those ones...but who knows maybe by the time she got those he had already gotten used to bottle feeding?!?!?

Bryony - posted on 11/10/2009

I had trouble with breastfeeding so I express and bottle feed.. but I use Avent bottles/teats myself but a lactation consultant said if I was planning on trying to breastfeed again that I should use the pigeon teats (that fit onto avent bottles) because they have a gradual extension to the base of the teat (like the breast) - if you haven't tried them, maybe they could help?

Kaz - posted on 11/10/2009

This is quite a common problem. I have a friend who found a bottle that worked for her son will send her a message and ask her to post on here.



Have you tried leaving someone else like your partner or Mum to feed her while you are physically not there? Sometimes if you are doing it they can smell the milk on you and want it straight from the boob not the bottle.