Breast fed baby that wont take the bottle, any ideas?

Rajita - posted on 02/20/2009

Hi! Am Rajita from India. Its best if your friend can feed the baby for atleast another 4 to 5 months and then shift over to a glass or sipper. I am mother of 2 and know for sure that bottles carry a lot of infection how muchever one may sterlise. This leads to frequent stomach upsets or cough & cold. While my son was bottle fed for 2 yrs plus , my daughter did not take the bottle for even a day and she hardly ever fell ill. All the best.

Heather - posted on 02/20/2009

I had the same problem with my youngest child (#4!).  She refused a bottle from the get-go even though doctor and nurses had suggested to give her some formula first week as she was rather jaundiced.  She continued to refuse a bottle until she was about 11 months old and that point just transitioned to a sippy cup.  I work from home, so was not a big deal for us except it was hard to leave her somewhere.  My husband always did have a better time getting the children to eat from a bottle though than I did. 

Heather

www.workathomeunited.com/green4life

Johnnie - posted on 02/20/2009

My son nursed for 2 years and never would take abttle, even though we started trying early. He would wait me out no matter how long it was.



We found that he would take breastmilk out of a straw cup starting at about 5 months. It was the only way he would eat when we left him with the grandparents!

Eloisa - posted on 02/20/2009

Hi, I had the same problem with my second child.  We tried using the Avent bottles and she refused it.  So we went out and bought the boobie bottle by Adiri.  She drank from it for a while, but then refused it again.  So, finally after 9 months we decided to try it again and we we're so blessed, because she drank from the  bottle.  My advice is Don't give up,  don't get frustrated, and it's never too late, just keep trying.  BTW she likes the Avent bottle and she likes her milk really warm.  We'll be prayin for you.....

Tamara - posted on 02/18/2009

Have you tried a straw cup? My daughter preferred those over bottles and transitioned to it so much better since the sucking action required with a straw is similar to what's needed for drinking at the breast.

Barbara - posted on 02/18/2009

Try using the Playtex Ventaire Wide Mouth bottles. I gave some to a friend at my daycare, who was having the same problem and she said that her daughter loved them.

Charity - posted on 02/18/2009

My son started refusing to take the bottle at about 4 months, and the pediatrician suggested either using a sippy cup or starting him on solids. Both worked. Though it seemed awful early for solids, he loved it and was always game. He mostly chews on the sippy cup and the Evenflow bottle grandma still uses occasionally, but he gets the milk anyway. And he still breast feeds most the time. Good luck.

Robin - posted on 02/18/2009

Hi, I would suggest trying different brands of bottles and nipples.  Sometimes it is just the feel of the bottles nipple...they are all different shapes and sizes and sometimes babies like the feel of one over the other.  good luck :)

Melissa - posted on 02/18/2009

I had to use different nipples for my kids. I forget what they are called, but they say that they mimic the mothers nipple more than the regular ones that come with bottles. They are a little bigger and flatter. It is kinda a pain though cause they do not come with bottles they have to be bought seperate and they are like $3-4 dollars for 2 (at least that is what they are in CAnada) But it was all my kids would use while I was breast feeding.

Sarah - posted on 02/18/2009

I found that using the Periestlic Bottles (Tommee Tippee and Piegon make them and you can get them at most chemists and some supermarkets and department stores) worked better than the cheapies as bub uses the same sucking motion as they would when breastfeeding and it also helped getting someone else to try and introduce the bottle as they kept looking for the breast.  The other alternative is that you could move straight to a sippee cup and forget about the bottle.  I have also been told to try and mix the formula in the early days with breast milk, with more breast milk than formula to start with to get them used to the taste and gradually decrease the amount of breast milk and increase the formula as they get used to it.

Kristy - posted on 02/18/2009

i had that problem with my first son then late one night i was so tired id forgotten to heat the formula up and he took it straight away.it sounds weird.Then when my second boy wouldnt take the bottle after weeks of trying i tryed it cold and he took it straight away aswell.

Amy - posted on 02/18/2009

My son wouldn't either... Have your friend go to the Dr. and get a tube that connects to a sac of formula. (not sure what the contrastion is called) You then tape the tube onto your breast when it's time to nurse... the baby latches onto the breast and tube at the same time. The point to this is to slowly introduce the taste of formula to the baby. If your friend does this each time she nurses, eventually the baby will take a bottle. Also, have your friend not give the bottle to her little one. The bottle needs to come from someone else and mommy shouldn't be in the room.... if the baby gets hungry enough, they will take a bottle! Hope this is helpful :)

Jacqueline - posted on 02/18/2009

Thank you all for your responses, I will pass them on!

Ruth - posted on 02/18/2009

I don't think it's advisable to give bottle and breast in the first few weeks as the baby will get confused. Breast feeding should be well established first before bottles are introduced as the two require completely different sucking techniques.

Joanne - posted on 02/18/2009

hi, i also have the same problem with my first baby 4 yrs ago. skip the bottle and try giving milk from the sippy cup. before sippy cup, i try dropper until she got use to it, then i try giving it from medicine measuring cup then the sippy cup. hope this will help

Noreen - posted on 02/17/2009

I think maybe you waited too long!  I had the same problem with my first baby, so made sure to give breast and bottle in the first week to my next ones!  My only advice (as a mother of three healthy kids) is, they will take the bottle if they get hungry enough!  Does that sound cruel?  I think your perspective changes the more kids you have.  Good luck, I feel for you.

Ruth - posted on 02/17/2009

What I had to resort to was a turkey baster! When I went back to work, I gave my son a full feed before I went, fed him on demand when I came home, and in the mean time, my husband had to feed him with a turkey baster through the day. I know it's no-where near ideal, but my son just wouldn't take a bottle at all.

Cup feeding is another alterative. Again, it's quite laborious but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures!

Maybe use a bottle that has a teat with quite a big hole in it so you can sort of just pour the liquid in to your baby's mouth?

I don't know, but I had exactly the same problem when I went back to work.

Lindsey - posted on 02/17/2009

Hey my daughter wouldn't take any bottle that we gave her until I bought breastflow!! it's a type of bottle she didn't even fuss the first time we introduced it she just ate the pumped milk as if she were breastfeeding!!

Christi - posted on 02/17/2009

Is she trying to give her baby the bottle herself? My daughter's doctor recommended that I have my husband or someone else give the baby her first few bottles to get her used to them. If your friend is the one trying to give the bottle, the baby will just naturally expect the breast, since that's what he/she? is used to. My daughter needed bottles because I worked outside the home for a few months while she was little, and pumped breastmilk in Playtex Drop-Ins worked really well for her. Tell your friend "Good luck!"



Christi

www.DoneWithDaycare.com

Peggy - posted on 02/17/2009

My son didn't take the bottle until he was 7.5 months. We just kept introducing it over and over again. Holding him close and having others (beside mommy) trying to give him a bottle was also important. His grandmother was finally able to get him to take it. Another thing that helped were the new bottles that more like real breasts. I forget what they are called, but they can be found at specialty baby stores.