Help!!!! Breastfeeding to bottle...

Lori - posted on 08/17/2009

I found that I couldn't be around for her bottle feeding time until she got used to it.

Queenee - posted on 08/17/2009

Try changing the nipples on the bottle. Most brands of bottles have nipples that vary by age of baby.

Jenniffer - posted on 08/16/2009

I breastfeed all my children and yes switching to bottles where the hardest. However i always found that the bottle playtex the one that looks like you nipple or the Nurk nipples were the best ot use and less crying and less fighting. I hope for the best. For u and your family. Good luck and I hope this helps.

Christine - posted on 08/15/2009

i breast feed my boys and when i changed to the bottle i was able to find nipples that are shaped like the brest nipple when they feed.they ar a little funny looking but they work.i was able to find them at wal mart and toys r us but that was 11 years agow.

Elizabeth - posted on 08/15/2009

Try pumping your milk into the bottle instead of using formula. If possible try to use a nipple that is like the nipple shield that you use. I use the Advent bottles after I stopped breastfeeding. Also their is a bottle that is very similar to the best. I will try to get the name of that bottle for you

JESSICA - posted on 08/15/2009

When I went back to work it was extremely hard, especially for his dad, to bottle feed. One thing I found is that I could not be around while we were initiating bottle use. One trick that may sound weird but it worked for my son is to leave a shirt that you have worn and have his dad place it over his shoulder while feeding. It worked for us!?

Jill - posted on 08/14/2009

What do you have in the bottle? Breastmilk or Formula? My dtr would not drink it if it was pure formula so i had to put 2oz of formula to 4 oz of breastmilk and then keep uping the formula until it was the full 6oz. The gradual change worked great and she learned to use the bottle no problem!!

Samantha - posted on 08/14/2009

We had the same problem and this is so weird, but we would put our baby in his bouncy seat and put him in front of the TV (he was always distracted by the lights and would zone in on it) and feed him from behind so that he wouldn't see the person feeding him. eventually even I could hold him and give him a bottle.

We also would try to sneak it in right as he was waking up, and that sometimes worked because he was to drawsy to really realize.

The other advice I got is that babies can smell their mom up to 20 feet away, so I would make sure I was upstairs or something, and that if baby cries when you give the bottle and than you go ahead and nurse her, she learns that if she refuses the bottle and throws a fit she will be rewarded with the soft warm comfort of mommy!!! So you need to get her distracted and do something totally different before you give in and feed.

Amber - posted on 08/12/2009

Great advice Kimberly! I know you don't want to miss your daytime feedings but replacing a BF for bottle during the day may work better, although some babies know mom has the milk and won't take the bottle from mom at all. you may try starting BF then offer a bottle in the same feeding like BF for 10 min then give a bottle. Also make sure your not waiting till she is starving hungry she needs to just be ready because when she is really hungry she will want what is most familiar.

Kimberly - posted on 08/12/2009

Pump the milk in the day time and try to feed her the bottles during the day. Nurse the baby at night. while giving that day time bottle hold her with her belly against your body real close in the same position you use while nursing her and give her that eye contact. You may have to get her use it doing it first because she is use to your sensce. Then have your husband do it. Try different nipples the bottle nipples may be the problem. Go nipple shoping buy the ones that most resemble the breast nipple. Make sure to check the flow or size because if the hole is to big or to small that also contributes to the problem. It is easier for baby to pull the milk out the bottle. My problem was getting the baby to nurse once I gave them the bottles. However the breastfeeding time is your time for bonding. So remember whole the baby in that same bonding manner.

Erica - posted on 08/11/2009

Trying a different nipple may do the trick.

Rebecca - posted on 08/11/2009

Kepp trying!! I went back to work when my son was 5 months. He was breastfed the entire time with a few bottles right at the beginning and when we tried to give him a bottle he wanted no part of it. We tried so many different bottles and in the end nothing worked. I tried all the tricks (putting apple that he liked on the end of the bottle, etc and he'd lick the apple off and then scream at the bottle) he got the point where if I pulled the bottle out he'd just scream as soon as he'd see it. I was able to sit there and squirt the liquid in his mouth, but it took FOREVER and it wasn't worth it.

One day he decided he'd give it a go and he's now mostly bottle fed with some breast feeding in the morning and at night. I was extremely worried because I knew he had to have his milk, but I was told by doctors and everyone that he'd eventually take it if he got hungry enough. It was just very difficult to see him getting upset about it. But as I said, he got there in the end, no harm done.

Robin - posted on 08/11/2009

all i can think of is that maybe she does like the type of teets... could you try using a different brand of bottle and teet?