Baby won't take bottle

Mr Johnson

Hi,

Our 6 month old was exclusively on breast for four months, and since then we've been trying to get her to take a bottle, while we've also been introducing her to solids. She will not drink out of the bottle no matter what. It's expressed milk, so it's not a taste thing. Mum is due back to work soon, so it's going to be a big problem soon. Any ideas or tips out there ?

Thanks.

wmpdd3

Can you try a sippy cup? I know the baby won't get much into them but its a start. What bottle are you using, tommee tippee seems to be working for us.

How Strange

Mr Johnson infants over six months need 3-4 breastfeeds in 24 hours to meet their nutritional requirements so if your wife can feed once before work, once after crèche, before bedtime and if he wants once during the night (though it's not essential) then he is getting enough.

My son was exclusively breastfed when he started crèche at 7 months do it was a huge reassurance to learn this. There was no way i couldve expressed enough for day time feeds and I didn't want to start giving formula at that stage unless I had to. He didn't have breastmilk during the day in crèche, just water out of a sippy cup and he was totally fine with it.

Babies are incredibly resourceful and they know if the milk isn't there and they can wait until mum is back and they'll catch up in the evening.

Perhaps you want to give milk during the day but I just wanted to give you another perspective.

Moonbeam

Try the NUK bottles with the small teats, I know a few people that they worked for.

Mr Johnson

Hi How Strange, thanks for your reply, much appreciated. We're just trying to get to the stage where my wife can get out for a while, she's very dedicated to breast feeding and is stressing about it. I'll try the sippy cup as yourself and others suggested and see how that goes.

Mr Johnson

Moonbeam wrote: »

Try the NUK bottles with the small teats, I know a few people that they worked for.

Hi Moonbeam. we've tried Avent and Tommy Tippee, I'll give NUK a go. Thanks for your reply.

liliq

Definitely try the sippy cup.
Or just a cup!
My son was supplemented with formula for a while so he did take a bottle at one stage. Since I've been able to stop supplementing he's rejected the bottle, but will happily enough drink from a sippy cup, or a plastic cup we hold for him.
He doesn't tend to look to be fed when I'm not there now anyway, (7 months)so it's not a huge issue for us.

wmpdd3

I just realised baby will be 6 months when i go back part time, ill be gone for 7hrs a day, 4 days a week, probably 3 to 10pm. Would baby be ok with just water until i come home. My first baby was very slow to take to food. I was hiping to express enough for 1 bottle while i'm gone, but i just dont havee time! I even tried expressing while feeding, no go!

Eibhlin2011

I had the exact same problem with my baby - refused to take a bottle even though I tried everyday to give him one for weeks on end. I was worried as I knew I had to have an operation and wouldn't be able to feed him for about 24 hours. In the end I solved the problem by switching bottles - I tried Avent, Nuk & MAM and he went for the MAM and glugged the whole bottle down the first time he tried it - I couldn't believe it! Having the milk nice and warm helped. Every baby is different though so what works for mine may not work for yours.

How Strange

wmpdd3 yes your little one would be fine. You could feed as often as you want up to when you're leaving and they should be fine with a 7 hour gap. You could leave some expressed milk for around bedtime if you wanted.

wmpdd3

8 weeks to practice!

liamo

Eibhlin2011 wrote: »

I had the exact same problem with my baby - refused to take a bottle even though I tried everyday to give him one for weeks on end. I was worried as I knew I had to have an operation and wouldn't be able to feed him for about 24 hours. In the end I solved the problem by switching bottles - I tried Avent, Nuk & MAM and he went for the MAM and glugged the whole bottle down the first time he tried it - I couldn't believe it! Having the milk nice and warm helped. Every baby is different though so what works for mine may not work for yours.

+1

Sometimes it's a matter of finding the bottle that suits the baby.

We had the same problem. We were trying to get our little girl (6 months) to take a bottle - not a chance!!

We tried just about every bottle we could find with no success until a friend told us that she had the same problem with her kids and had experienced great success with the Nuby bottles with the straw. We gave it a go and it worked a treat. The straw allowed her to drink from the bottle without tipping it (that is, it was almost upright which she seemed to prefer).

I couldn't find an irish link so here's an Amazon URL so you at least know what they look like : http://www.amazon.com/Nuby-2-Pack-No-Spill-Flexi-Colors/dp/B003N49ML8/ref=pd_sim_ba_2

I'm pretty sure we got ours in Tesco.

9 months later and, even though she's now drinking from a variety of bottles, we're still using the same bottles for milk.

iguana

Mr Johnson wrote: »

It's expressed milk, so it's not a taste thing.

I wouldn't be so sure it's not a taste thing. Have you ever drank from a baby bottle? Sometimes the taste of the teat overwhelms the taste of the milk. If your baby isn't used to drinking from a bottle the taste could be disgusting to him. He might prefer it from a sippy cup.