4 Month Old Will Not Take a Bottle

Hi L.,

Well I had the same problem. I strictly breastfed, and then before I knew it, it was time to go back to work. My daughter would not take the bottle no matter what!! She would just not eat, then I would give in and feed her, it was terrible. Here is what worked for us. We took our daughter to my Aunts house, and I left her plenty of milk. She asked my husband and I to leave for the day and not return for about 8 to 12 hours. It was so hard for me to leave, but upon returning, my daughter was just fine with the bottle!!!! My aunt had done this several times for other people that she knew and also had 4 children of her own. It was a difficult day for all involved, but the end result was worth it. If you have any friends or relatives that would be willing to do the same for you I would give it a shot... It may sound harsh, but my daughter was in the hands of someone who loved her very much and was very patient with her. Hope this helps you. Good luck.

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Bless your heart for being in this postition! Unfortunately, your only hope is to let him get hungry enough that he'll take it -- and that is not going to be easy or fun. You may need to have someone else do this for you -- a relative or a good friend, who will be willing to take him and offer him the bottle without you around. It will probably take several hours. There's not going to be much you can do otherwise. Good luck and don't worry -- with patience and gentle coaxing he'll get it. Babies are amazing little creatures.

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I had trouble with my 2nd one taking the bottle because I did not introduce it early enough I finally got him to take it but I would have to nurse him a little bit then pull out my nipple and slip the bottle in and sometimes it would take a couple of tries in one sitting but eventually he would drink the bottle. So try pumping then nurse,put the bottle in, nurse put the bottle in and repeat until he gets it. I used the medela bottle with nipple and he took it but did not like the nuk shaped nipple. Neither one of my children liked the pacifier either. Good luck

My baby wouldn't take a bottle from any member of our family, but he would (grudgingly) take it from a babysitter. If you have a sitter willing to work it out with your little guy, they will figure out something together. He will sooner or later decide to eat when you are gone. Alternatively, some babies just decide to sleep while their moms are gone and eat when she comes back. Neither situation is ideal, but we aren't living in ideal times, either.

Also, one of my kids figured out how to drink from a sippy cup at that age. It had to be a "spill-proof" type that required good suction as opposed to a free-flow type, but he could do it. We had to use the Avent cups because they have a soft silicone spout. Perhaps that may work. If you buy one and he doesn't like it, save it because he can use it later when he's older.

L., I am in a similar position. My son is one year old tomorrow( can it be already?!?!) and I am ready to wean him. He has not had a bottle in his mouth since he was 4 months. He wouldn't take a sippy cup if I begged him. I talked to his doctor yesterday and he said that my son knows what he wants and as long as i make the boob available to him he'll resist the cup.
I like a lot of the advise you have already been given, especially to have someone else give him the bottle when you are not home for an extended time.
I sweat about this a lot but yesterday I had my Mom come over and after a few hours he reluctantly drank. I hope today will be easier.
I'll pray that this transition goes smoothly for you.

He will not let himself starve but I have heard that you may have to wait out a 6-8 hour or maybe even longer hunger strike before he gives in and tries to take a bottle.

They will figure it out, but don't sweat it at all if you are sending them to a good home day care or a tutor time or whatever. They are experienced in that. If you are having a family member or inlaw or whatever watch him, they might call you and freak out over this. They catch on pretty quickly, and the day care knows how to deal with this and are more experienced with this than (thank god!) the moms are. :)

good luck! It will be a hard transition at first but it will work out.

I had the same problem with my daughter. She never took a bottle, so with her pedi's reccomendation we started her on baby food a little early, so it gave her something while I was at work. I only worked 4 hrs a day so I wasn't gone long, and when I had a longer day, my husband would bring her into work and I would BF. Good luck.

Hi L.,
I know this wont help, but it is not strange. According to my mother, I never took a bottle, I was also breast fed, and she has said that even when she would pump, I actually pushed the bottle out of my mouth...back then the bottles were glass, so I broke a few. She said that when she stopped breast feeding me, or gave me water, she had to use a teaspoon or shot glass.
Like I said, it doesn't help, but just don't look at your child as if there is something wrong.
You may have to find a person to watch your child, so they can be able to take the time to feed.
Enjoy the strong will of your baby!

The same thing happened with my baby and it seems to be pretty common with EBF babies.
We just kept trying and eventually he started taking it. He's not going to starve and will probably figure out the bottle is the way to get milk. I understand you as I was so heartbroken and cried because he was so upset. I was/am lucky to have had my sister and his sitter be patient on working to bottle feed him. Hopefully you will find someone to help you as well. Two things: you should try to be out of the house when he's getting bottle fed as he can smell you and he may go on a " hunger strike" during the day when you go to work and the feed continously when you get home and at night. It's called reverse cycling. Good luck and everything will work itself out!

Hi L.,

I also had the same problem but my daughter was 10months old and we were going on a week long trip without her. I got her to drink formula (She would NOT take breast milk from anything but me). But she also wouldn't drink it from a bottle, I tried what seemed like a million different types of bottles and had anyone who was willing to feed her tried. I then started trying sippy cups, and finally found one that worked... It was a cup from nuby, and of course it was one of the last cups possible that I could have tried and the cheapest. I found it at WalMart they are only like a dollar. They usually have them just thrown in a bin and in assorted colors. There are two kinds of nuby cups but the one that worked for us was the one that had the silicone top. well I hope I helped.

I feel for you! Perhaps there is a way for you to work from home? There are many different ways...call center, typing, home business. I point this out as you do not seem to want to leave him, which I can fully relate to. I am a part of many mom's groups that offer many businesses and ways to stay at home. If you're interested, drop me a line!

Take care,

D.

Remember he is used to 98.6 degree food. Make sure the bottle you are trying to give him is warm enough. We thought my one son wouldn't take a bottle but really, all we had to do was get it warm enough - he is still picky about his food tempurature and he is 7 now :)

Hi L.,
Try lying down in bed with your baby with the bottle. You may have to try diferent bottles. You can go to this excellent blog
www.AChildgrowsinBrooklyn.com

and learn a lot. You can ask this question too,
Good luck, it willl happen! K.

I never did get my daughter to feed from a bottle. We went from me to a cup with a lid that was free flowing. She never even took a sippy cup unless the little valve was taken out. You could try one of those. We never had to battle with taking away a bottle though.

Try getting the book Working Mother, Nursing Mother from La Leche League...it really had some good tips for me.

The thing is, in general it's best to introduce a bottle at 4-6 weeks old, so now he's going to be a little more resistant.

Have someone else give it to him, without you around. Make sure it is warm, at least body temperature (that's the only way my little girl will take my milk in a bottle).

Call LLL for other ideas as well on combining working and bf'ing.

Also, if nothing else, an eye-dropper or a cup can work. I mean like a cup you can put vitamins in, something small like that. Medela makes both a small cup and a sort of syringe like feeder that could help.

Also, make sure you have a patient caregiver who is willing to work with you and your baby and not get freaked out or frustrated easily. It will be a little tougher now, but keep working with your babe.

You can also try mothering.com forums and their working outside the home forum.

Have you tried a sippy cup or a water bottle. My lactation consultant told me that some babies just don't like the plastic nipples, and as long as they can get the milk without choking, it can be in any type of drinking vessel. Good luck.

Hi,
My daughter has been strong-willed from the get go and it took her 5 weeks before she took a bottle and then another long time before she would take the sippy cup. Your son may not like change. He will eventually take it when he gets hungry enough. It is so hard to take the crying and tears, but I tried every bottle also and the only thing that worked is letting her get hungry, but I did introduce the bottle for 5 weeks, so keep trying!