4.5 Month Old Will Not Take a Bottle!

You may have missed your "window". An infant will take a bottle much easier at about 4 weeks (earlier than that you risk confusing the nursing). With my first, i didn't introduce a bottle until about 3 or 4 months and she NEVER would take one. The good news is that you've gotten through the hardest part. You can now leave and she can be fed a bowl of cereal to tide her over until you return. Soon she will be getting more and more of her food from other sources. Your freedom will return soon enough, it just seems like forever!

On our next two babies, I made sure my husband gave them a bottle once a week - whether I needed to leave or not, just so they would stay use to it.

I want to caution you that if you start introducing anything other than your milk you are signalling your body that it doesn't need to make as much milk.AND her sense of smell is much better than yours she KNOWS the good stuff is right there. Nursing for a baby isn'y just about food it's also about comfort. You could "snuggle" with a robot but it wouldn't give you the same feeling and comfort your husband does. It's the same for her.
If you are wishing to get away for a bit have someone else try a bottle when you aren't home, but I caution against the formula if you have an ample supply and can pump. The health benefits of exclusive nursing are well prven and quite often formula gives BF babes a bad tummy ache.

Some babies never take a bottle no matter how hard or long you try, even if they are extremely hungry... that just causes them to get more angry and puts stress on them. My first child (my daughter) would never take a bottle or pacifer, my four sons would take a pacifer but they would not take a bottle until they were about 9 months old. I do not think it is good to force a baby to take anything, we as adults do not like to be forced into new things do we?!
I also think formula is very bad, if I had been unable to breast feed I would have given my children goats milk, it is healthier and more digestable than formula and I believe it is more like breast milk. Think about it, before formula was created what did moms do that did not produce any milk, they either found a wet nurse or they used goat or cows milk, but they found that infants couldn't digest cows milk (something to do with lactose... goats milk does not have lactose). Although all of this info is usless if your daughter wont take a bottle.
Oh and if you do decide to try goats milk, if you buy it from a store nothing has to be done with it but if you get it from a farm you should heat it I believe to almost boiling before it is consumed. Never heat it in a microwave it kills all the good stuff.

Good luck :)
S. M.
PS. if you want more info on goats milk let me know and I can give you some good websites to check out.

Nursing babies will not take a bottle from the mother. If you insist on giving your baby a bottle, someone else must do it. Babies need breast milk exclusively until 6 months, then introduce other foods gradually. ood luck.

Have you been giving her the bottle or someone else? Breastfed babies often won't take a bottle from their mom since they know they can just get it straight from mom. Try leaving the house for a few hours and let your husband feed her from the bottle. If she is hungry she will take what is available. Also, have him use bottles with the wide nipples, since they are more like mom. It may take awhile until you can feed her from the bottle as well. My son would not take a bottle from me for awhile until my husband had established a good routine of feeding him a bottle and he still generally prefered not to take a bottle from me unless we were out and there wasn't a good place to breastfeed. I'm not sure if pumped milk or formula would be best to start, you will just have to see what works best for your husband.

Good luck!

T.,

Good for you T., breastmilk is the best choice for your baby, especially during the early months. You will look back fondly on this time spent with your daughter. This is your time exclusively.

However, I can sympathize with your situation of needing or wanting your daughter to take a bottle at other feedings occasionally.

With my oldest son, who is now 13,I breastfed exclusively for a few months and then tried to give him the bottle. I pumped (with a hand pump) forever and then he would even refuse that. He was 7 months old before he would take a bottle. It can get a little overwhelming at times, but this is the most wonderful gift you can give your child that nobody else can.

With my second child, who is now 11, I introduced it too early and she preferred the bottle to the breast, which was frustrating because I had a hand pump which couldn't keep up with her feeding schedule and an active toddler in the house.So she wasn't able to nurse as long.

Now, with my third child, who is 10 months, it was easier to juggle the bottle and the breastmilk. I picked up an electric pump early on and learned to express my milk. The electric pumps are more accessible now then when my other children were born, that makes it easier to pump and give them a bottle. It only takes about 10 - 15 minutes to express the milk than you can store it in the fridge or freezer for other feedings.
The bottle I have found that my baby likes is the playtex nursers with the drop-in bags. Playtex also has a new pacifier that might help her transition.

If you don't have an electric pump contact your local health department. They loaned me a really nice one and all I had to do was buy the accessories for it.

If you are needing your little girl to take a bottle just keep trying to express some milk, she will more than likely prefer that to the formula. However, like the others have mentioned if you start supplementing with formula your milk supply will slow down. Therefore, you will need to pump.

Good Luck T.!!

S.

I completely agree with Liev. I exclusively breasfed our nine children. My oldest would never take a bottle or pacifier. Sometimes, like on long car trips, that got a little crazy, but we survived! She began taking a sippy cup for juice at about 8-9 months, although I had to hold it for a while. You have everything your baby needs for the first 6 months. God Bless.

Have you tried a cup without a top, just a regular cup? I exclusively b/f my son who is now 21 mos. old. For a little freedom I would pump and he would sip it from a cup with assistance from a family member. I like the pp suggestions as well.

Hi T.,

I think it's wonderful that you have breastfed your baby for so long and obviously want to continue! It is NOT wrong of you to want to supplement and I hope you will not feel the pressure to continue breastfeeding exclusively. I agree with the advice the other mom's have given to have someone else start giving her the bottle but you are obviously going to have to do it sooner than later. It's a little foreign to her right now and of course she doesn't understand. But my advice would be to choose one nipple, stick with it and she will eventually adapt, probably quicker than you think. Also, keep in mind that breast milk is warm and so is your breast so make sure the formula is not too cold or too hot and you might want to put the bottle nipple up against your skin to warm it and give it some of your scent. I am a 41 year old mother of three (two are teenagers) and I only breastfed each of them for a few months and they have always been healthy and smart and turned out just fine!

Good luck and take care...

Like one poster said here, you may have missed your "window" of opportunity to give your baby a bottle. My baby's pediatrician told me to give my daughter a bottle of breast milk 2 or 3 times a week when she was about 3 weeks old. He said after one month a baby will not usually take a bottle. I had problems producing enough milk around the time my daughter was about 3 weeks old. I hand-pumped breast milk into a bottle and gave that to her for a few weeks. She took it just fine during that time. After awhile, however, my milk started to come back, and I put her back on the breast exclusively. She is now 5 months old and refuses a bottle. It's my fault, really, by not continuing to give her a bottle (of breast milk) at least once a day. She got used to being back on the breast over time and will not take a bottle at all now. My son wouldn't take a bottle either, but I made the mistake of trying to give him one when he was about 4 months old. He was exclusively breast fed until he was 15 months old. I just went out for short periods of time, after his feedings, so he would be okay while I was gone. And when he started to eat solids, I was able to go out for a bit longer between his feedings. I'll have to do the same with my daughter now. In the meantime, I take her everywhere I go. You just adjust and do what you can to try to make things work for you and your baby.

What you need to do is have your husband give her the bottle. Since she has only nursed, if you give it to her she will get frustrated because she is used to you nursing not giving her a bottle. You may even have to go out of the room. It is also better if you pump and not give her formula. It is a lot more harsh on her stomach and she is not used to it. I hope this helps.

Congratulations on breastfeeding your baby!

I think the real question has more to do with why you want to start supplementing with formula. Whether the reason is nutritional, logistical, or anything else, you should do a little research on how to resolve that issue first, because once you start supplementing, your supply begins to diminish. Also, formula isn't as healthy as breastmilk. I took one look at the sample can that Similac sent us, and shuddered: "corn syrup solids" is the first ingredient on the list.

So, for reasons like these, I advise that you try other answers to your issue first; give any one or combination of possible solutions a good trial before resorting to formula. Your baby will be healthiest and best satisfied/fed through continued exclusive breastfeeding.

If the issue is that you want a little freedom, simply pump and store your pumped milk for other caregivers to feed her.

To get helpful answers on whatever other issues might be causing you to turn to formula (ex. not feeling like you're producing enough milk? Lots of easy ways to fix that!), check out La Leche League International's forums and other resources at llli.org. It's great to have the extra support, and you'll find expertise on breastfeeding that you won't find anywhere else.

I suspect that you want to supplement with formula because your dr., pediatrician, or a well-meaning friend or family member gave you inaccurate information, which is rampant when it comes to breastfeeding. You wouldn't believe what two doctors told me. One said, "some babies just don't tolerate breastmilk." Well, sure, maybe some babies don't tolerate the milk lactose from the dairy Mom eats, or allergens in the milk that the mother just needs to eliminate for a while (some babies outgrow allergies by 6 months of age). Or maybe they don't tolerate improper feeding practices, which I was mistakenly engaging in, leading to oversupply, making my baby really fussy! But babies are meant to tolerate breastmilk, or we wouldn't have made it this far as a species. The other doctor told me I should never have started breastfeeding because my breasts will forever sag because of it. What he doesn't know is that some slight droop can occur at weaning, but is completely temporary.

These are only two examples of the ignorance surrounding breastfeeding, coming from people that have barely learned the first thing about breastfeeding, and people think doctors know everything. Sure, they know a lot...about what they've specifically been *taught*. Go to La Leche League online, and even drop in one of the meetings of your local chapter. The support is tremendous. And they're so much fun!

Keep up the wonderful mothering!

L.

First, I would try pumping breastmilk instead of giving formula, she is used to the taste and it is better for her.

Second, have someone else give her the bottle and you will have to be out of sight, just go in another room. Use a bottle with a wide nipple and only give a couple of ounces at a time. Also don't wait until she is really hungry or crying alot, she won't be up to trying something new.

I had my husband give my daughter her first bottle at one month, just to get her used to it. I still mostly breastfed but it was nice that she would take a bottle every now and then if I needed to go somewhere. Also, the pumped breastmilk was great when she started on the sippy cup.

Good luck.

she may have digestive problems or a blockage or stomach issues. do please get her to a dr. immediately. good luck. maybe the formula is too much for her. and have someone else try to give it to her by spoon. something fun that she may like. or mix the formula and breast milk together.

Not to sound harsh but to be direct and say my suggestion is Continue breast feeding your infant! Why not? You are in home anyway and this baby is so young. She deserves to enjoy her time with her mother and to be nourished by her mothers milk! It's the best thing for an infant through the 8th month minimum. They are less prone to contract allergies if breast fed for about their first year of life.
Feed your infant in a relaxed state of mind so as to enjoy your time. She will eat more calmly, enjoying her time with you as well. This is when the bonds are created between mother and child. Believe me, you will be happy you created such a bond when the child grows older.

God bless you both!

T.,

I had a child that fought hard against the bottle. We put breat milk in it, had someone else feed her with me completely out of the room, and she screamed and screamed. All I can tell you is to stick with it. I needed to be able to get out of the house for some things that I couldn't take my daughter to, so having her take a bottle was an absolute must. We just kept trying and eventually she gave in. I do agree with some of the others: have someone else (your husband, an older sibling, a caregiver) give the bottle. Otherwise, the child is confused. Also, it was our experience that the milk comes out of the bottle MUCH faster and with less work than the breast. That was apparently disturbing to our little one; she seemed to be overwhelmed by the amount of milk coming into her mouth. So, we got the slowest flow nipple we could find to make it a little more like breatfeeding.

Good luck!

When my daughter was little I nursed her and she NEVER would take a bottle from me even if it had my milk in it.So when I quit nursing my husband or Mom had to give her the bottles.

No help here. LOL Neither of my DC would take a bottle. My mom tried giving DD a bottle once when I was gone 4 1/2 hours but she just screamed. DH tried giving DS a bottle once under similar circumstances, and he just screamed. It was hard on me for a while, but now I look back with pride on it. I was their sole nutrition until they started solids, and they both nursed for an extended period of time. DD is 21 now and DS is 10. How quickly they grow!

A. :)

I have heard that if you don't introduce a bottle before they are 3 months they will never take one. That has been pretty much the case with all 7 of my kids. I do have one who finally took one but it was becuase she had physical problems and so did I. It took her starving and lots of trying before she did it. (She was 7 months old by the way)

I breastfed my last baby she is now 39 but I tried to breastfeed all my children but for one or the other reason the doctors wouldn't let me so when I became pregnat I decided I was breastfeeding this one no matter what and she was born tongue tied and couldn't take a bottle she didn't take a bottle till she was 5 months and then it had to be one of those take looked a lot like a breast I can't think of the name of it I breast fed her 26 months and the only reason I quit them was cause I ran out of milk and by the way you say your 4.5 refuses to take a bottle but down at the bottom you say your 29 and have a beautiful baby girl 2.5 months old which is it?

Try Sassy Mam Ultivent bottles - the nipples are shaped just like a real nipple - they are also BPA free if that is important to you. I breastfed too but had to finish the last two weeks of my college finals (obviously, he could not go with me so I pumped) and he took these bottles without problem. The problem was when I stayed home and never gave him a bottle again until he was 6 months old. Then he tried to refuse but eventually took them again. I had to order them over the internet because stores did not have them on the shelves but I did see them at Publix a month ago. Good luck.

Your baby knows what is good for her and what is not! To introduce formula would hamper her immune system and predispose her to illness. Formula is totally different than breast milk in it's ph level, and composition, therefore when a baby begins to wean off of breast milk by the process of introducing formula, they are predisposed to many diseases and illnesses, from which breast milk protects them. She knows the difference in the nipple also, and does not want anything but the breast, because the bottle nipple is so different and unnatural. As a stay at home mom, I would continue to totally breast feed and at about 8-10 months begin to introduce fruits and vegetables. You will have a much healthier and happier baby both mentally and physically. It may seem more convenient to supplement so you can go out more perhaps, but when the downsides of illness, etc, begin to happen you may regret your decision.
Sincerely,
B. S. RN CCM.