I have a bit of a situation and I'm praying some mom's out there have dealt with something similar and can lend some support! My daughter is now 13 weeks old and I regrettably have to go back to work in a week. She was initially fed my milk by bottle due to a birthing trauma that prohibited her from nursing. She finally latched and began nursing after much work at 3.5 weeks. I continued pumping and feeding her one bottle each day to keep up the familiarity with the bottle for when I'd have to go to work. Unfortunately, one evening I accidentally didn't assemble the bottle properly and the milk rushed onto her face about halfway through a feeding. Ever since, she's rejecting the bottle (and it's been about three weeks or so now!) I've tried having the bottle present while I'm nursing to make it seem more of a warm fuzzy for her, doing the bait and switch, a large variety of bottle brands, having someone give her a bottle when I'm not present and nothing is working. I love that she prefers to nurse, but I need her to take a bottle when I'm at work as I won't be able to nurse her every feeding. I may be able to feed her at lunch most days, but won't be on an every day basis as I sometimes have to work events that are a distance away. HELP! What worked for getting your babies to take a bottle when they've had a negative experience with one? I'm already depressed about having to return to work and this isn't helping as I fear she's going to go hungry! Only helpful/positive advise or support please as it's already difficult enough returning to work! I fully intend to continue breastfeeding for many months and am very comfortable with my pump so she'll be exclusively given my breastmilk when I'm not available to nurse.
I'm in England at the moment and noticed these bottles on the shelves -- haven't seen them in the States, but they have a flexible nipple that is supposed to mimic Mama nipples... don't know if this would help your daughter, but if you think it would, it might be worth getting ahold of one.
http://www.tommeetippee.co.uk/department/bottle_feeding/
Don't feel bad about working. We all have to make sacrifices at some point. Just be grateful u are able to nurse. I just stopped nursing after 13 months and pumped through most of it. I think your baby has to be hungrier to take the bottle. You should leave for a couple of hrs right before a feeding and have your husband or mom/friend, whoever, try to feed the baby a bottle. Leave them a couple of nipples to try while u r gone. Also, hold the baby close like they r nursing while trying the bottle.
Good luck!
Hi A., congratulations for what you have done, feeding your baby for as long as was possible the first period, and for seeking advice.
You are stressing too much! Slow.....down. Let's stop and look at things:The "birthing trauma' and "the accident", and your "worry about going to work" tells loudly that you are a very sensitive woman, maybe the baby inherited that sensitivity?...or maybe you are projecting that on the baby? These are maybyes.
These three things over your head are stressing you out a bit too much so I would advice you to take one at a time, examine them honestly, and work them OUT.
As with any bad experience, a lot of good new experiences will erase the bad one, in time. Just make sure you are calm when you are feeding the baby; they can pick up on your nervousness quite easily.*Be patient and persevere.
Prioritize your needs and problems, then attend to one thing at a time. You are a young mother and can, and will come out of this one much stronger.
There are so many ways of feeding a baby, you could try a sippy cup, spoon, a normal cup (needs to have some sort of flexibility so that you can squeeze it a little so a bunch doesn't come out). Obviously you wouldn't want to feed her this way forever (except maybe with a sippy cup), but she might be more open to using the bottle if she sees that milk can come from things other than the breast. I'm surprised that she remembers the bottle incident so well, after 3 weeks. We had a car accident, and for several days my son would cry whenever we put him in his car seat. We started putting him in it before putting him in the car, and we were also changing cars almost every day (rental car issues). He got over it pretty quickly, I think because it was so different every time he got in the car.
I think if you change up the non breast feedings enough, she might be more willing to take the bottle. You could also try feeding her in a different location (either room, or someone else's house).
This advice may sound unconventional, so definitly do what you believe is best. That being said, consider what would happen if you tried to feed your baby and she refused the bottle either from you or someone else 2 or 3 times, without you backing the missed feeding up with nursing. I believe your baby will drink when she feels hungry by 2 missed feedings. If that is to extreme, you could always try a soft sippy cup. When my son was born, I used a medicine cup and poured milk into his mouth to get the taste of milk on his lips, then when he showed signs of wanting to feed, I slipped a bottle in to his mouth and he took it, because the desire to drink was stronger at that point. You know how sometimes you have a sip of water and realize you are very thirsty...same idea here. And last, be easy on yourself. You are doing the best you can. You are a kind, concerned, loving mom who wants the best for your child. Breate deeply, it helps me.
I can imagine this would be really difficult to add to an already stressful situation! I found this site to have really useful ideas for making the transition to bottles: http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/offerbottle.html
I would imagine that your little one may have a little bit tougher time because of the bad experience but hopefully not all that much - they're so resiliant it is amazing! My son was hospitalized while exclusively breastfeeding and had to be given a bottle a couple of times and suggestions similar to those above really helped us. I also would strongly suggest trying to intro the bottle between feedings or when a little sleepy or just waking... not when baby is really starving - my experience was that hunger just increased the frustration and difficulties. Good Luck! What a lucky baby to have such a loving and dedicated mommy!
Hi A.,
How great that you can pump enough for her, and nurse her at most lunchtimes, too! Don't feel bad about going back to work; only you and your husband know the best choices for your family.
I would check with your pediatrician for advice; my son loved to nurse, but since I wasn't producing enough milk for him, he slurped down his bottles like crazy. With your dr's OK, maybe let her get a little hungrier?
A friend of mine went through a similar situation. She ended up going with a spoon feeding her son, and using a sippy cup for a while.
Best of luck!
C.
