Bottle Feeding - Omaha,NE

Hi S.,

Since you are a stay-at-home mama, I'm not clear why you would want your son to have a bottle? I am a mother of four children, and none of them have ever had a bottle. We simply waited until they were each old enough to be comfortable with mama leaving (that happened at different ages for each of them). I feel sad that society places so much emphasis on parents "going out" when it's just really not practical (or best for baby) in those early months. If you really want a date with your husband, perhaps you could plan a special candlelight dinner for after the baby goes to sleep? Or, I found that my husband and I could go out with our babies when they were so young, they are really no trouble to take to even the fanciest restaurants, he'll likely nurse and go off to sleep. Really, it's OK to NOT leave your baby if you don't want to, he's so very young and really needs you..and it's certainly OK not to have a bottle or pacifier. Perhaps if you really feel you need to go out for a walk or something, you could wait until he's just nursed so his tummy is full?

Firstly I just want to say congratulations for breastfeeding for as long as you have!

Secondly, it's very very common for babies to be extremely picky about how they are fed. When you're breastfeeding, you're in a catch 22: you want to wait until at least 4 weeks of nursings has passed so that your milk supply is well established before trying to introduce a bottle, but also, the most effective time to introduce a bottle is between 4-6 weeks. This is when babies are most likely to accept supplementation.

I think the most important question for you is this: when you try to feed your son a bottle, are you using expressed breast milk or formula? A breastfed baby is MUCH more likely to accept a bottle of breast milk than he is formula. If you haven't tried this, I would suggest you invest in a good breast pump and try expressing some milk to use in bottle training.

My new baby who is now 5 months old also completely refuses the bottle when just a few months ago he would take one without a fight. I really have no desire to regularily feed him a bottle, so I have not seriously tried to get him to take one - the only time we tried was when we were going out for a night...before the sitter came I tried to give him one and he refused it at all costs, so I was "on call" for the night and told the sitter to give me a call if she couldn't get him to take one and needed me to come home early. Fortunately, he fell asleep soon after we left the house and was out for the count!

Anyway, I found an article and some links to other articles that may be helpful and have some new ideas and things to try through my favorite breastfeeding website, kellymom.com:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html
http://www.breastfeeding-basics.com/html/introducing_bott...
http://www79943.temp.w1.com/pa_pt1/hhg/introbot.htm
http://www.mother-2-mother.com/bottles.htm
http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/offerbottle.html
http://www.bfar.org/nipples.shtml

I come from a large family and have seen babies that will take the bottle, breast, formula and breast milk, in any combination and never resist or get fussy. However, there have been a few, namely my little sister, who refused anything in any form except for my mother and her milk. Some kids are just more particular and will cry until they get what they want.

I am afraid that the only thing that may work is choosing one or the other. I know that giving up breast feeding is a hard choice but if it is what is right for your situation, then that's what you have to do. Good luck and take care!

S.,

This, unfortunately, is a common problem. Some babies when given the choice, develop a bottle preference and some develop a boob preference and some will switch back and forth without a problem. I went back to work when my son was 6 weeks old and he screamed for 3-4 weeks solid before he started taking a bottle and then would only take enough during the day to get by. It was SO stressful. You may want to join the yahoo group PumpMoms and look at the sites http://www.kellymom.com and http://www.askdrsears.com all have great info for breastfeeding moms. The only thing that really helped us was patience and persistence (and lack of choice!) Good luck to you!

My first and third children were reluctant bottle feeders too.... What finally worked was waking them up a bit early from their naps (I know a Dr. Spock no no) and slipping the bottle in during that half awake/half asleep mode. That at least got the ball rolling. My 9 month old is a thumb sucker too and it took him longer to adapt to the bottle too - I had to go back to stage 1 nipples with him beause the size 2 that came with my playtex ventaire's were so much faster than breastfeeding.

I feel your pain though...I just weaned Jarrett this week.

Izabella was breast fed but now she is nothing but bottle fed. With formula. She wanted the breast all the time but I had no milk left to give her. She doesnt like pacifiers either. I have been using Playtex Nurser bottles since I could no longer breast feed and she had no problem with the transition. I tried other nipples but she wouldnt take them she would only eat from the playtex nursers.

S.-

My daughter was having the same problem at about around the same age. She would just throw the bottle at me, when it was supposed to be her feeding. The whole time I thought what is the deal this girl needs to eat!!! Help! She was not able to get the milk out because the nipples were being blocked. Maybe by old formula/milk or the hole that the milk goes through was not made correctly. I was at the store after I figured out the problem with the nipples for my bottles. When I was shopping at the store, I heard a man explaining the same problem to the sales associate that I was having with my bottles. I thought it was kind of funny! That was when I steped in and told him I was having the same problem. All you have to do is to take a toothpick and open the hole up more. If there is something blocking the hole hopefully it will come out. They must be making nipples different because with my son I never had a issue with the nipples. They are made faster maybe and more of them. I hope this helps you!

C.

S., first change to the old fashioned Gerber nipples, the small collar size, you know? Here is a handout I give my clients as a postpartum doula/lactation consultant. Vicky

BOTTLE STRIKE

He may be more willing to try something new if he is not desperately hungry. Try shortly before a feeding when he is just starting to feel hungry.

Hold him closely, the same position as when being breast-fed.

Wrap him in some of the mother’s clothing that she has freshly worn so he can smell his mother’s scent.

Rather than popping it into his mouth, tickle his lips with it like she does with the breast and let him root and suck it in.

The coldness of the bottle nipple might turn him off. Just hold it in his mouth until he warms it up, or warm the nipple under warm water. Make sure the milk is close to 98.6 degrees.

Find one nipple and don’t keep changing them. He has difficulty learning another new one and takes in air during the learning process.

Try holding him in the football hold and cradle hold both. Some babies will only take it if they can’t see the caregivers’ face. The face makes him expect the breast.

He may refuse it one time but take it 5 minutes later or may take it if you are walking or rocking.

Put the bottle in his mouth while he is sleeping land he may automatically start sucking and surprise himself.

Don’t panic if nothing works. He can suck through a straw (believe it or not) and also get milk from a cup, spoon, or eyedropper.

S.,
I too nursed my baby for about 6 months, and as a working mom, he started doing two feedings a day from the bottle, I used the Avent brand. They are supposed to be as close to the shape of your nipple. Try it and see if it gets better for you.

S., my advice to you if you want to be able to give your son an expressed bottle is to do it at the same feeding every day--then he will get used to having a bottle at that feeding until it is routine. When he is used to that structure, try giving him a bottle at a different feeding. Good luck!

I was also unable to give my baby boy a bottle...we tried and tried. Even my neighbor tried, and my Mom. Finally I just decided to forget about it--it was too much stress for everyone. My husband didn't miss the experience of feeding him, and I absolutely LOVED the closeness and exclusivity it gave me! There were many times when that was the only thing that would calm him down, and as long as you don't overdo it (once he's older, you can't overdo it when he's so young) you will be glad you nursed him exclusively. I never had any trouble figuring out a time/place to feed him, and I nursed him until he was 14 months old. The only down part is you can't let your husband help you with the midnight feedings, but even that didn't bother me. Since you're stay at home maybe you can get enough sleep during the day :-) Also, he will slow down his feedings in a few months, and get on a regular pattern of every 4-6 hours so you can get some real rest. I also started him on a sippy cup pretty early--as soon as he could hold the kind with handles, and that makes it easy to transition him to a cup. Another big advantage to the no-bottle approach--no bottles to wash and no taking away the bottle when he gets older! I'm very happy I did it this way, so think about it...and enjoy every minute when he's young. They grow so stinkin fast!!

Hi S.!

MY daughter never took bottles either. We tried all kinds and to no avail. we ultimately chose to stop stressig about it. It meant not being able to be away much, but we're pretty 'attached' anyways, and the time flew by. Later, with solids, she was able to go for longer without me. And as she grew, we intro'ed a sippy cup, which she took. But she had to have watered down juice. Anything that looked or tasted like milk (my milk, soymilk,almond milk) was a definate no. She wanted MY milk in it's "original" container.

she is now over one, that time flew by, and she now likes vanilla almond milk. She's still nursing, but when I leave her, I can leave almond milk for her and she'll take it. I can be gone for 6 hrs and she'll be fine between solds and almond milk and when I get back she has a full nursing session.

some babies will NOT take bottles, and they will wait for mom to get back. that's ok, they'll make up the nursing sessions by nursing more often after you get back. I've got friensd who work who's babies nurse primarily at night (co-sleeping) and take the minimum of bottles, somtimes only one, while at daycare. yet they thrive and grow fine, because they've inverted their nursing schedule.

Hello! I am sorry to hear about your situation woth your son. We went through the same exact thing with my son. My only suggeestion is to give it a break for a little while he may just be feeling pressure and unsure about changing what he really likes. I know it stinks for you but if you are available to continue just BF him for a couple weeks, he may just not be ready. Another idea is once he is old enough (I can't remember if it is 4 or 6 months) start giving him juice from a bottle. My babies have all loved juice and gobbled it up even when they were mostly BF, and that gets them more used to the bottle.
I hope you can find something that works for you and your little boy.

I had this same problem with my second son (also an avid thumb sucker). He took to nursing so well that when we started trying to get him to take a bottle (I had to go back to work) He had a really hard time. I did some research and found these bottles on the internet called Adiri Nursers. We called them "booby bottles" because that's what they look like. It's a really big nipple and an air flow cap. They saved our life. My son took to them very easily and it didn't affect his nursing technique. They are expensive but if you want to be able to take a break from nursing once in a while they are wonderful. They aren't available in stores. The on-line store I got them from doesn't carry them anymore but their website is nurser.com
P.S. If you think because of past situations he's connected the bottle to mommy leaving try having your husband hold him and the bottle with you sitting next to them to work him into the idea.

Hang in there! I had similar problems with my son when he started daycare. It was so stressful. I would just try lots of different nipples. The one that worked for him was Gerber Nuk. The short stumpy ones didn't work at all. Larger curvy ones were they key.

S.
When my girls tried to pull this stunt I just continued to give the bottle. When they get hungry they will take it. Althought maybe you should try another bottle. But my advice is to stick with it and when he is hungry he will take the bottle.
Good luck
A.

Hi Dear. Some babies just refuse the bottle. My son just turned one year, this past Wednesday. I breast feed. Early on, I had my husband feed with the bottle, occasionally. My neighbor and friend also fed with the bottle. After about the third month, though, my son refused the bottle (all bottles... even those shaped like breast which run $14 each), refused a pacifier,.... He will only accept Mommy (me). Milk supply, from me, is dwindling. My dear son still will have nothing to do with a bottle, won't take a sippy cup,... The one thing that we can use, occasionally, is a syringe (like for medicine).
I have a whole freezer full of expressed milk, which, will probably all go to waste.
One thing, though. My son won't even allow fingers into his mouth to massage his gums or brush his three teeth. He rarely chews on anything but his fingers/hand.
Perhaps your little one has a sensitive mouth? Perhaps, the breast shaped (and similar in feel) bottle will work for you?
Good luck. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.