Breast to Bottle - Los Angeles,CA

My daughter was the same and as long as I kept feeding her after like, 7 hrs, she would refuse the bottle. I would pump my milk and give it to her in a bottle, which she began to like, but I had to completely stop breastfeeding in order for her to accept the bottle. 3 days of not Bfeeding her, but only giving the bottle persistently did the trick and she got used to the bottle. I pumped as long as I had the patience, then stopped. Actually, it will be more difficult the older she gets. This small, she will give in.

Why does she need a bottle or cup? If she breastfeeds when you get home, she's making up for it. That is very common. Keep up the bf!!!!!!!!!!!!

When my daughter was 9 months old I went back to work part-time (gone about 5-6 hours per day) and she would not take milk in a bottle or cup. I worked so hard to pump tons of milk for my return to work and she never took ANY of it... maybe some mixed in with baby cereal but she wasn't big on cereal either.

Anyways, I would not get your baby on a bottle now - I would stick with the sippy cup of water and have whoever is caring for her feed her food. At this age she/he will probably start being interested in picking things up (avo slices, beans unless i have already forgotten!) and will not starve!

I nursed my daughter until she was 2 1/2 also. My body figured out what the schedule was - as soon as i got close to the house I would feel the milk come in and my daughter nursed when she could.

Good luck and continue doing what is best for your family!

Ugh. We had similar issues. I found that I could not make any headway because she would want to breastfeed. This may be one where you need to solicit some help. I can't remember when whole milk yogurt is okay to eat, but I believe by now. You could try giving her that. We never got the bottle to work. Eventually the sippy cup did. The pediatrician always said, when a baby is hungry enough, he will eat, but that didn't really make me feel any better about long stretches without milk or food. Best of luck!

This sounds just like my son and I a few months ago! I feel your frustration!:) in the beginning I breastfed and supplemented w/ formula but suddenly at 3 months, he absolutely REFUSED to take a bottle. I also tried different bottles and different people feeding him. Only Grandma could give him a bottle once in a great while but would mostly wait for me to come back and would go hours at times w/o eating which would obviously make me feel bad. People would tell me, well...he'll eventually eat if he gets hungry but it broke my heart to hear him cry and the thought of him not eating. He would take water from a sippy cup at 6 months but he just didn't want bottles and hated pacifiers. I decided to have a goal of BF till he was 1 year old. (Even though I thought for sure this kid would be attached to the boob till he was 3 :). I felt trapped at times since I always had to be close to home and could never be away for more than 3-4 hours. I figured, its a year of my life and its the best thing for him. I started weaning him off a couple weeks before his 1st bday and one day he just didn't want it (the boob) anymore!!! I was surprised, relieved, sad all at the same time! Hang in there cuz your baby will eventually lose interest...hopefully not wait till she's 2 or 3! :).

I have to say I'm relieved to see this post! My daughter's been doing the same thing since she was about 5 months old (she's 7 months old now). I attributed it to her getting bronchitis at that time and just wanting me, but the pediatrician kept telling me it's normal. I'm lucky that I only work Monday and Friday for 5 hours each time and every other time my daughter's with me and nurses. I read everyone's responses and I don't know about you, but it doesn't make it any easier just hearing that it's normal! :( I wish there was a magic wand (as my daughter's pediatrician said) we could wave and our kids will start taking a bottle again. The pediatrician did say that as long as she's gaining weight and eating solids and having wet diapers throughout the day, then she's fine. She said, like I've read others have said, that when she's starving she'll take a bottle. I wish I could have been more help! :-/

my third was exactly the same. She took pumped milk from a bottle for the first 5 months, and then flat out refused a bottle again. She is now 13 months. She nurses 1-2 in 24 hrs. Yes, we have finally almost finished weaning! All I can say is hang in there. Even a month ago, I thought I would never have her weaned! If you absolutely have to stop nursing, then you need to force the issue. If you can hang in there another few months, you can transition her to cows milk in some sort of sippy. I have no miraculous advice to give you. I just wanted to let you know that we had the exact same issue, and we are finally almost over it! There is a light at the end of the tunnel. In the mean time, try to relish the times you are nursing, they grow up so fast!

Okay-I feel your pain!! I'm so sorry, and I know how frustrating that is! I wish I had words of wisdom for you, but I don't. Just know that other moms have the same problem. If you get any good advice, I'd love to know too! Good luck!

I've read about spoon feeding and syringe feeding...it is super slow, but might be worth a shot, if whoever is watching her can be really patient. :) My DD did this between months 3-4, and I was having surgery, so couldn't BF for about 10 hours...after screaming her little head off for a couple of hours (good thing I wasn't there! :()she fell asleep, and then woke up and ate almost 2 bottles' worth of b-milk. But, my DD was younger...sounds like yours is a little wiser. ;) Someone said to go straight to a real cup - that is what we did when introducing reg. milk. Can't hurt to try - maybe if she was drinking out of a big person cup like mom, she might like it. Good luck!!

Hi! We had the same problem. He'd take a bottle here and there, but when I needed to start supplementing at 6mos per doctor's orders, forget it. We tried for two days every single bottle, breast milk only, breast milk with formula, formula only, etc. The first one that worked was the playtex drop in nipple; once he took it without a struggle, though he didn't take it the next time I tried. Finally, what secured our success was, I accidentally had him turned towards the tv when I tried again, Oprah was on...and lo and behold, he guzzled it down while glued to the tv! (he actually smiles now when he sees Oprah on tv...hilarious.) So we turned the telly on Nick or PBS cartoons - something semi educational- and it got him distracted enough that eventually he took any bottle any time. He still gets picky occasionally, but no longer needs the tv to distract. I would recommend persistence. It's frustrating at first, but trying distractions of any kind and sweetening the formula with a little bit of sweet baby food and rice cereal (use a cross cut nipple in that case), etc can help. Good luck!

Why would you need to give up breast feeding? Let her nurse whenever you're together; she won't go hungry. The one thing that did work with my daughter was letting her hold the bottle--we did this from age 5 mo to 10 mo, at daycare, until I gave up on pumping and just let her eat some solids (she was eager to self-feed) and reverse cycle (do all her nursing at night and first thing in the morning). Again, if she's eating solids, if you want to be sure she's getting the nutrition of breast milk, you can use that to reconstitute cereal or mix it in with other things--avocado, sweet potatos, etc.

Do you have to stop BF'ing for a reason? Or wanting her to take a bottle so it gives you a break? Many Moms try that.. me included...
Or are you just wanting to stop breastfeeding? Sorry I was confused.
Or are you saying you don't have a choice, and thus have to breastfeed and have no options of feeding via bottle?

My daughter was like that. So I just nursed her. Would NOT take a bottle.
All babies are different. My son on the other hand would take a bottle and still nurse.

You need to make sure your baby does not get dehydrated...

If she does not take a bottle... so how will she get her intake?
At this age, for the 1st year of life, breastmilk/Formula is a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition... not solids and not other liquids. And they still need to feed on-demand.

I know, bf'ing is not easy... I nursed both my kids.

Or maybe try a different bottle/spout/brand.

All the best,
Susan

My daughter was like that. Milk came only from the source (me!). She would take juice etc from a sippy cup, but she was a year old at the time so it wasn't as much of a problem.
I'm assuming there is some reason you're wanting her to take a bottle (going back to work, just needing a break, etc). You just sort of have to be persistent and keep offering it to her. Don't stop nursing though, that won't help you to get her to take a bottle and she may even starve herself (8 hours is a long time to go without eating, especially at that age). What about just using a regular cup and feeding it to her? She may take it that way.
Good luck.

Don't give up breastfeeding over this, if you can get her to the bottle, you will be able to do breast and bottle. Although, I would definitely focus on getting her to drink from the sippy rather than the bottle. She probably just doesn't like the fact that you aren't there, and she has to drink from a cold plastic nipple. I have no ideas on getting the bottle to work, but if you can't, is there any way you can just not leave her for more than 4 hours at a time? If you work out of the house, you could find a day care near your work, and use your lunch break for feedings. To get through the 4 hours, she can have a little bit of solids, and have the sippy cup too.

I'd just start giving her a sipply regularly through out the day. No pressure. If she plays with it, sucks on it, fine. If she doesn't, try again later. I'd use water or formula or juice for this purpose (so if you throw it away you won't feel so bad). Give it her with any meals she eats in her high chair. She'll get the idea. If she's not taking breastmilk or formula from a bottle or a sippy, stopping breastfeeding is a REALLY bad idea. She'll eventually get the idea. I'm not a big fan of juice for babies but it can be useful in getting her used to the idea that sippy cups have good stuff in them. At 8 months old, she's just going to get more and more interested in solid foods and drinking from a cup from here on out. I wouldn't stress about it. I wouldn't stop breastfeeding. And I'd make sure to offer her a cup at least 3-5 times a day, every day.

And I would bother with bottles at this point anyway. You'd be weaning her off those and onto a cup in a few months anyway.

:-)T.

hi mom i just suggest you take her to your family doctor and see what he or she say about the situration because i thought that maybe it was the milk but i dont know now is the other thing is to talk to a docter about this matter. good luck mom i hope you find the answer you was looking for i wish i could be some help to you good luck.

I breast fed my kids untill they were about 1years do you want to go baaaack to work whats your hurry they now hve children of their own A. no hills

You mentioned breastfeeding.... will she still nurse? If so, that seems to be your option for now. Even just at morning and night if that's all you can do. I'd switch to a sippycup. If she is eating solid foods, maybe she is getting what she needs. You might want to check with your doctor to make sure she is getting what she needs without the formula/breast milk during the day.

My third child did the same thing. I was frustrated too, but I kept on nursing. Once was she 6 months old I didn't worry if she wouldn't take a bottle because I started her on cereal. I would add powdered formula and mix it all up with water. That way she would be getting some formula when I wasn't there to feed her directly. She still nursed most of the time but didn't lack in any nutrients if I missed a meal. Hope that helps!

My daughter NEVER took a bottle. I tried everything, to no avail. When I had to return to work, I totally stressed out. Then I read Dr. Sears' Baby Book and he wrote that a baby may refuse a bottle, but then will power-nurse when reunited with mom. That's exactly what my daughter did. I was keen on continuing bf'ing, so we shared a family bed so that she could nurse at night, too. It wasn't a perfect situtation, sometimes I was groggy the next day at work, but I was determined to continue and we did. I BF for 21 months and never regret those power-nursing sessions where I was tied to a chair for a good part of the afternoon/evening :) Now almost 5, my daughter rarely gets sick, has never had an ear infection, and has never been on antibiotics. Anyway, I assume that you're also supplementing with w/ baby food, so I would think that it will all work out! Good luck!