Getting Breastfed Baby to Drink from a Bottle

With all 3 of mine, I had to do a "bait & switch" approach. I'd start nursing and after they got a bit of milk so they weren't frantic starving, I'd slide my little finger in to break the suction and then slip the bottle in as fast as I could.

My first had latch issues and we had to use those orthodontic nipples or I'd end up with blisters when he'd nurse again after he used a regular nipple. With my second, it took about 10 different nipples to find one she would take. My third has been able to take the cheap regular niples and go back and forth with nursing when I'm home, bottle when I'm working.

I made the mistake of waiting too long to introduce the bottle so my six month old still doesn't take it. Everyone tells me to let my husband feed her but she gets so upset that he can't stand to let her cry like that. I was also told that if she was hungry enough she would take it. Who wants to take that chance?

Now that it has been six months my ped has told me to go strait to the sippy cup.

Good luck!

i ahd the same trouble with my little girl.i had intended on using the Nuk orthodontic nipples,but she couldn't handle them.she sucked really hard and she would just gag herself on them.the only ones that i found taht would finally work were the wide nipples.i believe vent air has a wide bottle set that works pretty well.the nipples that came with most bottles just wouldn't do for her,because she was such a hard sucker.also my daughter actually refused to take a bottle from my husband.she saw me as the food giver.it was really hard when i went back to work at night.she finally gave up and started to take it from him which was a relief.hope this helps!~S.~

I don't know what type of bottles you tried, but I would recommend using a "booby-shaped" bottle. I believe One Step Ahead has one. Also, the playtex nursers worked for me, but only with the latex nipple, not the silicone one. I guess the latex felt more like the breast. Good luck!

It's been awhile since I had one that little...but my oldest was like that...refused to take a bottle...we finally found it wasn't the bottle but the nipple and the only one she like was that BIG brown UGLY one...I think it was Evenflo brand...where you put the bags in the bottle container and filled the bag w/formula, etc...

My daughter went through the same stage. When I started back at work the first 2 weeks I was running out of the office everyday to the babysitters because she refused to take the bottle and wouldn't stop crying because she was hungry. It wasn't the bottle that made the difference but the nipple. I went out and got tons of different nipples from every brand possible, which wasn't cheap. Finally we found one nipple that she would take and after that the rest is history. Of course she still would never take a bottle from me because I breastfeed her and she wanted the really thing but she was fine with my husband and at daycare. I would try diff. nipples and then have your husband or someone else give him the bottle with you out of sight. Good luck, I know how frustrating it can be.

I hate to say this but you just have to keep trying! Every baby is born with preferences-you just have to figure out what they are! With my son we tried about five different types of nipples until we found the one he liked. And of course they were impossible to find and five dollars for a pack of two !

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!