How to Make a Two Month Old Drink from a Bottle

Try this tip from the La Leche book on nursing: stand and hold the baby upright facing out away from you, hold the bottle up for her to drink from and walk around.

Worked for us after 2 months of trying. We used Dr. Brown's bottles. Our BF daughter took bottles fine from weeks 4-8, then zero bottles for two months of trying. Tried many tips, this one worked. She let me feed her and others too this way.

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Hi,
My children would not take a bottle from me after getting used to breasfeeding, but they would from their father when I was not around. Smart little people. Must have gotten hungry enough!
Good luck.

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My son (who is eleven months old now) used the Breastflow bottles since he was 4 weeks old. My lactation consultant recommended them as being very similar to how a baby nurses. I also work part time. I nursed my son when I was home with him (and still do) but he used the Breastflow bottles with pumped milk in them at day care or when I was away. He always used the Stage 1 Breastflow nipples, too, which are a slower flow. He never had any problems switching back and forth between me and the bottle. I always had someone else feed him the bottle, though, so maybe that helped. I would try and have your husband or someone else feed your daughter the bottle once per day just to help her get used to that. You can buy the Breastflow bottles at Babies R Us or order them online.

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Try Brown's bottle, I had no l;uck with Avent.

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The playtex drop ins were what finally got my baby to take a bottle. He is almost five months and still takes a very small amount at daycare but makes up for it at home! Good luck!

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Try the playtex droppins. I was introduced to them while my second daughter was in the NICU. I had used the playtex advent bottles for my first and the nipples are very similar. They nipples on them are supposed to support breastfeeding... and while I didn't see any resemblance they worked very well for us. The upside to the droppins is that you don't expose your child to BPA since the milk never touches the plastic part of your bottle. You can also make it fit your budget easier if needed by getting more nipples than bottles since you change only the nipple and the bag with each feeding.

Playtex also has pacifiers that resemble the nipples of their bottles now. They are a one piece pacifier so nothing can come off and pose a choking hazard ~ and they work well with breastfeeding.

You can also try having someone else feed your daughter. If you are holding her she is going to smell your milk and reject the bottle since its you she wants. Have your husband or her future care giver try with you in the next room and see how it goes.

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I had the same problem with my son. He drank from the bottle when he was about 5 weeks old and then I didn't do it for a few weeks and then we battled it for about 3 months. I couldn't leave the house for more than 2 hours. These are the suggestions that I was given:

Leave the house so that she does not have you for the option and make your husband feed her with the bottle. If you are not around she may eventually give in.

Nurse her and then quickly sneak in the bottle. This worked for me a few times.

My lactation nurse said that it didn't matter what bottle or what nipple it was, but it did seem to matter for us. The only bottle that he would drink from was the Playtex drop ins. Those worked wonders for some reason. He hated the silicone and would only drink from the latex nipple. There is also the NUK nipple that is supposed to be like the mother's breast but that didn't work for us.

I know the frustration, but try the different suggestions and don't give up! Once she does it, make sure you do it regularly so she doesn't forget.
D.

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I had to use the tiniest nipples (connected to the tiniest bottles) I found. I think they were gerber and I found them at babies r us. The bottles come in a 3 pack. Have someone else give it to her, not you...and stick with it-when she is hungry, she will take it
best wishes

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I had this same thing happen to me when I went back to work with my first. I agree with the other poster who mentioned the breast shaped bottle - The Adiri Natural Nurser Ultimate Baby Bottle. That bottle with the addition of surrounding her with one of my shirts, so she had my scent worked wonderfully. It took 2 weeks of trying different bottles and nipples to find the right combination so be patient. And best of luck!

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You might want to try the Playtex nursers and use the "orthodontic" nipples. I know those are more like "mom" and I used them for all 3 of my children.

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My daughter had a similar problem when she switched to the bottle.I found that if I waited until she was hungrier, or squeezed a bit of milk from the bottle into her mouth, she would take to it more easily. I hope this helps. Good luck!

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when we were trying to teach my daughter to drink from a bottle, we tried all the tricks (wrapping bottle in something that smelled like mom, mom leaving the house, mom doing the feeding, different positions, different temperatures, the nipples that are the shape of pacifiers), but the baby screamed and screamed and hated it, and I would cry because it was such torture to make her unhappy when I could actually just feed her. we got her to take those bottles with quite a bit of screaming, and took her to daycare. there, on her first real day (more than 3 h), she screamed and screamed with the bottle for one hour, at which point the caregiver went out to the store and bought the Playtex dropins system bottle with Latex nipple. then the baby took it fine (probably partially because she was so hungry by then). subsequent days, there was some crying, but the baby was totally used to it within 3 days (with the caregiver anyway - she still cries a little for dad with the bottle). this doesn't seem to have caused nipple confusion either. the baby always is happy to nurse and does fine. So, try playtex dropins. the other great thing is that the liners (bags and collapsibles) are BPA-free. they do add to land-fills, but they are not so big and it's better than torturing a baby. good luck!!

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I never had this problem personally, but a couple friends did. Here's what they suggested.

Be sure that someone else tries to feed her a bottle when she's hungry, but not yet crying. So if you think she's going to want to nurse at 3, have someone else offer her a bottle at 2.30 so that hunger isn't compounding the problem. And then stick with it until she takes at least a little from the bottle, or she'll learn that if she just keeps crying, she'll get to nurse, which won't be true at daycare.

I did use for a little while bottles called "breast flow" or something like that. I think you can get them at target or babies r us. They have two nipples so it is supposed to be much more like nursing - the nipples don't leak when you just turn the bottle over, the baby has to actually suck. They are more breastlike in shape too.

The only other thing that I would suggest is that when you are home those alternate days you keep giving her bottles at the usual "bottle time" so that she knows when she'll get nursed and when she has to have the bottle.

Good luck!

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You've gotten lots of great advice!!
I agree with:
-try feeding her in a bouncy seat or holding her in a position NOT similar to breastfeeding
-have hubby or someone else feed her with you out of sight completely
-try lots of different bottles until you find the one that works for you
-KEEP TRYING!! She'll take it eventually, but it may take time :)

My daughter, who is breastfed, started taking a bottle once a day at 4 weeks - she really liked the playtex premium nurser drop-ins - many people mentioned them - they are great, and one of the bottles that is most like the breast. I think there are a few others out there too.

I was given some advent bottles, but my daughter doesn't seem to do as well with them - I don't think they mimic the breast well at all, even though they were all the rage.

Best of Luck!! :)

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Hi Milly,
When I went back to work my son refused a bottle to. First I couldnt be anywhere around If he heard my voice that was it,and my husband and the sitter would have to hold him as if they were nursing then stick the bottle in his mouth. It was akward for a bit but the he got used to it.
Hope this helped
K.

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My daughter was breastfed and when I found a job when she was two months old it was hard for her to adjust. The best bottle for us was the playtex VentAire, its still her favorite of the different styles we have. It may be hard at first, my daughter would just cry and cry, but stick with it, it does get easier.

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I'ld give someone else the bottle to feed your baby and leave the room. My daughter is 4 months and she doesn't refuse the bottle but if i'm holding her she'ld rather breastfeed(which she then plays while she's suppose to be nursing-another story) because of that I have her leaning against with her back against my chest/stomach and she'll drink from the bottle. She's been sitting up since she was 3.5 months so this works for us. And now she's holding her bottle. Your baby will eat so try not to stress out about it and congrads on the baby.

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Have you tried one of the Haberman feeders (aka Medela Special Needs Feeder). I found out about from Mamasource and it worked great for my BF baby.
It works like BF'g. The nipple is long to be drawn to the back of the throat, and milk only comes out when the baby sucks.
Good luck!

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Hi M.~
Have you been trying to give your daughter a bottle or have other people? If you're feeding her she's probably confused and wants to nurse, she knows it's you and she won't take the bottle if she can breastfeed~ try having your husband feed her when you're either not there or out of the room. If she's hungry she'll have no other choice but to take the bottle.
Hope this helps!!!

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I had this problem with my 2nd daughter. She had a strong gag reflex, so it seemed that she just could not get the swing of using a bottle. I initially tried Avent, no luck, then went out and bought 5 different kinds of bottles and nipples. no luck. Tried leaving the room, or leaving the house when it was time to feed her. That did not seem to matter. In the end, after a week or two of trying different things, we figured out that when she was really hungry, she would drink from the bottle (in the end, it was Avent that worked best for her). I was trying to bottle feed her according to her nursing schedule. I found that if I just waited a bit longer until she was really hungry, then she would take the bottle. Once she took it, it really only took a matter of days for her to get used to it and we had no more problems with it. Good luck!

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Hi M.!
Try having your husband give her the bottles when you aren't around. If she knows you are close by she will not want to take the bottle when the real stuff is better!!! I found that the whole nipple thing was a lot of trial and error. None of my children liked the same kind of nipple for a bottle. Milk comes out faster from a bottle nipple too so they have to relearn how to nurse from a bottle. Just keep offering it. Be prepared for her to take a while to give in and take the bottle. She's had the good stuff for a long time and knows the difference!!!! :) Are your hours scheduled so that you could nurse her before you leave and again when you get home and not need the feeding between?? That might be an option to think about too if she's really resistant to the bottle.

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My son had a terrible time a week after i went back to work he was 3mo it lasted till he was 6mo we started using a bottle called the breast flow bottle by the first years he refused that after a week and just refused to eat from a bottle all together for 1 mo then we started a soothie bottle because he used the soothie pacifier eventually he took to this bottle but only would eat 2-4 oz after 6mo he got use to it and took a bottle fine

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I had trouble getting my son to drink from a bottle when I went back to work after 16 weeks of maternity leave. We tried several different kinds of bottles. The ones that worked best for him were the Playtex drop-ins. Also, I NEVER fed him the bottle at first (I wasn't even in the room when he got the bottle). My husband took this responsibility. Once my son got used to the bottle, I could give it to him, but at first he associated me with nursing so he would not accept the bottle. Also, try to give your baby the bottle at different times of the day so she doesn't associate a morning or evening feeding with the bottle and then refuse it at other times. I hope this helps and good luck!!

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I found that putting my daughter in a bouncy seat/ infant seat and holding the bottle in her mouth worked- she wanted to nurse if she was being held so putting her in a seat made it seem different enough and she learned to take the bottle and then being held while feeding was no big deal.

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Hi,
I had a similar problem, and my daughter really liked the playtex drop in bottle. She only liked the brown nipple that went with it. The nipple seems to be natural shaped. Its worth a try! Good luck!

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I'll add my two cents though you've gotten tons of good tips. I had same problem with my daughter when I tried the bottle even though she'd taken it in the hospital because she was jaundiced and my milk wasn't in. Apparently she'd forgotten about that! Anyway, I tired every bottle & Nipple I could find at Babies R us and target. Dr. Browns, Avent, Breastflow, Evenflow, Soothie, Medela - none of them worked. A friend recommended I try Playtex LATEX dropins and thats the one that worked - but she wouldn't take the Playtex Dropins in the silicone. Still a bit of a struggle - we found that feeding her the bottle when she was in the car seat & a little sleepy was what got her to take it best at first, then she got used to it. I really wanted her to take the nipple that would fit on the Medela bottle I pump into so when she was about 5 months old we tried the latex gerber nipple on them and she took it! I still think she likes Playtex Latex drop ins the best. Don't worry - you'll find one that works.I remember being so stressed so don't fret too much and good luck!

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I could not get my daughter to drink from an advent bottle at all. It is not even a similar shape nipple. I had success with the Gerber Comfort Latch bottles and nipples, also the playtex bottles (the upside down ones). Some breastfed babies reject the bottle - especially if mom is around.

When my daughter started day care she refused the bottle, but while at day care it was the only way for her to get milk. SO she eventually accepted it.

Since it is dad that is taking care of her, you are just going to have to let them do their thing and she will eventually accept it. When I first left my daughter - I felt cruel - but in the long run - it worked for her and now she has adjusted and is doing very well.

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I didn't nurse my daughter, but I attend a weekly mother's group at the hospital where she was born and most of the other mother's do. One of the facilitators of the group is also a lactation consultant and this question has come up several times over the seven months that we've been going. What I've heard is just to keep trying. It seems as though it takes a while before a baby will get used to the bottle (and don't worry, she will not like it better...she'll always prefer you!) It's just going to take time and patience. Also, try a different type of bottle if she doesn't take to that one. We went through several types before my daughter settled on the soothie brand (not sure how they measure up to the "real thing"). Anyway, good luck and congratulations on your new baby.

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