My Baby Won't Take a Botte... Help!!!!

Had the same problem with both of my boys. Bad news is neither one ever drank from a bottle. My oldest wouldn't even eat baby food. The good news is that I tried giving them breast milk through a straw (put the straw in a cup and hold the milk in then put it in his mouth) and they did fine. Once they had the hang of it, I bought sippy cups with straws that they could suck and both did wonderful. We completely skipped the bottle stage. Not the most convienent way to go, but then again I never had to wash the bottles!! I would try to find a cup that he can use instead of trying to use the bottle (you just end up weaning him off the bottle soon anyway). Hope this helps . . .

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Many happy healthy babies never take a bottle. Please keep in mind that most mainstream baby websites/magazines are sponsored by formula companies, so of course they stress the need to get your baby used to a bottle. Not one of the babies of my stay at home friends has used a bottle, and they've been just fine. In an emergency you can just give solids since you've gotten that far. Since you are home all the time, I would keep breastfeeding. You do not need to wean your baby. End of bottle problem! We have no intention of using bottles ourselves. I believe that if you offer him lots of solids he will probably not need a lot of feedings. In a few months you will be able to go out and leave just solids for the meal you miss. Your baby wants you, not a piece of plastic--isn't that nice, really? They are little for such a short time. I would just let him be.

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I'm wondering why you are so determined to wean him before he is ready? You are a stay at home mom who works at home... what is the rush? He is still a baby. Nursing your son is a wonderful thing. It is not all about nutrition. It is an invaluable bonding experience that you will never have again. Don't rush him to grow up. He will let you know when he is ready for a bottle, because he will start accepting one. Or not, since a bottle is not a natural method of feeding. Enjoy your little guy! Do not rush this stage of his life! All too soon he will be a moody and sullen 15 year old and you will long for the days you are living right now.

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Hello Susana,

Well I will try to keep this short and sweet. I as in the same position you are about 2years ago with my son who will be 3 next month. I BF him up until 10mos but had to stop because I was going to have surgery. He never liked bottles with breastmilk, and he definitely didn't want formula. I know all babies are different, but I actually started giving him a sippy cup, which he took to very well. Have you tried that? I ask that because your lil one will be 1 or so once you wean and I am sure you are not going to want him on the bottle much longer after that (or maybe I am wrong). I would say try that and see if he takes to it. That is my advice, but I am sure you will get some advice from moms who have been in the game alot longer than me. Hope this helps a bit

Lita M.

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HI,
I have 4 kids ranging from 22 months to 8 years. The last 3 never took a bottle. While Nos. 2 and 3 weaned to a sippy cup quite easily, number 4 still won't use a sippy cup. We just had to teach him early on to used a regular cup. (and I do still nurse for some naps and at night) It has been wonderful to not have to clean bottles!

If you concern is being able to leave him for a few hours, I agree with the others, just leave some food that he enjoys and he should be fine. The person taking care of him can always offer a little water or breastmilk, or whatever you want to give him, from a cup. If he will not sleep without nursing, I can see more why you might be concerned. We rarely leave our kids, so this is not usually an issue with us. (I'm not saying that one shouldn't) If this is a concern, maybe someone else can help with that. :-) I remember when my sister was getting ready to wean her 7 month old and decided to introduce the bottle, hoping that she would take both for another 4 or 5 months. Well, she found herself with a baby that wanted nothing more to do with her and having to buy formula a bottles for 5 months, as well as dealing with major engorgement.

I hope you find what works for you.
L.

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I think you are worrying about this more than is needed. It sounds like your son is getting quite a variety of foods and beverages besides your breast milk. He will not starve or become dehytrated. All babies have an strong sense of survival and if they are hungry or thirsty enough, they will drink no matter the source. The process of learning to drink from something other than your breast may just take a little time and require lots of supervision. We gave our babies a sippy cup straight from the breast. They were also very good at sucking from a straw - it just means you have to sit with them and take it away when the playing starts. Like with everything - they eventually get it.

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This doesn't really answer your question but have you thought about not weaning him. My daughter wouldn't take a bottle either. She would scream if I tried to give her one. I ended up BF til she was almost 2. In the end it worked out fine, no bottle weaning, straight to the cup, + so much healthier & cheaper. I did night wean her earlier so we could get a bit more sleep. She was a very frequent feeder. Also she started taking sips from a water bottle quite early when thirsty and BF wasn't convenient.

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about sippy cups: i found some are too strong in resistance for the baby to suck anything out. even though the non sealing type are messier, as they spill readily when tipped, they are much easier for the baby to hydrate from.
re: breast/bottle some books claim you must use one or the other because baby will develop a preference and not change. well, my son was started on bottles in premie dept. of hospital, bottles filled with breast milk. to wean him over, i fed with bottle. then, after he was relaxed and had milk in him i slowly introduced breast. he was scared of it at first. was a gradual process. then, he could do either, but preferred breast.
try leaking some milk out of bottle end aftermain feeding, and be patient. let feeding finish with bottle. gradually, bottle gets introduced earlier in feeding, and then just bottle, or occasional breast.
and about Velva's response that moms can't fall asleep and crush their babies unless drunk or on drugs. well, i fell asleep once, exhausted, and woke to crying. i had fallen asleep on my baby. i was terrified. i really could have suffocated him. that's why he was crying. an angel must have helped me wake up. i never fed him without setting him back in his bassinet after that. i feel for that poor panda mom who suffocated her own new baby under her a few years back.

I worked part-time graveyard when mine were babies and while I breast-fed them, they all took bottles, too - not many, but they did take at least one or two bottles a week while I was at work. When my "baby" was 4 months old I was instructed by her doctor to wean her and start her on formula. All of a sudden she wouldn't take a bottle. Not even expressed breast milk. It was horrible! My mom ended up taking her for a weekend and getting her to take a bottle. It was a looooooong weekend! She said she finally figured out that if she slipped the nipple in WHILE my baby was sucking her fingers, she'd keep sucking, and eventually slip her fingers out and continue drinking. My suggestion is to try to have someone else offer a bottle when you aren't around - I think it's easier when they don't smell mom. But try to do this periodically (leave him with Gramma while you and Daddy go out to dinner, or while you go out for an afternoon with the girls) to start getting him used to the rubber nipple. Another idea (from my mother-in-law) is to skip the bottle completely, and start offering a cup now, then when you wean him, no bottles, cup only. (I never did this - but she was mom to seven and I know she did it with some of them.)

Good luck!
B.

Hi Susana,

I am not sure if this will help. My son was just like yours. he would not even try to take a bottle. One day when he was about 8 months old (he is 9 1/2 months now) I gave him the bottle with a little tiny amount of apple juice mixed with water and he sucked it down!!! From that time on, he has taken it no problem (with breast milk and formula, although he only gets a bottle about once a week). The other thing is that since he is close to weaning at a year, you might want to just try and get him on a cup rather than getting him on the bottle now and having to "wean" him twice. A friend of mine even tried those cups with straws for her daughter (same age as mine) and that worked for her. I might try that for myself, since my son is not keen on the sippy cup. I hope this helps. It's not much, but I was surprised that after months of trying, he just finally did it. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Mary L.

So give him all his liquids in a sippy cup. My 5 kiddos never had a bottle and all used a sippy cup by the time that they were 6 months old!

I don't know if you'll have much luck getting him to take a bottle now. Since he is already 9 1/2 months old and eating solids, I would just keep offering the sippy cup as much as possible. My son (who is now 3 yrs) started rejecting bottles completely at 9 months, and on days I was working I had my parents offer the sippy cup so he'd get some milk. I know you might be concerned that he isn't getting as much milk as when he is nursing, but by the time he is 12 mo old he will be eating cheeses, yogurt, and other dairy products to supplement the milk.

My girls have had good results weaning directly to the sippy cup. At first, of course their babies just play, etc, as you say, but eventually they get the hang of it, and then you don't have to wean again (from the bottle). Once they stop shaking it out, etc, you can put whatever good nutrition you want in there. At 9 months, sounds old enough to keep trying with the sippy cup.

Hi Susana,
Just a little advice. Don't worry too much. You don't want your son to get to used to drinking from a bottle anyway. Try using the Avent bottles for some reason a lot of babies like the nipples from these bottles. My son liked them also. My son is now 16mos and I'm a 29yr old 1st time mom.

Anyway, try to keep your son drinking all of his milk from the sippy cups. You don't want to start on habbit when he'll have to try to go into another habbit within a little while. Try playtex sippy cups. Try to use only the sippy cups that look comfortable to you. If you think they look comfortable they just might feel that way to your son. Try to cut out breastfeeding all the way and pump and maybe your son will get the hint that he can't drink milk from you and he should try to take the sippy cup as he should. This is only a sugesstion. My son used both from the beginning, but, he was picky about the bottles/sippy cups he used.
good luck.

My youngest child also would not take a bottle. When I went back to work his dad was with him. I left a pumped bottle with his dad but they rarely used it. My little guy got off the breast when i walked out the door in the morning and got back on when I arrived home at night. He ate nearly all night, (sorry I slept through much of that -and I don't believe the myth of mothers crushing their babies, unless they are drunk or drugged that is,) I was able to breast feed him until he was nearly three. He did start taking other foods like smashed up natural whatever his dad was cooking for the other kids at about a year old) He grew up quite nicely, a child who never felt deprived of his mommy.
I wish you as much joy as I had.

Susana,
Don't lose hope, you'll get through this! My cousin's little boy did the same thing, but he eventually transitioned to the sippy cup at around 18 months. I also started to transition to the sippy cup around 1 yr. But he continued to nurse till 16-17 months. I promise he won't nurse forever=) It may be better to stick to one type of cup vs. trying to move to the bottle and then a cup. There are some great cups out there with a soft spout, which in itself, is a transition between bottle and cup. I think they are spill resistent not spill proof; they still work great. This may help your little one get more with less frustration or hard work of the others.
Stick with your breastmilk in the cup so there's only one change vs. two. Also, as you transition to regular milk, my pediatrician suggested mixing breast and cow's milk starting with more breast milk and progressing to all cow's milk. That seemed to help with my son's rejection of the cow's milk initially.
He'll get through it; it may just take a little more time than anticipated.
P.S. I'm a mom of 4; my youngest is 22 months.

Dear Susana,

Um, well, put as much as you can from your breast into the bottle and see if he takes it seriously with that in it. Then keep adding a bit of formula until it is all formula that should take quite a while - also, check the nipple and try different types.

Also, print out this email and save it for him to read when he is having his first child, and he will see what you had to go through.

One cute baby. Sounds like he will have lots of fun in his life. Good luck, C. N.

consider it a blessing. do you know how many women struggle trying to wean their kid off a bottle? and, you see toddlers walking around with bottles hanging out of their mouths - I hate that! My kids all gave up bottles before their first birthday. My oldest, at 9 months, was given a kids cup with a pop up straw. She loved it and would never take a bottle afterwards. So we just used cups with straws. no big deal.

Hi Susana,

I went through the same problem with my baby. When my baby was about 3 1/2 months old, I had to go back to work. My husband was at home with my baby during the day and my baby refused to take the bottle of breastmilk. She would get so hysterical. She would wait until I got home from work to eat (10 hours later). We had called the dr. and he had said that was normal and she would eventually take the bottle. After about a week, she got hungry during the day and started to take the bottle from my husband. My baby is almost a year old (just a few days) and she refuses to use a sippy cup. So my mom found a cup with a built in straw. Very easy for a baby to use. She loves it. She now drinks juice, water, and milk from it. I would try that. Good luck and don't give up!

K.

There is no need for a bottle at all. Direct from breast to cup is ideal. If your baby did not get a bottle by about 6wk, he likely won't take it at all. Continue to offer breast milk or water in a sippy cup. Try the Nubby brand (soft, easy to suck). Many moms wean directly from breast to whole milk in a cup at a year. Babies do not need bottles or formula at all. If you need time away, continue trying to have whoever watches the baby give pumped breast milk in a sippy cup. Good luck!

Try him on a cup! I did that when my first was 6 months old and i used a whiskey (no whiskey in it) glass and he would take sips of the milk until he got so used to drinking out of the glass, he never had another bottle. I know, i know, i'm just a grandma now, but my methods worked then and they worked with my grandkids and great grandkids now! Some times old ways are better than what these doctors are telling you new moms today! Ask your moms and grandmas, they will give you the right scoop!