My Breastfeed 8 Month Old Boy Wont Take the Bottle of Breastmilk of Forumla

My best advice is to get yourself to the nearest La Leche League meeting. Those women are sweethearts and are just the resource for dealing with this sort of thing. You won't regret it, all you'll regret is that you didn't start going sooner! These women have seen it all and will be a great comfort and resource. You can go to the website and look up the meetings nearest you by clicking on "Find a local group" at the top: http://www.lllusa.org/.
Personally, my heart goes out to you. My daughter never did take a bottle unless she knew I wasn't around and she had no choice. You have a strong willed child which is a blessing in the long run and a real challenge for the time being! I know it's scary, but I believe that if you keep at it, hunger will win the day and he'll end up taking that bottle, though I'd make sure it's pumped breast milk since he's so partial. You'll worry at first and feel like a horrible mother but as long as he's not showing signs of dehydration I'd do it and if he loses a little weight he'll put it back and then some when he finally starts taking the bottle.
Also, you might want to experiment with different nipples and different flow amounts to make sure he's not getting so much that it's coming too fast for him or, more likely, that he's not getting enough out of the nipple to make it worth his while. And remember, the sucking one does at a nipple and the sucking one does at the breast are two totally different movements of the muscles of the jaw/mouth. He may not understand how to get the milk to come out of a nipple and may be getting frustrated. It may be that he has to learn this skill when he's not so hungry and has the patience for it. OR he might be the kind of child who must be ravenously desperate to give it a go and figure it out. I ended up going straight from breast to sippy cup when she was still very small. Have you tried that yet? You might be surprised.
In the mean time, go to that meeting. Good luck and blessings!

2 moms found this helpful

Have you tried a sippy cup? That's the only way that my DD would EVER take breastmilk besides the actual breast.

2 moms found this helpful

I agree with everyone else and the sippy cup, though that will take some time for your baby to get used to drinking solely from that. In the meantime, he will probably nurse more often at night, which will be tough for you, I know! If he hasn't taken a bottle by this time, most likely he won't. The good thing is you can mix breastmilk/formula into his food and cereal and at least you know he is getting something in him! If you don't want to waste breastmilk or if you don't have a lot on hand, maybe put formula in the sippy cup and then once he gets it start mixing in more breastmilk. Or if you don't want to do formula, water in the sippy is fine too. It's tricky, but he is old enough that soon the sippy cup will be fine and at 1 he can go to reg. milk too! Just reallize the cup thing may take a few weeks or a month. Good luck!

Definitely try a sippy cup. I would suggest buying a Gerber or Playtex, one that requires an extra piece to make it spill proof. You can take the piece out and help him understand how it works. You can put the piece back in after he gets the hang of it.

Try a sippy cup. He will need to learn how to drink from one anyway.

This happened to me with my son... We had to order special bottles from the internet, but they were great. VERY similar to an actual breast. I used the first one, but my best friend swears the second is better. We were both happy, so I hope this helps! BTW- make sure your mom is holding him like you do when you nurse (turned toward her body at chest level)... sometimes just the change in the position keeps them from eating...

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I feel your pain! My son would not take a pacifier, bottle or a sippy cup with a soft rubber spout. Thankfully he WOULD drink out of a sippy cup if the spout (nipple) was hard plastic..........hope this helps. My son went from breast feeding directly to a hard plastic sippy cup at 8 months.

GOOD LUCK!

You are probably working a 6-8 hr day right? I wouldn't worry about it. You would be happy if your son went 6-8 hrs of sleep at night. He will be okay maybe grumpy for your mom. I recently babysat my niece and she did the same thing I was there from 3pm-12am so she went 9hrs and would not give in and she nursed for a long time when my sister got home. I would just expect him to nurse more when you are home. Did you try pumping you only mention giving formula also try a sippy cup or even a straw cup.

My 8-month-old daughter won't take a bottle either. In the beginning she did, but when she was about 2 months I stopped giving them to her, never thinking that she would refuse them in the long-run. When she was about 6-months-old, I started training her with a sippy cup. Every baby is different, but it was too hard for her to get the ones that tip back so I tried the straw ones and she instantly fell in love. There is no real point in getting your son on a bottle at this point because it is a habit that you are going to have to break him of soon anyway. Try a sippy cup. I don't know that I would put breast milk in it the first few times, but I would just try giving him one so he can familiarize himself with it and then put breast milk in it one day. As far as him not eating, well he will only starve for so long. Right now, he is probably just testing. Eventually he will start to eat with her. Does anyone other than you feed him ever? That could be part of the problem too. If you are the only one to ever feed him (solids) then perhaps he sees you as the only one that can meet his needs. Maybe even have your mom or someone else feed him when you are around.

time to start breaking him, instead of feeding him give him a bottle or baby food you give it to him. he still thinks of you a dinner and snack along with MOM.