Need to Have 7 Month Old Breastfed Baby Take bottle...Help!

I too went back to work at 7 months and my baby adamently refused the bottle. I tried every day with every bottle for months. In the end, all it took was to leave him at home with the nanny. He took the bottle from her w/o a problem the first day. I didn't believe it at first! But once the baby understands that this is his caregiver for the day, he simply adapts.

I had to go hack to work after 3 months! I was able to breatfeed myson til he was 15 months old by pumping twice a day! It worked great! I had daddy give him bottles and that was ok. He didnt do really good with bottles til he went to daycare! I was amazed!

M.-

This seems to be a common problem. I've answered this question twice now.

You can go check out 4 month breast fed baby refused bottle by Stacy M and Bottle feeding an infant by Sarah M.

You can also browse the questions/answers under "Newborns & Infants -> Breastfeeding & Lactation Requests".

This process takes time and commitment. You've done really well so far so congrats. Keep up the good work.

Email me if you want more details about my experience.

~C.

My 10 month old is the same as yours - teething, nursing for comfort and sleep...
She is taking a bottle fine, but I introduced it early on...someone else does need to give the bottle/cup, not you. Eventually when baby is hungry enough, she will drink. Be sure to do a slow flow nipple for newborns though and the nipple should be wide, like breast..you can try the Nuby sippy cup as my daughter is learning to use that now...the nipple itself is soft, not hard...but a bit messy.
You can pump now to get a supply in the freezer and continue to pump at work during breaks, but if you can't, you can still nurse partially when you're with baby. Your body will adjust and still make milk for the other time that you're with baby...just be sure to nurse on demand when you're not at work...
Good luck!

Hi M.,
I tried this with my daughter last fall and it was hard. I ended up letting other people feed her to get her used to it and I would still nurse occasionally. I tried going right to a cup didnt work for me but might for you. The big thing is the falling asleep when she nurses. Advice for your next one, do the EAT, PLAY, SLEEP> in that order from birth this way they wont rely on the bottle or nursing to get them to sleep they learn to self soothe. I have 2 boys and a girl ages 6, 4, and 18 mos. All has been trial and error.
Good Luck!
J.

Hi M.,
Well, I also exclusively breastfeed both of my children. My daughter took to the bottle at only 3 weeks old (I pumped so that my husband could feed her sometimes). That work great for all of us...then came our son. Right from day one I knew things would be different! I didn't have much of a schedule with him and he also liked to nurse to fall asleep (something I told myself I would not do again with #2, but it happened anyway!) My husband and I could not get him to take a bottle at all! He would fight like crazy to get the thing away from him! When he was about 4 weeks old I couldn't nurse him for about 48 hours due to a surgery I had to have. The only person he would take a bottle of milk from was my mother...of course this was a battle he realized could not be won at the time. It was many months later (and many different bottles), that we attempted again and was not successful. Every once in a while he would take one from my mom, as long as I was nowhere to be seen or heard. He was now eating some cereal, fruits and veggies and still nursed quite a few times a day. When he was about 8 months old my daughter came across the bag of failed bottles...she asked if she could have them for her babies. I gave them to her and then found my son picking through them with her! He was testing them all out! It was quite funny, but I then put a little bit of water in them to see if he would take it by himself. Well, he tried them all and picked the Soothie bottle! I then offered him some expressed milk and he took it! From that day on he would take a bottle, but preferred to do it himself and it had to be the Soothie. I nursed him until 12 months, but could give him a bottle when we were out or when with a sitter. I know it might sound silly, but it was what finally worked! My mister independent! You never know, it could work for you too! Good luck!

I feel your pain. When I went back to work with my first child, I tried getting him used to the bottle beforehand. He absolutely refused to take the bottle from me for a while. My husband or my parents were the ones that had to try it. He even screamed for them about it, but always eventually took it. Leave the room when all of this is going on. IT makes it easier for your daughter to take the bottle because she doesn't see smell or hear you. (It also makes it a little easier on you).
Also, go talk to the daycare you are going to be taking her to. I'm sure they have experienced this before and may have suggestions. This way they will also be prepared to maybe have a bit of a tough time with feeding her at first. Good luck!

Babies are really flexible, at least that's what I found with my two. I went back to work when they were 2 and 3 months old, and I continued to nurse them mornings, late afternoons (as soon as I got home), and evenings. I pumped extra milk (by hand) before returning to work and froze the milk in bottles so that I would have an ample supply on hand to take to the sitter. At work, I pumped milk once a day in a private bathroom and put it in a freezer to take to the sitter on my way home. Every vacation day or weekend day, I would try to pump an extra bottle.
My older child easily transitioned to daytime bottles of my milk at the sitter's; we, of course, tried this out prior to my going back to work to make sure she would adjust. However, I never gave her a bottle myself. I nursed--the sitter gave a bottle. My son had more difficulty, probably because when he was 3 weeks old I was hospitalized with a ruptured appendix and he had to be put on formula. I did resume nursing him when I left the hospital, but I think he "remembered" being without his mommy, so when I left him at the sitter's, he fussed. However, he too adjusted after a few weeks; he just required more patience than my first.
Mother's milk is the best thing you can give your daughter! Not only is it exceptionally nourishing, nursing promotes a bond between the two of you that no one else has. Both of my children nursed on demand and weaned themselves--when they were ready. Even though I had to go back to work, nursing was one thing I could do for my children to make them feel secure and loved. Good luck to you--you can do it! Have someone else try the bottle with your daughter, while you're not around. She will be able to adjust, I'm sure.

Hi M., don't panic. First, are you the one offering the bottle? Most breastfed babies will refuse a bottle, even of pumped milk when mom is offering it or when they can even see her, hear her, smell her. Your best chance at success is to leave entirely, and allow dad, a grandparent or sitter to do the bottle training. When that person offers the bottle, I'd suggest making sure that they haven't only warmed the milk, but warmed the nipple too if the bottle has been in the refrigerator. They are not used to something cold in their mouths. Also, have the caregiver smear a little EBM on the bottle's nipple so your baby will immediately smell and taste that what is being offered is what she always eats.
You can find the book Working Without Weaning by Kirsten Bergren online, it is a great resource for breastfeeding moms who are working.

my 6 month old just started taking a bottle (but i never did get my older daughter to take one...i think it's partly a temperment thing). what i did this time was to just let her play with the bottle with about an ounce or two of breastmilk in it, with no pressure and no intention of feeding. she would hold it, gnaw at the nipple (and accidentally get the breastmilk that way), etc. i would do this before she became very hungry. then when she wanted to nurse, i'd hold the bottle as if to feed her. if she rejected it, no problem, i'd nurse her right away. after a couple of times of doing this, she just all of a sudden latched on one day and sucked down everything in the bottle after playing with it for a few minutes. two times after that, she got excited when she saw the bottle, reached for it, and started sucking down the milk right away. the one she likes the best is the Born Free with a newborn slow-flow nipple. no idea if this strategy will work for your little one or not, but it's an idea. good luck!

Hi. I have an 8 month old who is exculsively breastfeed too. She would not take a bottle and we've tried since she was a month old. Finallly I gave up the idea and began to introduce sippy cups. She didn't like the ones that have a rubber spot (a reason why she wouldn't take a bottle) so I gave her the "take and toss" sippy cups which are the cheapie ones (there is no valve so it is easier for her to drink). At first I gave it to her to play with and then I added some water ( i didn't want to waste the precious milk). She loves to watch me drink my water bottle. Within a few days she was drinking from it with help from me to hold it. I now put milk in it and she does great with it. This week she has progressed to the real sippy cups which do not leak. She also has begun straw drinking too. My only suggestions would be to try to get her on a schedule because it will be easier for her and the day care provider. Good luck!

:) L.

Our babies never act quite the same way with us as they do with someone else. So, while she may give you trouble trying to feed her with a bottle rather than breast, she could accept it quite easily from someone else. She associates YOU with nursing, but can just as easily come to associate a caregiver with a different container for her milk.

You may not even have to give her a bottle. She might be able to go to a sippy cup- this is what I did with my son- or even a regular cup- I always gave him water from a little cup since the first time he drank water at a few months old- and he learned to drink liquids from the cup and never has used a bottle.

Regarding teething, I like the homeopathic teething tablets and purchased an amber teething necklace from a natural toy catalog. It is an old Baltic tradition to put individually knotted amber beads around a baby's neck because amber is pine resin, an anti-inflammatory, and the oils absorb into the skin with body heat. Wet washcloths are great too. I wear my son on my back when he's at his clingiest, in an asian style back carrier, as I do housework. He falls asleep in there and I find once he wakes up he has gotten his needs for comfort and touch met and plays by himself afterwards much better.

Maybe you should try a cup instead of a bottle. I had the same problem with my oldest son when he was 5 mos old. I was going back to work part time and he HATED bottles. I tried every kind of nipple on the market and nothing worked. He finally would take the NUBY sippy cup. It has a soft clear silicone spout. The spout is also kind of chunky, so I think it gave him the sensation of a "mouthful" like the breast as opposed to a skinny bottle nipple. He also wouldn't take straight breast milk from it, I had to mix it with formula to alter the taste or he would freak out. I think he felt milk came from me and nowhere else! But eventually it worked. Keep trying and good luck.

hi M.;

i would suggest that you go to your local La Leche League Intl. chapter for information on infant nutrition but i can tell you this from experience w two exclusively breastfed children.

your 7 month old does not need to take a bottle! hurray! your life just got easier.

at 7 m your daughter can have pretty much whatever food she can handle or wants. she can have all kinds of fruits, veggies, meats, and she can probably easily learn, with some practice, to use a straw cup or sippy cup and have water in that. my children never had one drop of formula and they never took a bottle and i never even pureed food or used baby food. if they could hold it and suck it and gum it, they could eat it.

as long as you nurse her plenty in the morning before you go and as often as she asks when you get home, that will be plenty of breast milk for her. juicy fruits like watermelon or cantaloupe will keep her hydrated and are yummy! avocado is soft and filling, sweet potato, mashed potatoes with hummus mixed in, soft bread or chewey bread, a bagel can keep a 7 month old busy for 20 minutes. chicken that's been roasted till it's very very soft is great, noodles, there's a lot. i gave my kids some yogurt at that age and they loved it and had no problems with it.

i would urge you to stay away from the bottle. if she doesn't want it, there is no reason to force it. if she likes it, you're in trouble with the nursing. breastmilk is BY FAR the best nutrition for her and she will get all she needs if you give it to her when she requests it; it is not possible to spoil her with nursing. and when you go back to work, she may miss you a LOT and wake up at night to nurse and be close to you. though you will be tired, you should try your best to give her as much night nursing as possible. the more you give in the smoother the transition will go.

good luck to you and congratulations on your successful nursing relationship with your wonderful baby!

J.

I'd say go straight to a sippy cup, rather than have her learn to use a bottle and then have to switch. I'm a big fan of the ones with straws - even though they aren't "spill-proof". It's a better skill to learn to drink out of a straw since we do it all into adulthood.
I started my daughters using a straw by using the straw as a sort of syringe.
I put the straw in liquid, cover the top and then put the straw in their mouth as I slowly eased my finger off the other end. They both learned quickly how to suck out of it.
Good luck!

Hi M.! This can be done very easy...and only take a couple days...but...it will be tough on you. First, you'll have to get her on a schedule. Babies LOVE schedules!! Second, you're going to have to let her cry a little. Breast feed in the morning and then be firm about the bottle times. Try a bottle feeding..if she doesn't take it...give it a little while and try again...and keep trying. Don't give in..this is where is harder on you then her. If she misses a whole feeding..she's not going to starve..keep trying. If you're consistant..it WILL work. Do not break over and breast feed her for comfort. When she's hungry she will eat..at first she won't like it..but she will do it.

I had to do this will my first daughter, because she won't take the bottle I had to run home every 3 hours to feed her...it just wasn't working. When I finally put my foot down and was determined..it worked and fast. I can remember my daughter screaming and was soooo mad that she actually drank from the bottle..only a couple ounces..and then fell asleep. When she woke up..she started just taking the bottle...the fight was over!

Do all the same things..just don't give the option of the breast during the day...Dinner time (when you'll normally be home from work, nurse then but on a schedule) Babies are WAY more smart then we give them credit! They're very fast learners..when you're consistant! Parenting is tougher on the parents then the kids. Take deep breath and push forward! You can do it!! :)

congratulations to you for EBF, im so sorry you arent able to continue it full time. i have no experience with this transition, but would only suggest someone else feeding her when you are nowhere to be seen or heard. not even daddy, someone else. there also is no need for her to have a bottle, you may want to try a cup instead. that way it will be something completely different rather than confuse her. by using a cup you also are reducing the chance she may start to refuse the breast(since bottles are so much easier to feed from). will you at least be able to pump. then you can nurse at that time on the weekends. can you start pumping now, maybe get an extra pumping before you go to bed to build up some in your freezer? it would be much more familiar to only use breastmilk.

im not sure who will be watching her but dont stress about a schedule. she will let them know when she is hungry. even bottle formula fedbabies dont have to be on a schedule. and babies still do want to nurse/have a bottle after they have eaten. babies nutrition is to come from milk/formula, the food is just extra but not meant to replace milk/formula. good luck, you will be fine. just dont give up, really try a cup. maybe you should post in the La leche league forums or call them for suggestions. there are tons of breastfeeding pros on there to help you. take care