Taking the Bottle

Try using different bottle nipples. My first daughter refused the bottle as well and I tried every nipple available until I found one she would take to. It may also help having your husband feed your son to get him used to the bottle. When you feed him the bottle he'd rather have the real thing! :) Good luck!

Hi A.,

My daughter got her first two bottom teeth at 3 months and I thought that might be the end of the breastfeeding. Initially, she did test out her teeth on my nipples, but I took the advice I got from "What to Expect the First Year," and looked at her when she did it and told her firmly, "no." After a couple of times, she stopped the biting and is still nursing at 13 months. I hope this helps.

I feel your pain. My 5-month old just got the hang of the bottle. When he was a newborn we couldn't find one that didn't give him horrible gas so we abandoned the daily bottle for a few months because it seemed counterproductive. Fingers crossed...I think I have finally found a bottle that agrees with him. My suggestion would be to try out different bottle systems and nipples. You may discover one that works better than others. I also bought a soft-spout sippy cup which I am going to introduce soon. I have been told the learning curve with a sippy cup can be quite long so that may not be a quick fix, but it's another option. Lastly, to get my son to relearn the bottle, I had to have some one else give him the bottle for three days in a row. I went upstairs so he could not smell my milk or associate drinking from the bottle with breastfeeding. If he refuses the bottle, don't offer him the breast right away afterwards. Wait a little bit so that he doesn't connect refusing the bottle with getting the breast, which is what he prefers.

Hi A.. I know exactly how you feel :-( My six month old now has two bottom teeth and she bit me very hard too (I didn't know I could bleed there). This is what I have done, I pulled her off, generally I had to put my fingers in her mouth and pry her off; tell her it hurt and put her down to cry. I also increased the amt she ate off of a spoon so she didn't nurse as often. I found that she bit when she was really hungry and wanted to take a break and was almost afraid if she let go I would take the breast away from her. She has thanfully stopped bitting (it lasted about two horrible weeks).
Now in order to get her to eat out of a bottle I have to feed her as soon as she acts hungry and I "milk" the bottle so that the milk goes into her mouth and then she will take it or I will nurse her for a few min and then give her the bottle.

I also had a horrible time with this. My suggestion is if your baby takes a pacifier to buy a bottle nipple that is the same as the pacifier. After a couple hours of not breastfeeding, offer the bottle with new nipple. If that doesn't work try to give the new bottle while the baby is sleeping...that's what worked for my very strong willed daughter. Good luck!

My daughter was strictly breastfed too, but I sometimes gave her pumped milk in a bottle, like for in the car and stuff. It took a few tries to find a bottle that she liked, she even would switch every now and then. I would recommend the Playtex natural shaped nipple, the gerber (can't remember the name, but they're triangular shaped bottles with blue and purple), or Avent. These are the ones that I tried, she didn't like the Avent, but mostly did the Playtex, occasionally she wanted the Gerber. It was kind of a pain, but she finally figured it out and helped me out.

I had the same experience with my name 8 1/2 month old son. I only breast feed him, but would pump occasionally so he could have a bottle if my husband and I would go out. He would take a bottle from my husband, but only when I wasn't in the room and he couldn't hear me talking. He would take the bottle from his aunts and grandma, but again only if I wasn't in the room and he didn't hear my voice. I started pumping and letting my husband give him a bottle everynight, and finally he takes it without problem. I also have to be very careful about the temperature of the milk.He likes it about as warm as I can get it, without it being too hot. I guess thats what he's used to. Hope this helps. I know how frustrating it can be, just have patience and give it some time!! Hope this helps!

My son wouldn't take a bottle either...I talked to a lot of people about it and they said that I needed to leave him with someone and have them give him the bottle; reason being that he can smell you and he knows that "the real thing" is available. They also told me if he was hungry enough he would take it...I didn't push it too much because I didn't work, so I didn't have to give him a bottle.

The other thing is that he bit too. I was told to flick his cheek hard enough for it to sting a little whenever he bit me. It seemed to work pretty well. I also had a WONDERFUL lactation consultant who I was able to call whenever I had any problems with my nursing...I don't know where you live, but I could get you her number if you wanted.

Have you tried differnt types of nipples. For quite awhile my son would not use anything other than a rubber nipple (which are not the easiest to get anymore). I would also make sure to hold him in the same position as you would to breastfeed him when you give him a bottle. It will probably just take some persistance on your part just keep offering it. Good Luck to you.

Does he have to take a bottle? I know that once some babies have been breastfed they don't like bottles. What about a sippy cup with a soft top? My daughter uses on my Nuk and it has a soft spout. He may be less resistant to that since it is not at all like a breast or bottle. Good Luck!

I don't have much advice, my son never did take a bottle, I breastfed him till he was over one year. I wish I had had this website to post questions like this one at that time.
He would scream and cry and refuse to eat until he had the breast. Being my first, I gave in repeatedly, and since I was staying at home with him then, it was ok.
He is still a VERY picky eater to this day.
I wish you all the best of luck and encourage you to take the others' advice. Again, I wish I had this support group five years ago.
Best Wishes

Hi A.,

Fortunately, my daughter took to a bottle very easily when I went back to work, and she weaned herself from breastfeeding before she got her first teeth, so I've never experienced this myself. However, I know my nephews would ONLY take a bottle with rubber nipples and some babies will only take the silicon kind.

There are also different SHAPED nipples you can buy. Some of them are supposed to have a more "natural" shape.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Katheryn

When my son would bite, I would pull him very close for just a second. This would startle him to let go, and then I would say, "do not bite mommy. It hurts". If he did it again, I would stop feeding him. If he was still hungry I would feed again after a few minutes. A few days of this and he stopped.

My daughter will not take a bottle either. But, I have started her on a sippy cup instead of a bottle. Well, she doesn't take the sippy cup yet she just is starting to suck a little bit and doesn't really drink much yet. I am giving her juices and water. I didn't want to push the issue of the bottle now and then have to wean her from that. I have been working with the sippy cup for almost a month and it is a timely process. The biting I think is something you will have to handle seperatly. I was told when they bite give a firm NO and stop the feeding set them down for a few minutes or a while before proceeding. Eventually hopefully sooner than later they will learn that biting means no more food. Good luck to you. I have yet to get bit really bad yet. But before my daughter's first tooth popped through she bit quite a few times and thank god has not bit since. good luck.

Hi A.,
I am in the EXACT same situation you are. My son is not interested in anything but me, I call him a nipple snob :)

I have had some success with soft spouted sippy cups. Maybe you could give them a try too.

Good luck!
J.