I am going back to work in a few weeks and my 12 week-old daughter is not only refusing to take formula, but seems to be resisting the bottle altogether. I'm starting to panic because I'm afraid she's in for a struggle when she has no other option if she wants to eat. Any advice would be SO great...
First I want to say thank you to everyone who responded to my email request. I've tried many of the suggestions like using a Nuk bottle and calling La Leche League. And I've been pumping everyday too. So it's been a little over a week and we've made some progress. My daughter is now taking two bottles every day and even though it takes some coaxing, she eventually latches on and has 2-3oz. My hope is that with more time, she'll continue to become comfortable with the bottle. She's starting day care in a week so keep your fingers crossed and any further advice/suggestions/comments are much appreciated! Thanks for all the support.
My son did the same thing he refused formula I tried several different brands until someone suggested soymilk they said it was the closes tasting milk to breastmilk and they were right he loved it. I also had to go through a couple of different bottles until I found the right one but, I noticed since he liked what was inside the bottle he was more willing to drink from it. I hope it works out.
is there a reason to not pump? pumping worked really well to get mine to take a bottle. also, i don't give a bottle. daddy did it. sitter did it. she was reluctant to take a fake nipple from me.
also, my little one did not like the good nipples. yes, my child prefered the cheap nipples that were just old fashoned round ones... like the size and shape of mine. once we got her the cheap stuff she took to the bottle like a champ.
good luck.
first things, have someone else give her the bottle, next thing, she has to be ravenous, lastly relax and enjoy life its too short to worry about these little things, when she is hungry, not a little a lot, she will eat, her body will win the fight and she will take what is given to her, play with bottles and nipples. of the 5 kids 4 of them were platex nurser babies, and the 5th one had a cleft lip and palate so she had a special bottle.
when she is with you, I hope you chose to breastfeed her, she will come to know that time with you as special. my children were all breastfed well into their 18th month, and I worked full time, they were just breastfed at night and on weekends, they still took their bottles but it was my way of just being nurturing.
good luck
R.
this happens for a lot of babies. my daughter refused the bottle when we tried to introduce it. she finally would only accept the nuk nipple, which was the same with several of my friends' babies. she was never so into the bottle, though, and we ended up using a sippy cup without the seal, and dribbling it into her mouth. la leche league, i believe, has some tips about getting a baby on the bottle. my lactation consultant, charity pitcher-cooper, has an endless supply of suggestions and was enormously helpful through it all. her number is ###-###-####. good luck.
My daughter is 7 weeks and has only had a bottle a few times. It did take 5 different types of bottles to find one she liked. She finallly liked the Advent. Another thing is have someone other than you try to give the bottle.
best of luck.
C.
I would get in touch with Le Leche League. You can look on the web to find a "rep" nearest to you. Whenever I need breastfeeding support they are the first to ask!
You may want to try to pump starting now to build a supply and mix breast milk and formula together. And slowly add less breast milk each time. I mix the two together for my son and he takes it no problem. At first he also refused and would vomit up what he did take. It just requires a little innovation and patience. Good Luck!!
I had this same problem. Before I went back to work we started working on the bottle. He refused one from me, and he would only take one from someone else when he was starving. We found it worked best to hold him sitting up, facing away from the person holding him. If we put him in the "nursing" position, he would just cry. We found Nuk nipples to be the best, but now he'll take any nipple. Best of luck to you. I pump while at work, and he definately prefers breastmilk over formula. I have had to give some supplemental bottles of formula because my milk supply has started to decrease. But think about this, a breast pump can cost about $300, but formula for a year costs about $1,800 - $4,000. Just something to consider.
Why switch to formula? Invest in a breast pump. If your job has more then 50 employees then they have to let you pump at work. Of course you'll have to find a nice quiet, private place to do it. Isn't your daughter worth the best. You chose to breast feed becasue you knew it was the best. You may have to stop giving her milk directly from your breast but she can still get the benefits. Also, it would help if somone else gave her the breast milk in a bottle. Also, get a bottle specially made for breast fed babies.
have you thought about pumping even if only for a while. put the breast milk in a bottle have someone else feed it to her.who knows you may also find it easier to just pump and save tons of money on formula. just a thought. good luck.
I have a stay-at-home job that is great with my 3yr old, 2 year old and due in June...make it a reality...stay-home...let me know if you want to know more about it.
Really, not to worry. As I was once told, when she gets hungry, she'll eat. My daughter was exclusively on the breast till 4 months. My daycare provider said she was hesitate at first but when she realized that was what there was to eat, she ate. Good luck!
Hey D.,
This must be a crazy time. Although, I cannot offer advice on this, I wanted to talk to you about working from home possibly. I do two work at home "jobs" - both very very flexible. I would love to talk to you about them because it sounds like you don't want to go back to work. Give me a call or send me your number and I will call you.
Sincerely,
B.
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My girl did the same thing and I've had friends with the same problem. For us, it just took her getting used to the bottle for a couple of weeks (yes a struggle but we were patient) and trying many many different types of bottles. We too settled on the Nuk nipples. Also, like many have suggested, try having someone else offer the bottle and in various positions. Mine now reaches for the bottle in excitement when she sees it. I've read elsewhere that you can also try cutting the formula with breastmilk (like 50/50) and gradually reduce the BM in subsequent feedings until she gets used to drinking only formula. Babycenter.com is a great site for message boards dedicated to such struggles. Good luck!
