12 Week Old Refusing a Bottle. NEED HELP!

I also recommend trying the faster flow nipples. My daughter did the same thing, took a bottle for the first few weeks, then all of the sudden stopped. So finally at 5 months after trying 9 different bottles I went back to the original one and put a faster flowing nipple on it and she took it from me no problem. I think maybe its because she got it out of me pretty fast and the first stage nipples of the bottles come out sooooo slow, and maybe that ticked her off. Good luck and know you are not alone!

try the NUK bottles the nips are more like a breast nipple. my daughter went through 4 types for bottles before setting on the nuk and born free. we are currently using the nuk sippy cups she is 9 months and just loves them. dont give up he will eat. good luck

He clearly prefers the breast, and I suspect he's figured out that if he refuses the bottle, he'll get the breast, so it's best to hold out. If you know that he CAN take a bottle, he will if he gets hungry enough--and if you're not around. My suggestion is to leave the house. Seriously--your baby can still smell you if you're in the next room. Run out to the store, go for a walk, whatever, and leave DH and son with the bottle. If he refuses, don't have DH force it--just stay away yourself, and have DH try again 20 minutes later or so. I went back to work at 4 mos, and I don't think DD EVER took a bottle from me, but did fine when I was at work and DH fed her. She seemed to understand that she was hungry and he was the only game in town (she did actually try to latch on to HIM once--which caused screaming from both parties--but that's a hilarious story for another day!). It will take some patience, but he'll get it. He may get cranky the first two times, but he won't starve, and he will learn. GL!

We have the same problem with our 8 month old. When he was 10 weeks old, and I went back to work - he took a bottle just fine. When he was 5 months old - he cut 2 teeth and decided that he wasn't going to take the bottle anymore. My son will hold out all day for the breast. He will eat solids during the day - and also refuses a sippy cup. UGH - I wish you luck - we also tried 5 different bottles and nipples - nothing worked.

Hi there,

Our baby took a bottle just fine the first few weeks of her life. One week, I got lazy and didn't pump, never imagining that going a week without the bottle would result in bottle refusal. It did. We tried everything...me leaving the house for hours, others offering it to her, different nipples, warming the milk, etc etc. I even got desperate once and took the advice of a nurse who said to put a little sugar water on the nipple to entice her to suck. Didn't work. The only two times we got her to take the bottle were, interestingly enough, when *I* gave it to her. I would start out with the breast and then slip it out and stick the bottle in...and would keep doing this...it worked...twice.

After trying to get her to take a bottle for over 3 months with no success, we decided to just wait it out until she was ready to use a cup. She is now 8.5 months old and although she isn't crazy about using a cup, she's starting to get the hang of it. At this point, I just put water in it or diluted juice because I'm holding out a few more months until she can begin whole milk.

It was a real battle for us (we called it the "battle of the bottle") and it was especially difficult for me because no bottle meant no help feeding her...it was all on me..every hour of the day and night. Luckily, I was not returning to work. However, I've known many babies who either don't take the bottle during day care or they cave in...I guess you'll just have to see how it goes.

Sorry I can't be more helpful in terms of offering specific suggestions; just thought I'd share our story!

Good luck!

Try different nipples. My 14 week old daughter recently began to prefer Nuk wide nipples. She pushes Playtex nipples out of her mouth the same way your son does. She didn't seem to care about the different nipples when she was younger, but she started to show preferances a couple of weeks ago. I would suggest going to the store and buying just one of each kind of nipple. Try them all until he finds one he likes.

My daughter did the same thing when I was trying to transition her to a bottle. We however did change bottles. We went through several and found the "breastflow" bottle. It was the ONLY bottle she ever took. They are specifically designed for a brewstfed baby. I hope you find this helpful! Good luck to you and your little one!

S.

Ok, this is gonna sound really harsh but we had to do this with our first boy, who is now a very healthy 5'9" 12 year old boy. We just waited him out. We started in the morning and I didn't nurse him and by noon or 1 that afternoon he was so hungry he took the bottle. I'm not saying you should starve him or anything but maybe if he knew that the only way he was going to get fed was to take the bottle then he might take it.

Babies will not usually take a bottle if mom is offering it, or even in the house as they can smell you and know that nursing is available.

Also, perhaps he needs a new nipple with a different flow now that he is a little older as their mouth develops and sucking gets stronger. I also suggest the nuk brand.

Both of my children didn't like the bottle. We tried it early and they would take it but at about the same time as you they begin to refuse it. My oldesst went to daycare when he was a baby and would actually hold out all day. This of course made my life miserable because he would want to nurse for hours on end when he got home. I went through many bottles and he finally took the vent air bottles with a larger than age reccomended nipple. He would also only take formula out of it and not breast milk. I didn't go back to work with my younger child so she never took a bottle at all. We hapily nursed until she was 22 months old.

My DS would only take a bottle if he was ravenously hungry and I wasn't around. If I was in the house, then forget it! My DD got one bottle a day and she'd take it from whoever gave it to her. She also didn't care if it was formula or the good stuff. (It's a good thing, too, because I got kicked in the chest by a horse after 6 months, and couldn't nurse her or pump at all after that - it felt like hot knives in my chest!)

My brother-in-law's baby wouldn't take a bottle at all until he went to day care; by the end of the first day he took it with no problem. Just keep trying, every baby's different. Remember that if he's hungry enough, he'll eat what's given to him!

Have you tried leaving the house so that your husband or other caregiver can give him the bottle? It may be an issue of him knowing that you are there and that milk is available from you. Go for a walk or run an errand and see if that works.

if you message me with your e-mail i can send you some PDFs on ways to assist with bottle feeding.
:0)

I experienced this with a friend's baby. When he was about 4-5 months old he had to have a bottle because mommy was in the hospital taking care of big sister. When he was younger he didn't like the bottle (formula or breast milk) so I wasn't sure how it would go. Grandma, Daddy and I all tried...then I figured it out (at least I think because after that feeding mommy was back), I cut a larger hole in the nipple and the milk came out much faster to his satisfaction and he nearly ate the whole bottle and went to sleep. So maybe a faster flow nipple will help.

hi,
i don't know if this will help you at all, but my 9 months old daughter never learn how to use the bottle. i know exactly what you are talking about... Just try something differnt. My daughter started to drink staight from the cup at about 3 months old and also with a straw, even all those soups or baby food she drunk with a straw, i had to dilut them. she would not take any passy too. maybe it's that silicon that they don't like...