My 5 1/2 month old daughter has been exclusively breastfed since birth. Since she initially had some trouble latching, we didn't introduce a bottle for the first month or so, and since then she has only had one a handful of times. The problem is that she refuses to drink from a bottle now. We have tried Dr.Brown's and Avent, with dad, grandma and even myself trying to give it to her. She makes a face as soon as the nipple gets in her mouth and won't even start to drink the pumped milk. She then gets really worked up and frustrated and screams until she falls asleep or until I get home. She does use pacifiers, so she is willing to suck on something other than me!
I am on leave from my job this year but will still be going to work up to 4 days a month starting this month so she needs to take a bottle! We are just starting to introduce solids and I'm worried that she won't drink from a sippy cup either.
Any suggestions to help her use a bottle occasionally?
St. V's lactation consultants recommended we use the First Years Breastflow bottle as they are the most like the boob; also, I would get the 0-3 month nipples as they are the slowest and probably what she's used to. Another tip would be to try when she is the hungriest and most rested... first thing in the am? Good luck. Keep trying and stay as calm as you can; I think that is usually one of the main keys.
consider just teaching her to drink out of a cup (that a parent holds and tips and etc.)
premies can't suck and drink out of special flexible cups ... hearing this made me question the entire bottle/sippycup thing ...
anyhow, one grandma used sippy cups (because she let them wander around the house with juice etc.) but none of the rest of us used them, on my kids ...
I *do* recommend the shape of cup that Tupperware makes ... I am not up on all the plastic/PCB stuff lately (I just told one friend, I'm gonna keep using my stuff, because I'm sure it's old enough that we've already leached out all the bad chemicals so it's not gonna hurt us now ;) sigh! ) ... so I don't know if Tupperware is now verboten ... but the flared-out shape is easier (by observation, not according to any doctors or anything) to Not Spill While Drinking.
And at 5.5 months, it's not the greatest, but she can go a whole workday without breastmilk probably, as long as you nurse before you leave and when you get home. Pureed babyfoods or whatnot will keep her tummy full. Getting her to sleep when she's tired without nursing will probably be the biggest problem!
It may not be the bottle, but your expressed milk. Sometimes, even kept correctly, expressed milk can "sour" and it doesn't taste right to baby. The remedy is to scald it, which can be tedious, but works. Another option is to try formula. Both of my girls BF'd when I was with them, and had formula bottles while in care. It's really not bad stuff....and definitely much better than a starving baby.
I own a natural parenting shop and have had several parents in your situation find that their baby will take the ThinkBaby Trainer Cup. This is something between a bottle and a sippy. It has an all-silicone, soft mouthpiece that's shaped like a sippy with a wide base like a breast. You can find them for sale on my website here (scroll to bottom left of page): http://www.simplecloth.com/Bottles___Soothers.html
It is also helpful to have the person giving the bottle/sippy to hold the baby in a different position than the typical "nursing position." Some have had luck putting the baby in a bouncy seat or holding the baby facing out.
Hope this helps!
Is she showing any other signs of teething? Maybe only be a temporary thing while her gums are becoming tender before her lower teeth come in. Just a guess that no one else has thrown out there yet.
my daughter would only take formula from the bottle, not breastmilk. I hated to do it but she had to eat something while I was working!
Kim,
My little one had a hard time taking a bottle at first also. I went and bought one of everything, until we found one that she liked. The one that worked for us was the MAM bottle. You can get them at Babies R Us. The nipple is flatter than some, and it has a soft texture, not smooth silicone. She didn't exactly take to it overnight, but she definitely preferred it. Good luck.
K.
PS. We also fed her with an eye dropper for a little while, when she wasnt taking in much through the bottle. It takes forever, but at least she got something.
PPS. She also continued breastfeeding until 13 months, so the switch to the bottle didn't seem to interfer at all.
try having a small cup of milk next to the bottle and dip the nipple in the milk so she tastes the milk first. Also maybe try sippy cups instead of a bottle. That worked really well for my sister's oldest child.
Also take a small cloth, washrag, burp cloth etc. and stick it in your bra at night while you sleep and have who ever is feeding the baby lay the cloth next to their face when trying the bottle. They will smell you and then taste the milk on the nipple.
Just keep trying and trying. I know it can be frustrating but it will work.
Good Luck!
Briefly, three thoughts.
Find a nipple that is the same shape as the pacifier.
If she gets hungry enough she will probably go for the bottle.
It may be that she will go directly to cups and solids.
Hi Kim. That is frustrating I am sure. My suggestion would be to just transition her to a sippy cup. My youngest starting using a sippy at five months of age with distilled water.
My daughter would only really take Playtex Nursers... The ones that have drop-ins... One of the cheaper ones! She also did "ok" (but hit and miss) with the Adiri Natural Nurser... Really expensive! It looks like, well, a long boob! Give those a shot... Good luck!
Lots of great advice already!
I would second the Playtex nurser, with the SLOW laytex/rubber nipple. My nephew was the same way, my sis-in-law had to go back to work at 5 months and he would not take a silicone nipple. My parents remembered the Playtex system working well with my baby brother and recommended it to them... it was the solution.
Our 3 month old is a bottle baby, and we us the Playtex nursers too... but she's used to them since my boobs don't (can't) work!!
Silicone nipples are slippery and firm, the laytex ones are softer and definitely more textured than silicone. Not to mention the bottles come with a nipple (check the size) and are about $4. The drop-ins are kind of "wasteful" in my opinion, but we wash (with a bottle brush sponge) and reuse ours and have had no issues. We only re-stock the bottles with new liners about once a month. We stack all the old liners together (like they come packaged) and they are #4 plastic so they get put in the recycle bin.
I hope you are all able to figure out what works best!
My daughter never took a bottle and went right to the sippy cup. She was never too interested in taking the breast milk in it and eventually just went for the 5-6 hour stretch when I was occasionally gone without milk. It seemed like once she was six months or so, she could go without nursing for a longer period of time. Best of luck!
