Baby Won't Take Bottle - Amherst,NH

Try a variety of nipples. I babysit my 3.5 month old grandson and he is very particular about the kind of nipples he likes. She will take the bottle. Are you still pumping or using formula? If she is going from breast milk to formula and getting a bottle, she is getting a double whammy. If you can continue to use breast milk and slowly transition to formula.

Hi Amanda
The great lesson I learnt when weaning my son to the bottle was to trust Daddy to take the lead and believe that he will succeed.
My hubby took full responsibility to do the bottle as we found it easier when I was not in the room until baby got completely used to the bottle.
Your hubby is a sahd unlike mine so you have to give him that extra trust.
All will be fine,your baby will not starve.
All the best
B. k

My daughter wouldn't take a bottle from me at all. My husband had to give it to her. She still resisted at first, but we switched to the Playtex nurser nipples that, I guess, felt more like a breast to her. She did fine after that, but it did take a little while before she would let me give her a bottle. When she gets hungrey enough, she will take the bottle. Good luck.

That is tough! We went through the same thing when I went back to work when my daughter was 4 months old. We kept working at it so that I would leave the house and my husband would give it to her. He always had to hold her so that she was facing out (my daughter has always preferred facing out when being held... maybe yours likes it too). We also switched to a fast flow nipple since it was more similar to the flow of my breastmilk. She finally took it about 2 weeks before I had to go back. One thing that my daycare provider did tell me was not to worry, even if she didn't take it. Hunger will soon take over and she will eat. She won't starve herself. It might be rough for a couple of days, but then she'll be ok!

Good luck!

The main thing, is that she get proper intake, and on-demand. She is an infant.

If she does not take bottles, you can use a medicine dropper.

Some babies, will NOT take bottles. At all. My Daughter was that way, She was breastfed.

But you need to make sure your infant gets proper intake. Or she will get dehydrated.

my baby did this as well. we found the adiri bottles to be helpful. they are a breast-shaped bottle. at around 4 months old he went back to a regular bottle without a problem. I found them online. once your baby is at daycare most likely it will be okay anyway (she will find out quickly there is no other options for food except to take the bottle...while at home she knows she always has you!). good luck!

I thought my DD wouldn't take a bottle since she started to refuse just before I went back to work. The LC said that many babies have a stage where they stop just accepting anything we give them and start to have an opinion. My DD took the bottle at daycare and thereafter fine, just not from me or when I was around.

There are a lot of bottles to try. My friends' daughter prefers Tommy Tipee.

Hi! Be glad you are just going to work, had to leave the country, when my little one decided that Mommy was best... But, I got through it, and you will, too! frist of all, relax, because stressing will not help, because baby picks up on the nuances of stress. So, in order for baby to begin accepting the bottle, you really should try to maintain the same rituals, until she gets to the bottle routine. use the same chair bottle, and a piece of your unwashed clothin, ie tops. Baby's smell is very good, so placing your top adjacent to her head/face, without smothering her. My hubby placed my oversized t-shirt on his chest area, while he fed her, and she could smell my presence. I finally did wear a new shirt of his, that fit, so he could actually fit it. LOL! He wore it only for feeding the baby, and I wore every night, so the scent stayed. now, do you have a lactation consultant? they might have sugar water to place a small drop on the nipple, they have little containers to store the remaining water. We just got some from the delivery hospital nursery for my daughter, who is BFing and BTFing, too. You can make your own, by dissolving about one tsp in sugar (use unopened sugar from small pack or the bag in your cupboard that has not had alot of hand/family contact) into 1-1/2 tsps of sterilized water. You sterilize the water to prevent unsafe water. you can adjust the sugar to your/her taste, since it varies per child and their ability to accept the mixture. Now, as she accepts the nipple, she will not need the sugar mixture, as much, so do not fret, about the use of sugar. when you feed her, have Dad do the similar steps for the ritual, until she accepts, that might mean, sitting while feeding in the glider/ottoman chair, with lullaby music, and no interruptions, including turning off the cellphones... It is a great time for Daddy to bond with his child, and make his own lttle rituals of love... Now, Mommy do not fret, because you are not there, Daddy can do it, because he did it before... LOL! Now, for you I recommend, taking a small stuffed animal/toy, and placing an unwashed t-shirt or onsies, on it for you to sniff, while at work, and a video of your baby on your phone, it helps when the hormones, begin to kick in... And do not forget to add more nursing pads to a personal bag for you to survive the days from her... I had my lunch watching the video of her, while I eat, pump, and relaxed... because I needed time for me, too! she will be in excellent, caring, Daddy's hands, just as she/he was while you slept in the first few days... Have faith in Daddy to get the job done... For now, he will do it similar to oyur way, until he adapts to his own ways, which might be alot different. But, what is the harm, if the baby survives, strives, smiles, pooping, peeing, and eating? With communication, the both of you will survive, parenting requires compromise, since few families today, can have both parents home at the same time, without never having to return to work... so, as your maternal hormones are spiraling, and the temporary loss of the little one makes you an emotional wreck, pile some extra tissues in your bag and desk area, and learn to time the tears with the need to go to the bathroom, for the tearfest... this too shall pass... Baby will be fine, it is just different when you have to work to survive... One thing that is great is the technology available in phones, where you can read stories, sing songs, tell poems, coo and caa, and keep these as mementos in her baby books and videos... In my day, it took two weeks for a letter to arrive... Yes, it was 23 years ago, but, when our new graddaughter arrived in Feb 2011, I found that the old ways, were still current, and my Granddaughter is a striving, plump, over-kissed little bundle of joy... Her Mom is returning to school, so she will be experiencing the same things we are going through, but, with my tried experiences, she will be ok! So, good luck at work, and Daddy, handle it! LOL! besides, you are just a phone call away... Oh, and I did try to limit the phones calls to him to a specific time period, where I knew Daddy actually had time to listen, respond, and communicate without interruptions... We called our, "cuddle time," where the first two minutes where about the baby, and the rest was about us for 5 minutes... It is great for rebuiding our romance, because we would plan one thing we wanted to do, when baby was sleep... Like Daddy was good at footrubs, so he would give me a phalanges rub, while I watched his team win or lose... but, I knew we were working together to build our relationship, together...while the baby slept... Good luck!

This happened to me as well when my daughter was 8 weeks old. My husband and mother did a lot of coaxing and bouncing her on the exercise ball and she would eventually take a sip here and there. I have found that the Playtex drop-ins with the brown latex nipple were really helpful - and I tried 6 different kinds of bottles! She like to nibble on the latex nipple and eventually gave in and drank from it. I've recommended it to other moms facing the same problem and these bottles have been super helpful to them as well.

A few times my baby went all day without eating and that was nerve-wracking. Guess there is no replacement for mama. :)

This happened with my oldest son when he was 4 month old. If only I new then, what I know now! For almost a month the day care provider tryed to get him to take the bottle and he refused. He would wait the entire day, about 9 hours for me to nurse him. I was so worried. I thought the only thing I could do was stop breastfeeding all together, which is what I did. It makes me so sad to know I didn't need to do that. He would have been just fine and he wouldn't have starved himself! I had a doctor tell me much later that what he wasn't getting while I was at work he would have just made up for when I got home. I know you're worried but she will be fine. If you get to worried, just contact your Ped.

If she completely refuses the bottle for him, have a sippy cup on hand. Just remove the "spill-proof" piece and he can give her little sips. It will be a little more difficult but it is doable. Good luck!

PS> I've also heard of babies who will change their nights and days around so they can nurse as well...... So she may choose to eat less during the day for him and want to nurse more often at night.