Our breast-fed daughter was fine with an occasional bottle of breast milk. She is now 10 weeks old, and my husband's attempt to give her a bottle while I went to work for a half-day last week was met with 3 hours of loud, insistent crying. Since then, he's been giving her a bottle once a day to get her used to it, but she is still crying loudly. I have to go back to work a few days a week, and we need her to take a bottle of breast milk from various family members while I'm away. Any tips? Many thanks!
Thanks so much for all the advice. My husband started giving her a bottle of breast milk for her first feed of the day when she was the most hungry. He also place a blanket that I slept with near her face. He then gave her a bottle for the second feed of the day. All is going well. Not too much fussing. I go back to work tomorrow afternoon, so we'll see how she does with the afternoon feed. Thanks again. We also switched to Born Free bottles from Medela. I'm not sure if that made a difference, but she does seem to like them a bit better. (The flow is better.)
Hi B., I co-host a call-in radio show with a lactation consultant -- The Breastfeeding Salon Show on BlogTalkRadio.com -- where we offer free support for just these kind of questions. It's live on Tuesdays EST from 11am-noon. Give us a call at ###-###-####. You can listen live or to old shows by visiting: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/TheBreastfeedingSalon/2008/1...
Hope to hear from you.
T.
Hi B.
I am a first time mom too and i found out that my baby girl doesn't like certain bottles/nipples but the one that she never resist is "born free" (glass bottle) with nipple size 1-slow flow. You can try that, I hope it works for you and your husband.
jola
Be sure you are holding her exactly the same way when you give her the bottle as you do when breast-feeding.
What worked for me is the "First Years- Breast Flow" bottles. They worked so great. He went from bottle to breast and back again with such ease. God Bless
Hi B.,
If it has been only you feeding her with the bottle all along
maybe it would help to wrap her in your robe or nightgown while someone else is feeding her. Also tell your husband to hold her close to his body and whisper to her sometimes it calms the crying.
Good luck, hope you get some good ideas, I know how hard this can be.
L.
It could be your scent she is craving. Give your husband one of your shirts that has your scent on it and have him lay it on his chest while he is feeding her. Also, be sure that he is holding her in the same manner that you do. You may also want to try different nipple shapes. Good Luck.
Hi B.
My baby girl is 12 weeks old and I just went back to work this week. I had the same issue!!! I was lucky enough to have signed her up for a wonderful daycare and started her early to get her "on the bottle". It took about 2 weeks of her either not eating much or crying but, she eventually took the bottle. We tried all kinds of nipples, etc. She ended up taking the bottles from me with formula. She wouldn't drink the breastmilk in the bottle - might be worth a try to try formula. The she isn't confusing the bottle with breastmilk and thinking it isn't your breast. Then I've added breastmilk into the formula bottle.
Couple of other things that help when she gets a bit fussy and doesn't want to take a bottle:
Hold her facing out and bounce
My baby likes to focus on a fan or light on the ceiling
They seem to take her mind off the "bottle"
If you are really worried, there are two other options you can use - a product that is somewhat like a sippy cup and a product somewhat like a spoon. They are specifically made for "nipple confused" babies. I bought one as a backup since I leave on a business trip tomorrow.
Don't worry too much - she will get it. As everyone says, a baby won't let herself starve. She will eventually eat.
Keep me posted
D.
Hi B.,
Is your husband giving her the bottle while you are home? If so, I'd have him offer it while she can't see/hear/smell you. Also, I'd have him offer the bottle before she is crying, she's desperately hungry at that point - have him look for earlier hunger cues. I'd ask him to be sure to warm the nipple of the bottle, and to smear a little pumped milk on it, so that she immediately knows that she can smell and taste right away that she's getting what she always eats.
It's normal for babies to take less milk than normal when mom is away/back at work. When I went back to work at 11 weeks when my last child was born, the first day, he took one pumped bottle, the second day he took two, and the third day, he took 3 which became his norm. It's also really common for babies to eat less while mom is gone and then nurse more when you are at home.
Good luck !
It may be the type of nipple. My son would not take a bottle that had a narrow nipple at all. In fact, we had to use Breastflow bottles for the first few months, and then we slowly switched him over to Born Free. Breastflow bottles are a pain, because they have a bunch of parts to clean. But they are really similar to the breast, and he had no trouble at all acclimating to the nipple. I recommend you give it a try!
I'd at least try a new nipple- with a wide base. It can make all the difference!
Oh my does that bring back memories. Mom, u try giving her the bottle? Sounds like she's missing the closeness she gets with you. Maybe having Dad put a shirt or something that has your scent near her when giving bottle will help. Keep trying and eventually your little one will eat. Good luck.
When my daughter was 12 weeks old I went back to work part time. She never did like bottled breast milk. She howled and wailed and would only reluctantly accept a bottle of breast milk at 2pm when she [and the adults] were desperate. When I got home, it was like a running strip tease through the house to feed the baby.
So no, I don't have any tips. It was a real blessing when she started taking solid food. But I never did get her to like bottles. She took to sippy cups for other beverages well though. She's always been 90th percentile for height and weight, even now at 3 years.
