Seeking Advice - Breastfed Baby Refusing Bottle

I went through the same thing, my son took a botttle right out of the hospital, latched on finally and never took a bottle again. I went the sippy cup route, the other recommendation for nuby was great. That worked best for us because he could chew on it and get something out of it. He never took to pacifiers either. Man, I learned my lesson for the next one, definitely incorporate both simultaneously. I was so afraid that he'd prefer the bottle, it backfired on me. Hope you get through this a little less crazed than I was:)

My kids would never take bottles from me, or if they even suspected that I was in the building (that included when I left them in the church nursery--somehow they knew I was still available!). My kids took a bare minimum from the bottle in the daytime, and nursed a lot at night. That is why I co-slept (Arms Reach Cosleeper).

Your daughter will not starve herself. Hang in there!

My baby (now 5 and still stubborn) did the same. I would not offer her the breast during any of the hours I would normally be at work. It took her several days during which time I tried to spoon feed her, cup feed, various positions, people, etc. In the end it was just waiting for her to give in. After it was the time of day I would normally be home, she got the breast and drank and drank. It was not an easy time, but it will work.

Have someone other than you give the bottle. I had to do that with my youngest...she wouldn't take a bottle from me until I quit nursing her.

There are alot of different nipple's out there to choose from. Try one that mostly resembles what the baby is use to. Don't give up. Hang in there. And keep on pumping.

I know this is a little late, you already started back at work, but what worked for us was not a bottle, but a sippy cup. The brand is Nuby and is sold at CVS, Babies R Us ect. It has a silicone spout like a bottle, but is not shaped like a bottle, it is like a sippy cup. My son started using it at 3 months when I was not around and he was hungry. The bottles gagged him. To this day (23 months old), he is using that kind of sippy cup at night! It is worth a try!

Your baby may be refusing the bottle because he/she knows you are there. Have you tried leaving the house and having someone else give her the bottle? I wouldn't worry about it - she will take the bottle when you are at work. Here is an article I wrote about working and breastfeeding - it may have some good tips for you. http://www.mothersboutique.com/woandbrtifor.html

J.

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The best thing we did with my daughter to start her on a bottle was give her 1/2 breast milk and 1/2 formula....it wasn't my first choice to give her formula, but it was enough different, yet it had my milk mixed in that she took it from other people (I had a friend recommend this approach). We had the best luck using the playtex nurser with the latex nipple. there are a lot to choose from, maybe you have a friend or two with different types of bottles they'd let you borrow so you don't waste your money buying a ton of them to find the best one for your kid.

good luck.

LoriB

My breastfed daughter refused the bottle the whole time I had her in day care. I pumped at work and the day care rejoiced if they got 3-4 oz. into her. Then I nursed her at home, several times in the evening before bedtime, and a couple times after I put her to bed. The Dr. said that as long as she was gaining weight not to worry about her not eating during the day, we just switched the more frequent nursing from day to evening. The night nursing wasn't that big a problem because I wouldn't to to bed until around 11 p.m. so I would nurse just before bed and then once in the night and we had to get up at 6 a.m. anyway so I'd nurse then too. I'd say the biggest thing is to not get really stressed out about it and like someone else said, try different styles of nipple and bottle.

be patient...it will happen - but it may be hard. my daughter refused virtually evry type of bottle the first month she was in daycare (at 9 wks). It took 4-5 weeks and she finally accepted the playtex nurser with the old style nipples. The pediatrician said that if she got hungry enough she would eventually eat - but it was a challenge for me and the daycare as they were stressed that she wouldn't eat - hang in there - it will work out!

My daughter would not take the bottle either and I worked 12 hours a day and my mother was babysitting. She started her on cereal at a very early age. MY daughter was a very chubby baby so it worked.

They may get the baby to take it at childcare with no problem since you aren't there. If not, keep trying different types of nipples. Firststepahead.com has a bottle that looks like a boob. If all else fails, try that. I've worked in childcare and we had babies start that were never given a bottle. The boob bottle worked for a few kids and then we slowly moved them onto a regular bottle. Other times, the babies would take the bottle without a single fuss, mostly since mom was nowhere in sight and couldn't be heard.

Sorry, I didn't mean to respond to this one. I hope you solve your problem though. I really can't help. My daughter never took a bottle even when I sent her away for 48 hours to force her to take a bottle due to the fact that I had a thyroid problem that the doctors said I had to wean her so I could take medications. She just never took the bottle. Good thing was, her not taking it caused me to have to wait to take the meds. By the time she weaned 8 months later, my thyroid was totally normal. She saved me from a life time of needless medication.