Tips for Getting 3 Mo Old to Take Bottle

Have you tried Breastflow bottles? They are the closest thing that we used to being just like the breast and my daughter was able to go back and forth without any problems.

I understand perfectly what you are going through. My bf son refused to take a bottle. He was having issues with vomiting and diahrea, so we were to try different formulas and such, but he refused. We tried pumping bm and we tried several formulas and putting it in many different bottles, including one that basically looked like a breast. He refused or like you're going through would scream and scream then give in and gag or spit it out. Once he took a bottle, but it took over an hour for 4 ounces.

Through my own experimenting with my food intake, we discovered he was allergic to dairy. So for many months I did not eat any dairy. And his health issues were resolved. But that didn't help us with the bottle feeding.

My son went from breast directly to a sippy cup. We started off pumping and putting milk in an early stage sippy cup, which had a very soft spout.

Good luck!

If ur baby has a paci try using the same brand with the bottle. My son was just like that and i ended up buying 7 different types of bottels and finding one that worked for him GOOD LUCK

You have gotten a lot of great advice, but I am going through this myself and wanted to let you know what we do. My daughter is now 5 months old and still doesn't like her bottle but will take it until I can get home to feed her. We found the Adiri nurser. It is silicone and soft and subtle like the breast. My hubby and mom and sitter have used it to "hold her off" until I come to feed her and she does wait for me. I finally was able to go to a movie with my hubby the other day! We were gone for almost four hours, and she was ok! Good luck.

I know that this is not what you want to hear but some babies just won't take a bottle.
With that said you can use a medicine dropper to feed her or you can try a sippy cup with out the valve.
My youngest only had a couple of bottles but she would only use the Nuk bottle. We used the nuk pacies and the nipple shape is the same.
I know that it is hard when you feel like you can't leave your baby...been there! The couple of months leading up to my 3rd daughters birth I would leave the kids with my hubby or grandma or pretty much anyone I could talk into babysitting for me as often as possible. I think that I was storing up alone time because I knew for at least the next year I was going to be attached to a bfing baby.
But I would not give up bfing my kids for anything!
You are doing a great job!!
K.

My daughter would not take a bottle either. We tried after a month or so, and she did fine, so we thought it was no big deal, but were not consistent with it, and then she got more and more stubborn about it. Like you, i did not HAVE to do bottles, so finally i gave up.

i will say this though...i know it is so hard and exhausting to be the only one who can feed her. But, after 6 months, they don't eat as frequently and can start solid foods, so it is not so much of a burden on you. I was able to go out for the evening...i would feed her right before i left and would leave a bottle just in case. if she is hungry enough, she will eat... also, i always stressed if she ate for the last time at 5pm once in a while when i went out, but she never seemed to care. she would still sleep through the night.

i also switched started giving her regular milk at 11 months (for practice) and weaned her just shy of her 1st birthday. she did fine.

hang in there!

This sounds like a repeat of my experience with my daughter, however she NEVER took a bottle, from anyone, including myself for 7 months! We tried everything. Bought stock in ever nipple system out there, etc. It was as if she didn't understand how to suck on the bottle and then would refuse it quickly. We also tried to go 6+ hours of not feeding her (after she was hungry) thinking she certainly wouldn't starve herself... but that was oh so painful and it still didn't work. We kept trying, and one day (at 7 months old), she grabbed the bottle and just started chugging! From that day on, she refused to breast feed again... which honestly, I was RELIEVED!! I believed I cracked a bottle of champagne and thought nothing could be that hard again (haha -yeah right :-D) It's a distant memory now (my daughter is now 3 1/2). Hang in there... this too shall pass :-) Good Luck!

I had the same problem w/my little guy he's almost 8 months now I finally decided to try a sippy cup (Gerber Nuk Learner cup) it has a very soft latex spout (so she would be able to suck as if it were a bottle) & he loves it I'm able to still breastfeed & pump at will. Hope this helps. M.

We went through something very similar with my daughter. We tried countless bottles and nipples and finally she decided she liked the BreastFlow by The First Years. It mimics how she's fed from the breast; there are two nipples and go inside each other. Baby will suckle to get the milk to fill the second nipple, then she gets the milk. So it's sort of like a letdown. And it's a wider shape.

It's important to let the baby "latch" onto the bottle herself. Resist the urge to put the nipple in the baby's mouth and expect her to suck. That's not how nursing is done, so she's likely confused if this is how bottles are offered to her.

Check out this link for some tips: http://kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html

I guess mine isn't much of a tip, but my husband has taught me so much when it comes to the feeding of my children. When they get hungry enough they will eat anything. If you don't break this habit it will just get worse.

My Aunt had a hard time getting her son to go to sleep in his crib. She let him hold onto her silky nightgown in his crib and he was out like a light. I'm wondering if the same thing might work for feeding your daughter. She knows your special mommy scent so maybe use one of your shirts as an "apron" for whoever is feeding her.

Good luck!

1st...you don't have to pump and dump after having a couple of drinks....now if you go out and get plastered you might have to pump and dump 1 or 2 feedings :-D

2nd Make sure you are using the slowest flowing newborn nipples available. The thing with bottles is they baby doesn't have to work at it like with nursing so if she gets a good latch and sucks on the bottle nipple she's going to drown herself. Hence the gagging and spitting. Taking a long time to finish it might be because she's afraid of sucking so is just letting the nipple drip.

You may need to experiement with different nipples as well.

And bottom line...if she doesn't want to take a bottle...she will be fine waiting for you to come home. I had one who absolutely refused a bottle. I had to leave for some sort of event where I would be gone for 6hours. He was offered the bottle and refused. He waited for me to come back and then did a marathon nursing session.

We went through the same thing and I WAS going back to work. At that age my daughter did best with the Breastflow bottles (we tried EVERYTHING on the market), at 6-months she started taking the Avent Level 2 nipples. I found that most nipples other than the Breastflow gagged her. Bottles still tend to be a "problem" at home unless she's really, really hungry and she's now 11-months-old. She'll take a bottle much better at daycare. Just be patient, it's hard but babies can sense when you're frustrated and stressed. If your baby still won't take a bottle by 6 months, try a cup instead. Good luck!!!