4 month baby won't take bottle from dad?

Daithi07

My 4 month old daughter has stopped taking the bottle of me(Dad) in the last week. She just refuse's point blank and gets very worked up with crying, coughing and losing her breath that we just have to give in and let her mam feed her. I have tried singing, rocking and wearing her mothers scarf but nothing seems to work. We are at our wits end and her mother is getting very upset at having to do it all. I work monday to friday and arrive home at 4.30 and she beams when i get home and has loads of smiles for me. I would love to be able to feed her and put her to bed but she won't have me. Only her mother.
What can we do to sort this out as its very stressful? Any help appreciated.

Ayla

When you say your daughter's "stopped" taking the bottle from you, does that imply that she used to take it? If so, has anything changed recently (your work schedule, etc?)

In my experience & opinion, all babies can really understand at 4 months is impressions of people - your daughter may "know" you, but if you suddenly change something it may completely confuse her so that she wouldn't recognize you in the same way. Similarly, if you're trying to comfort her by using her mother's scarf, that's going to completely confuse her b/c she'll smell the scarf & associate the smell with the mother, but then your "feel" & mannerisms won't line up with her memories of how her mother does things.

If your daughter used to take the bottle from you, try to remember exactly what you did in preparation for giving it to her - did you carry her a certain way, did you talk/sing to her, did you always sit in the same chair...? Again, if you're suddenly doing new things trying to get her "back" to feeding from you, she may not understand what's happening.

Sorry I can't be much real help here, I breastfed my girls so this wasn't ever a problem my hubby & I ever ran into. But the same principles apply to lots of baby situations so I'm assuming it's the case here. It's all about consistency.

Daithi07

Thanks Ayla. Yes she did take the bottle from me all along but stopped a week ago. Nothing in the routine or preperation has changed. We contacted the public health nurse today for advice. She suggested my wife feed the baby while she is in her bouncer or propped up on the couch for a day or two and then i try again so we are going to go with that. This makes sense to me as holding the baby in a certain way won't come into the equation and detaches her reliance on her mam for a bit. Hope it works!!

Das Kitty

Maybe try not giving her the feed for a week or do but have some skin to skin contact with her before she goes to bed. It's probably a phase, they have so many incomprehensible phases!

dellWlan

Just wondering if this sorted itself out?
I'm going through the same thing now.

Daithi07

dellWlan wrote: »

Just wondering if this sorted itself out?
I'm going through the same thing now.

It did sort itself out after 7 long weeks. it really was torture for us all in the house but i think she just gave up resisting in the end after we tried everything. hope its a lot sooner for you.