Breastfed baby not taking bottles

paradigm

Hi all as the title states we have a 9 week old girl, she's been exclusively breast fed, that said there was a period of 3 days where her mum was in hospital and she took the bottles no problem, cold from the fridge containing breast milk.

However over the last 3 weeks she wont take them at all, we've tried the Tommy tippee bottles we've tried the nubby bottles, we've tried heating them and warming the teeth, nothing works.

I can foresee it being an issue when myself and the OH want to get away for a night as we cant leave her with anyone.

I'm at a loss and would love some advice.

Any help appreciated

lazygal

Persistence is what worked here. We had to keep offering the bottle until he got used to it and it took a few weeks. If we wanted a night out we gave him a big breastfeed before, left bottle with the sitter, and didn't stay out too long. There's no real trick to it besides offering the bottle consistently.

John Mason

Try having your wife leave the house and then try the bottle.

He could be smelling your wife's milk.

Madisson

At 7 months my daughter still won't take one and just goes on hunger strike if im away from her

Claire de Lune

We are in the same boat our 7 weeks old used to take a bottle a day but this week he's been refusing it, even when really hungry, which breaks my heart

I know the only way is to persevere, but it's so stressful to watch him scream and push the bottle away (husband gives the bottle)

I am due to be away from him a whole day on July 10th, dreading it already

paradigm

So wife was out last night and had expressed plenty, always a supply in the fridge. Anyway she took 70ml over the course of 2.30 - 3am she latched instantly but then wouldn't suck again for an hour.

Some small progress anyway

seamus

John Mason wrote: »

Try having your wife leave the house and then try the bottle.

I remember for us, my daughter would not take an expressed bottle at all from my wife for the first month or so that we started using expressed milk, but would take it no problem from anyone else. We noticed that it was OK for my wife to be in the same room, but she couldn't sit near the baby while feeding or it wouldn't happen.

Sligo1

Having real problems with this at the moment! No matter what we do 12 week old will not take a bottle!

Any tips at all would be greatly appreciated. We have tried all the above. Tried everyday. With me in the house, with me out of the house, with different bottles, different teats. She just screams as soon as the bottle goes near her mouth. And this baby barely ever cries tbh! Of she doesn't scream initially she just plays with the teat in her mouth for a while and keeps spitting it out... Then cries.

My friend said to try and put the tiniest but of sweat jam on the top of the teat but I'm not sure? But am willing to try anything at this stage? Anyone recommend this?

My mum said to try honey on the teat but I won't do this as am aware not to give any honey before 1 year due to the botulism risk.

I have a hen party to go to next week. And would really like to get her to take a bottle prior to this! And a wedding next month. I'm not going to have any life at all if she won't take a bottle. Can't even go and get me auld hair and badgers roots coloured as it is!

ThisRegard

We had an issue with both our kids refusing the bottle. As already said, the solution for us was persistence and trying out different bottles. Only recently we eventually got our youngest to take the Tommy Tippee Closer to Nature ones after trying about 4 other brands previously. He'd do the same, take it, chew on it and mess about with his tongue for ages, but never actually drink anything. Our eldest would only take the Nuk ones.

Are you still using expressed milk or formula ? What we did to rule out the fluid itself was use either a syringe, spoon or cup to see if he'd take it that way. Once he drank it out of one of those we knew the problem was with the bottle so it was just a matter of find the right teat.

Having said that, I do know of a couple of kids who still refuse a bottle so their parents just went straight to beakers/sippy cups.

Sligo1

ThisRegard wrote: »

We had an issue with both our kids refusing the bottle. As already said, the solution for us was persistence and trying out different bottles. Only recently we eventually got our youngest to take the Tommy Tippee Closer to Nature ones after trying about 4 other brands previously. He'd do the same, take it, chew on it and mess about with his tongue for ages, but never actually drink anything. Our eldest would only take the Nuk ones.

Are you still using expressed milk or formula ? What we did to rule out the fluid itself was use either a syringe, spoon or cup to see if he'd take it that way. Once he drank it out of one of those we knew the problem was with the bottle so it was just a matter of find the right teat.

Having said that, I do know of a couple of kids who still refuse a bottle so their parents just went straight to beakers/sippy cups.

Thanks for reply. Waited until she was really really hungry just there and tried her again (tommee tippee bottle). Well she roared the place down so I just put her on the breast and she took it straight away. It's expressed milk we're using. Maybe I'll try formula? I think she would be too young to take a sippy cup, tried to squeeze the milk into her mouth with the bottle teat but she just kept crying.

kandr10

We were lucky not to have experienced this to the extent that some of you have. What worked for me was to breastfeed enough to take the edge off and settle her and then take her off and latch her to the bottle so quick she didn't notice.
The only thing I'd strongly recommend is that when the baby takes the bottle (which hopefully they will) continue giving it at least a couple times a week. Whenever I leave it more than a week she starts refusing again.

cyning

We use glycerine & aniseed on S's dodys: I used it on the bottle the day of the christening to get her to take it too. I hate giving it to her saying that, but I'd give it over jam. Honey definitely a nono.

Sligo1

cyning wrote: »

We use glycerine & aniseed on S's dodys: I used it on the bottle the day of the christening to get her to take it too. I hate giving it to her saying that, but I'd give it over jam. Honey definitely a nono.

What's glycerine and aniseed cyning? Is it in a bottle or something I can buy?

cyning

Sligo1 wrote: »

What's glycerine and aniseed cyning? Is it in a bottle or something I can buy?

Yup it's just a little tub you buy in chemist it's about €3. Just something sweet to make them start to suck. The nurses gave it to me in hosp to get her to take dody for tests.

Sligo1

cyning wrote: »

Yup it's just a little tub you buy in chemist it's about €3. Just something sweet to make them start to suck. The nurses gave it to me in hosp to get her to take dody for tests.

Great thanks. Will get some today. The little pet is no trouble and is such a happy little baby... But id just love to be able to go out even for a couple hours without worrying about her. I had to take her out for dinner with me and the girls last night aswell. Lol.

xalot

Had the same problem, try giving the baby the bottle from different positions, at first my fella would take it in his bouncer but not a hope would he take it when sitting on your lap!

If you can try a few different bottles too, I had some success with the MAM bottles but he took the Avent Natural ones straight away. I know it's expensive trying lots of different bottles, we have a stack of unused ones in our house and it's such a waste.

Sligo1

kandr10 wrote: »

We were lucky not to have experienced this to the extent that some of you have. What worked for me was to breastfeed enough to take the edge off and settle her and then take her off and latch her to the bottle so quick she didn't notice.
The only thing I'd strongly recommend is that when the baby takes the bottle (which hopefully they will) continue giving it at least a couple times a week. Whenever I leave it more than a week she starts refusing again.

Just tried slipping the teat in there whilst taking boob out. First time she just laughed at me. Second time she screamed. She's a rascal!

Sligo1

xalot wrote: »

Had the same problem, try giving the baby the bottle from different positions, at first my fella would take it in his bouncer but not a hope would he take it when sitting on your lap!

If you can try a few different bottles too, I had some success with the MAM bottles but he took the Avent Natural ones straight away. I know it's expensive trying lots of different bottles, we have a stack of unused ones in our house and it's such a waste.

Have tried 3 different bottles so far. Haven't yet tried avent. It's so expensive buying new bottles when they will prob just be wasted . But this is prob what we will have to do...

ThisRegard

kandr10 wrote: »

The only thing I'd strongly recommend is that when the baby takes the bottle (which hopefully they will) continue giving it at least a couple times a week. Whenever I leave it more than a week she starts refusing again.

Yes, we made that mistake with our second, should have known better but when we first gave him the bottle he took it straight away and thought to ourselves that's grand, he won't have any issues. Of course when it came to that time he had other ideas.

Sligo1

ThisRegard wrote: »

Yes, we made that mistake with our second, should have known better but when we first gave him the bottle he took it straight away and thought to ourselves that's grand, he won't have any issues. Of course when it came to that time he had other ideas.

This is exactly it. She took EBM along with boob for the first few weeks no problem. But won't take the EbM now and hasn't since she was 4 weeks. We've been trying her for 5 weeks now.

kandr10

Gosh 5 weeks! That's perseverance! Please god the turning point is just round the corner.

Idrive

I had the same problem with my breastfed baby. Heading back to work shortly so was worried sick.
She refused loads of bottle but we had sucess last week with the nuk latex teat first choice bottle. It's a much softer teat and better shaped like the boob. Check out amazon.
Also, my partner got up early two mornings in a row while I stayed in
Bed :0).
Just played with the baby and built up a little bond over the course of two hours, then low and behold she took the bottle from him without a quibble. Was getting fierce upset before that.

Sligo1

cyning wrote: »

Yup it's just a little tub you buy in chemist it's about €3. Just something sweet to make them start to suck. The nurses gave it to me in hosp to get her to take dody for tests.

Tried this this evening. No luck

Will try the nuk latex tomorrow that I drive suggested.

dublinlady

I wouldn't try when she is too hungry - I found that they are more open to change if they are a bit relaxed and when a baby is hungry they want milk now this second - major urgency with no time to be messing with new feeding methods!!! So we used to try with the bottle half an hr or an hr before the time they would normally feed, that way it's not so upsetting for them if they can't work it and they will try a little longer before having a meltdown and just giving up and wanting boob! We had success with tommee tippee closer to nature and dad would do it with warm expressed milk when the baby was relatively chilled out and slightly hungry but not very! They seem to go from fine to starving within seconds!!!!! Well my two did anyway! Nothing was ever quick enough! No warning what so ever!

Sligo1

Tried the nuk latex today. Still no joy. Spent ages today at different times. OH tried when I was out for 2 hours. I tried when I came home. Tried when hungry. Tried before she gets too hungry. Nothing is working. Might just go back to using the tommee tippee and persisting.

God it's soul destroying. I hate hearing her cry coz she never really cries tbh.mo guess I won't be making it to the hen party for a few hours next Saturday... Never mind the wedding...

kandr10

Take a break from it for a day and then just try it once a day. You're probably all too tense or anxious that she'll take it and the baby could be picking up on that.

Sligo1

kandr10 wrote: »

Take a break from it for a day and then just try it once a day. You're probably all too tense or anxious that she'll take it and the baby could be picking up on that.

Thanks Kandr. Was gonna give it a break but said to OH this morning one last try. I didnt pick LO up when she woke this am. I got my OH to get her and take her out of the room. She was in her usual good form. Not crying or distressed. So he spent 40min offering her the bottle. Then alas !!!! She took 100ml!!! Yaaaaaaaassssss! Am so delighted! I just hope she takes it again tho.

Do you think we should try again this afternoon or wait again until tomorrow?

How Strange

Why don't you try a basic sippy cup or a doidy cup which is an open cup designed to tilt.

It looks like she's determined not to take a bottle but she may drink from a sippy cup. You could give the open cup and let her lap the milk like a little kitten does.

Sligo1

How Strange wrote: »

Why don't you try a basic sippy cup or a doidy cup which is an open cup designed to tilt.

It looks like she's determined not to take a bottle but she may drink from a sippy cup. You could give the open cup and let her lap the milk like a little kitten does.

Thanks how strange. She took 100ml from bottle this morning so hoping she will again. Will try her again this afternoon hopefully....

kandr10

Sligo1 wrote: »

Thanks Kandr. Was gonna give it a break but said to OH this morning one last try. I didnt pick LO up when she woke this am. I got my OH to get her and take her out of the room. She was in her usual good form. Not crying or distressed. So he spent 40min offering her the bottle. Then alas !!!! She took 100ml!!! Yaaaaaaaassssss! Am so delighted! I just hope she takes it again tho.

Do you think we should try again this afternoon or wait again until tomorrow?

Woo hoo!! Go you!!! To save your sanity I'd leave it and try similar tomorrow or whenever you get a chance. If she didn't take it again today you'd be left disappointed. You never know though!

uck51js9zml2yt

Midwife told us on our first to warm the milk and not give it cold.

Don't forget breastfeeding milk is body temperature.

We breast and bottle fed our first with expressed milk and for us nuk teats worked best.
Giving number 2 expressed milk exclusively now.

Sligo1

..... And she's refused the bottle again all day today and all evening. She's now lying on me flaked in a milk coma and I want to cry

How Strange

Oh dear

They're such little tyrants when it suits them. Give the sippy cup a try as she has no negative associations with it and it isn't an imitation of a boob.

Sligo1

How Strange wrote: »

Oh dear

They're such little tyrants when it suits them. Give the sippy cup a try as she has no negative associations with it and it isn't an imitation of a boob.

Thanks how strange. I tried se
EbM in a shot glass and she screamed. Will try sippy cup today.

Hello Lady!

Have any of you tried using breast shields when bf? That way baby is getting bf, close to mammy, all tge comforting smells etc but also getting used to a teat at the same time. I have twins so was always planning on combined feeding and the breastfeeding midwife told me to do this. my two will drink from literally any shape teat - dunno if thats due to the shields or just luck but worth trying.

stoutykid

just from my experiencing of breast feeding my two. I dont think the type of bottle matters its so different that's what they dont like. Warmed expressed or formula milk is very important as like someone else said breast milk is body temp. I also used initally breast feeding them and then slipping in the bottle and my two were ebf so def knew the difference

Eibhlin2011

MAM bottles were the ones that worked for us in the end

Sligo1

Hi all, just a quick update. Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions.

So she's begun to take a bottle of EBM (reluctantly). I tried all the ones suggested. Then lastly the MAM bottles which she doesn't seem to mind as much. So thanks to who suggested them as id never even heard of them .

So she's now latching and sucking. Problem now is she only sucks enough to take the edge of her hunger and then stops and won't take anymore from the bottle but is looking for the rest of her feed from me! She could take (50-90) from bottle then needs the rest from the boob!... She's a smart cookie. So much more stubborn than my son. Any tips for getting her to take the full bottle would be much appreciated!

kandr10

Sligo1 wrote: »

Hi all, just a quick update. Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions.

So she's begun to take a bottle of EBM (reluctantly). I tried all the ones suggested. Then lastly the MAM bottles which she doesn't seem to mind as much. So thanks to who suggested them as id never even heard of them .

So she's now latching and sucking. Problem now is she only sucks enough to take the edge of her hunger and then stops and won't take anymore from the bottle but is looking for the rest of her feed from me! She could take (50-90) from bottle then needs the rest from the boob!... She's a smart cookie. So much more stubborn than my son. Any tips for getting her to take the full bottle would be much appreciated!

Fair play to you. That's great progress.

Does she take a proper feed from you or is it just comfort sucking? Could you distract her with something and try the bottle again after an hour or so to finish the feed?

Sligo1

kandr10 wrote: »

Fair play to you. That's great progress.

Does she take a proper feed from you or is it just comfort sucking? Could you distract her with something and try the bottle again after an hour or so to finish the feed?

It's a proper feed I think. A feed for her would be between 120-150ml. We'd be extremely lucky to get 90ml bottle into her and then she'd latch onto me for a good 5minutes.

Have tried the distraction and retrying the bottle a while later but she's as stubborn! I just happy she's taking some tho... At least I know if I do need to go out she won't starve! Lol

kandr10

You've got one head strong little girl there Sligo ! Your determination paid off in getting her to take the bottle. This has got to be your final hurdle! I wouldn't offer the breast at all. Keep bottle feeds and breast feeds separate. Probably easier said if she's upset I know.

Sligo1

kandr10 wrote: »

You've got one head strong little girl there Sligo ! Your determination paid off in getting her to take the bottle. This has got to be your final hurdle! I wouldn't offer the breast at all. Keep bottle feeds and breast feeds separate. Probably easier said if she's upset I know.

Thanks. I think you're right. Not going to give her the breast anymore after the bottle. Will keep it entirely seperate and hopefully then she will start taking more if she knows she won't get what she really wants! Lol

kandr10

Sligo1 wrote: »

Thanks. I think you're right. Not going to give her the breast anymore after the bottle. Will keep it entirely seperate and hopefully then she will start taking more if she knows she won't get what she really wants! Lol

There's no underestimating how clever bAbies are is there! They know what they want for sure!

FurBabyMomma

Sligo1 thanks so much for pointing me in the direction of this thread, i honestly feel like I could have written this myself! Sounds like I'll have to keep persisting and maybe try the Nuk and Mam teats

Sligo1

Best of luck! And I hope your wee one isn't as headstrong as mine was!

FurBabyMomma

I'll let you know

madeinamerica

Hey fbm, I feel your pain! We were trying for weeks to get him to take a bottle if ebm from his dad as I had to go back to work at 14 wks. He wouldn't take it for ages, screamed the house down. It was awful rough on Dad we tried a few bottles but the ones that came with my pump worked, medela slow flow. We just kept giving him one bottle every evening until he took it.

One bit if advice if you are planning on continuing breastfeeding as well as bottle: I was advised by lactation consultant to use a slow flow nipple. She said that you don't want the baby getting used to an easy fast flow nipple because then it'll be too much hard work when baby is back on boob, which is harder to suck from, and they may not want the boob. I've a friend here who is exclusively pumping as her guy won't take the boob anymore after a few weeks of just bottles when she was sick. I don't know how she does it!


This is a great thread. As I've been off over Christmas dad has only given him one bottle and he wasn't too pleased about it. He was sucking but then not swallowing it all and it was drinking out of his mouth. I didn't know they could go backwards and refuse the bottle after a break from it. Better get back on it today!

FurBabyMomma

Thanks madeinamerica, good to know he took it in the end. We've mainly been using that Medela teat but she still just won't swallow the milk that gets in her mouth. It's cry, gargle, spit. We've just switched to a sippy cup with the lid on and it's more of the same but guess we'll keep trying. Good luck getting him back on the bottle!

FurBabyMomma

This is what I think of your attempts to bottle feed me... (FYI that is the contents of one full boob and about an ounce of expressed milk her father got into her for the first time.) the force is strong with this one!

Sligo1

O my gosh!!! But what a sweetie!

FurBabyMomma

Lol she is a cutie so we'll forgive her anything and keep trying. It was actually progress though, even though it ended up on the floor. We used a vari flow teat and the milk seemed almost to be flowing Back and drowning her, forcing her to swallow. But it was a bit scary tbh so we'll try the size 1 teat again next time.