Baby Snubs the Bottle, Even If It's breastmilk...i Can't Live like This Anymore!

Are you doing baby food yet? 6 months she should get like a jar a day. That would fill her up better and she wouldn't be hungering for so much breast milk. It's also an attention thing though. I love that part though. I have never even tried giving my 6 month old a bottle. I want her to myself lol. I have introduced her to the sippy cup already though.

I have three kids, married 2 1/2 years. Ages 3 1/2, 2 1/2, and 6 months.

Some babies never take a bottle. Mine didn't. At 6 months, yours is probably in a growth spurt, needing extra feeding to get the nutrition to support that. It will most likely pass in a couple weeks or a month. If she's ready, you could try offering more solids, but it will be a while before she's taking substantial enough quantity of solid food to make a difference in her nursing. Milk is still the primary food pretty much all the first year.

I think she's perfectly normal. Personally I would never want to wean from breast milk, even to formula, until at least 2 years (my oldest nursed until past her 4th birthday, the younger is 2 and still nursing). I would first look for other ways to work with her needs and satisfy yours as well. What kind of work are you doing, and is it possible you can do it while she nurses? Eg, if you're at a computer, maybe a good carrier would enable her to nurse while you work. Do you have a helper who could play with her? If she's actively engaged in a bouncy or with a person holding a pretty toy or in tummy time . . . maybe it could stretch the time you get to work, for a little bit.

As for letting her cry, or trying to force her to take a bottle, in my opinion it begins a pattern of having an antagonistic relationship in which the biggest person wins. I don't prefer to parent that way. That's my 2 cents.

my daughter refused bottle, too, but since i wasn't working it was tolerable. but i remember hearing that having someone else (not mother) offer the bottle works better. perhaps you will have to be away from her for a full day and have husband/babysitter keep offering the bottle? my pediat. insisted that if they get hungry enough, they will take the bottle...sounds harsh, but i suppose it would work?

H.,

First rule out, a sore throat. then.......
I have breastfed all 5 of our children, and the first thing you need to change is..... who is in charge of you.

I know this is hard thing to do, very hard... but here it is...just only pump for a day, and only give her a bottle.. the "second nature" kind are great, very slow flow.
She will eat I promise, it may be around noon when she finally gives in, but she will take the bottle.

good luck, and remember if she is running the show at 6 months, she will be the boss forever.

I know, our oldest still thinks he runs the show...
N.

stand firm, don't give in....the battles are only going to get tougher!

As for feeding every 90 minutes, wow! It really sounds as if she's a hungry girl....keep trying with the cereal. Sometimes it's easier to make these attempts when they're not quite awake....maybe that would help. I wish you Peace.

My first was like that. Even down to the frequent eating. A lactation consultant would say that it is not uncommon for a breastfed child to eat so frequently and that she is likely using you to pacify herself. But I don't think at 3 months you have to give in to it. I would try to bump her feeding by 10 or 15 min at a time so she can wait 2 hours between feedings. Hopefully she will be more hungry so she should be able to nurse sufficiently in 10 to 15 min. If you feel that she is genuinely nursing for the entire 30 min currently, you may not be able to get her to go faster. The bottle is hard. Is it breastmilk or formula in the bottle? If breastmilk, you could try warming the nipple a little, and try different positions. Try not to hold her in the same position you nurse in or she will just want that. Even with all these suggestions, I never got my first to take a bottle. But my second did ok. However, she never ate baby food or cereal. She went straight to finger food. They are all so different which makes it so hard. I was always told babies learn to manipulate so quickly. She just knows what she wants and expects to get it. So if you want to lay down the law I wouldn't feel guilty about it. She needs to adjust to your world. Best of luck.

Hello H....you sound so stressed out...but you CAN get through this and will be fine. :-) Hang in there. I too have the same issue. My first was bottle fed exclusively, my second took to nursing with me and bottle feeding by our daytime nanny easily, my third was only a nursing baby and now I'm doing it again with number four. Eeeeek! I know what you mean. However, a friend of mine going through the same thing said her pediatrician said to just let them scream it out until they took the bottle. I know this sounds so cruel, but as you may know, a baby will eventually "give in" and take the bottle if they are hungry enough. I wish I could take my own advice...I've never tried that option yet. I just keep nursing every 4-5 hours. And purchased a pleathora of bottles, nipples, etc. in hopes she will "like" the new one I buy. I am going to try to start giving her a bottle as well again (with breastmilk) and try that advice from another mom who said to warm up the nipple. Sounds like a plan! BEST of luck to you...and hang in there...you will make it, and so will your baby!

try a soft nippled sippy cup and stick with a plan. sometimes its hard but she will drink if she gets thirsty enough she will drink. it is fustrating my girl refused regular milk when we switched but after a couple days she finally got over it and took it. mostly had to try different cups.

Hi H.,

Have you asked your pediatrician about this?

When my second baby was little we had issues like this one - of course that was 26 years ago, but her Dr. at the time, told me just to not nurse her and when she got hungry enough she WOULD eat from a bottle.

I thought he was crazy! NOT feed a BABY!? So it took me a couple of weeks after he told me this to try it out of desperation and guess what - IT WORKED! It was really hard to let her cry and I really wanted to nurse her, but I just kept offering her the bottle and eventually she latched onto it and the problem was solved.

Good Luck!

N.

Sorry if this a repeat of others below but I have not read their responses. My son never took a bottle (well he would take the BM from the bottle but it had to be squirted into his mouth), when I returned to work he would only take 2-4 ounces the 8 hours away from me. I felt sick and horrible, I called the doctor and he said "he'll eat/drink when he's hungry"... I bought one of every kind of bottle out there...NOTHING. Then someone said give him a sippy cup. By nine months old he was drinking from a straw (still breastfed as well until 13 months old). Some may not agree with giving sippy cups but sometimes you have to think of your sanity too.

My son is now a healthy 18 month old who eats EVERYTHING, drinks whole milk and can drink from a non-lid cup...

Keep your sanity and find what works for you and your daughter. Good luck I know it's hair pulling.

We had this same problem when my son started daycare. He would not take a bottle, he would swat at it and try and squirm away. We started by my husband giving him the bottle and not me which really seemed to help. I would leave the room or even the house while he was feeding him and he would take to bottle better we would also offer the bottle prior to him getting really hungry. I would pick one type of bottle and nipple and stick with that one kind instead of switching with each attempt. Good luck, and stick with it.