Getting BF Baby to Take Bottle

Updated on April 23, 2008
E.R. asks from Silver Spring, MD
4 answers

We are having a very difficult time getting our baby, now 10 weeks, to take a bottle of expressed breastmilk. We first introduced the bottle at 4 weeks and she usually rejects it. There have been only a handful of times that she has taken it, usually no more than 2 oz. We have tried 6 different types of bottles too and that seems to make no difference. My husband or other family members have been the ones giving the bottle and I try to make myself scarce so she doesn't think the breast is available. We've tried offering it when she is not super hungry and at various times of day. No difference. Often after trying awhile she will get very very upset - very loud screaming and crying - and is difficult to console. She will be entering daycare in one month and my plan was to keep pumping while a work and have them bottle feed her. I am very worried now that she will scream the whole time at daycare and want to nurse nonstop and all night when I get home from work...PLEASE HELP! I feel like we've tried all the tricks you read about and nothing is working. Has anyone been in this position and gotten the baby to take th bottle??? If so what helped???

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E.T.

answers from Washington DC on

I used the Medela bottles and nipples. My daughter disliked the Playtex ones.

Otherwise, my daughter would eat if she was really hungry, but otherwise would wait for me to return.

For daycare, she never moved past little bottles and for an entire day would usually only drink about 8-10 oz. When I brought her home, she nursed.

My best guess is it is a combination of not being hungry and not liking the bottle. If she drinks 2 oz from the bottle, she takes the bottle.

I wouldn't worry.

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B.H.

answers from Norfolk on

Hi there!
The first thing you should remember is that the way a baby sucks a bottle is totally different from how she gets milk from you. It's an entirely new motor skill. It may not be that she doesn't want to have to drink from the bottle, but being only 10 weeks old she may not have quite learned what to do with it yet.
I am not sure what to tell you about how to teach her, but I do know some great resources. Contact your local La Leche League and ask what to do. They make devices to attach to your finger to start the process of learning how to suck differently. The people at LLL I have no doubt can help you, and may even meet with you to solve this problem.

Good luck!

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M.M.

answers from Norfolk on

A LLL leader was talking to the group about getting a breastfed baby to take a bottle. The biggest thing she said was that you cannot give a breastfed baby a bottle in the normal nursing position. The baby will expect the breast if you put her in a cradle position. Instead sit her upright in your lap with her back to your belly and bring the bottle around. Rub her cheek with it and when she instinctively roots, pop the bottle in and tip it up.

Also, talk to your daycare and see what their experience is with babies that have a hard time taking the bottle.

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T.G.

answers from Providence on

Had the same issue with my DS who is 5 months now. He just started to take EBM in a bottle when I have to go somewhere. The Adiri bottle is GREAT! You can get them at some babies r us or online. They are 12.99 but worth Every penny! It is shaped just like a breast. Get the white one which is stage 1. The blue one is stage two and a faster flow which is to fast for my 5 month old! They are awesome. He will take it from me in the nursing position!!!!

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