My 11 week old daughter will not take a bottle. We have been trying since she was 5 weeks old and she has done it a couple of times but she now refuses. Here is what we have tried so far:
1. We have tried the following bottles: Avent, Dr Brown's, Medela, and Playtex (she did it three times with this bottle/nipple but suddenly stopped).
2. We have tried using both formula (warmed to slightly above room temperature)and bottled breast milk.
3. People other than myself have tried while I have completely left the house.
4. We have been trying every day for about 6 weeks, usually at least twice a day.
I had the same problem with my son! I ended up using NUK nipples. It took us about 3 weeks to find one that he liked and I had every nipple under the sun at one point!
My son also initiallly took a bottle and then refused to take any bottle at all. He kind of took an Evenflo bottle (Jewel carries them) and the Gerber premium bottles (the one with a wider base), but would only take maybe an ounce of breastmilk from them.
He was older so we started to feed him from a sippy cup. It took a month, but he'll take milk from the cup now, but still it's only a couple of ounces. He actually justs takes enough to stem the hunger until I get home. Then he wants to nurse for an hour.
My husband also fed him with a medicine dropper (that took FOREVER) and a spoon (he would choke too much). My son took breastmilk that way, but those methods just didn't work for my husband or me.
If you want to use a cup, just be very careful not to give your baby too much at once. You also may have to experiment with different sippy cups. The Avent ones worked best for my son, although he didn't like the Avent bottles. If you have some Avent bottles, Toys R Us sells the spout to convert them into sippy cups. You just replace the nipple with the spout. I actually had to take out the valve that makes it not drip because my son would not suck on the sippy cup. We essentially drip a little milk through the openings into his mouth. It still takes a long time to feed him, and we have to be careful with not letting him get too much at once or he'll choke.
I've also heard of mothers who soak a washcloth with breastmilk and let their baby suck on the washcloth, but I don't know how safe that is.
You may want to contact La Leche or go to their website for help, but I've heard that sometimes they are not really that supportive of working moms.
Hopes this helps. Feel free to contact me, but know that I only check my email about once a week.
I went through the same problem when my daughter was an infant. I never gave her a bottle I only breastfed her. So when it was time for me to go back to work I tried to get her on the bottle and she would not take it. I tried everything you tried and she just did not take the bottle. The only thing I can suggest is Avent sells nipples that are suppose to feel like breast nipples to a baby. I was consistent in using those with breast milk in them, so when she was hungry I would use the bottle verses breast feeding. It took a little while but eventually she started taking the bottle. But I never used formula I only used breast milk until she was comfortable. I breast fed my daughter till she was 16 months. Hope this helps some.
you have tried both the ventair and the platex with disposable soft bag inserts.
Hey J. -
Ouch! Sounds like a bit of an issue that you have there. I have not personally experienced this, but I have heard about this from others in my grad program in child development.
Two things - First, if you are really anxious about this and you have a good bond with your baby as I assume that you do, she will pick up on your anxiety and that will affect her greatly. Think of it this way: As an adult, if someone were all anxious about giving you something to drink out of a new container, would you want to drink it? Try to relax as much as you can.
The next thing is to do one whole day of all bottle feeding in the same bottle type and omit the breast completely. You won't starve your baby - don't worry! If you use both methods and the baby is more comfortable with breat feeding, why should she have the bottle when the breat will come along eventually? After a few rounds with the bottle, she will eventually go ahead and use it because she will be hungry and she will give in. The longer she uses it, the more comfortable she will get with it. I did this when I needed to get my older daughter from a bottle to a sippy cup for daycare - eventually she got too thirsty to refuse the cup (don't worry - I didn't dehydrate her - it only took a few hours for her to give in with my gentle urging and praise).
Consistency will be the key. Good luck - !
Sincerely,
A.
