Almost since birth, my baby has taken one bottle a day. In the beginning it was an ounce or two of formula to get rid of the jaundice. After week one it has been breast milk. In the past 3 weeks she has been refusing the bottle. We found that she prefers the platex nursers. Sometimes she will take a bottle and other times she screams like she is being hurt until I nurse her. We make sure the milk is not old and it is the right temp. We try and try to get her to take it calming her when she cries. This can go on for 30 minutes. My hubby feeds her the bottle because she tries to nurse off of me. If I wasn't going back to work in August, I wouldn't care. We are afraid she will do the same for the sitter. Plus I want her to take one so we can go out on a date or what not. Any advice??? This is so frustrating and I feel so bad for her crying.
Are you using the silicone nipples on the bottles? Both of my kids had issues with these. We had to use the LATEX ones, and we had a lot better luck, I would try this if I were you.
How hard is she having to work to get the milk out? If you are using the liners, you can test this easily by gently squeezing the liner bag at the bottom(not hard, gentle) to see if the milk is coming out easily... if you are having to use force, the hole in the nipple may be too small.
We used the Flo-Vent bottles and did not use the 'breastfeeding' nipple-- it was too big in our son's mouth. If the nipple your daughter is using doesn't compress easily, that could also be a problem. And I agree with other poster's suggestions.
The other strong suggestion I would make is eliminate the 'we' in this instance. When your husband offers her a bottle, be out of the room, go out of the house, if need be. This needs to be their journey together, and you have good reason to make this a priority with your return to work.
I would also offer her the bottle at the same time, each day, and make sure she's hungry but not super-hungry. Don't wait until she's desperate. Also make sure her positioning and latch on the bottle is good, and that she's had a bit of snuggle/connection time with Daddy before he starts.
And this is a tough one, but here it is: if she screams until you nurse her, she is learning that if she refuses the bottle, she does eventually get milk from you (which, of course, is preferable to her). I am not trying to say that she is being manipulative, because she isn't, but she is learning that you will acquiesce if she holds out long enough. This is why I strongly suggest leaving the house if you can. If you have a cell phone, consider going out and not coming back until she and daddy have completed a feeding and he calls you. This will be hard now, but so much better now than later. In my opinion, you are at a crucial time for establishing 'how things are' with your little one. It will be tough, but she will adapt.
I found the best bottles were DR. Brown's for going between nursing and bottle. They work more like breast and take more work on their part so they don't get lazy.
Just a thought, maybe you are eating something like onions or garlic that flavor the milk she's drinking? My second I couldn't eat either of those the whole while I was nursing.
I am having the same problem -- sigh. Read my last question for more answers.
Best of luck.
I go through this all the time at my childcare center. There is a bottle by Tommy Tippee (sp) that we love. Most babies take to it right away. The nipple is pretty big and flat so the breastfed babies take to it pretty well. Keep trying, a little each day. Sometimes I find If I face the baby away and distract them it helps. If you hold them in the position of breastfeeding sometimes they are more reluctant. It takes time, and sometimes quite a few tries, but don't give up. Good luck!!
I had a similar issue. I tried for eight weeks to get my son to take a bottle before I had to go back to work, and probably spent close to $100.00 on different bottles. In the end, what worked was (a) the classic Gerber latex nipples with a simple bottle, and (b) me going back to work so that he had no choice but to use the bottle. It was a rough first day, but after that, he figured out that the bottle was the only way he'd get food when I wasn't there.
Good luck - I know that this is no fun for you or her!
OK, these babies LOVE their Mommies!!!!!!
I've had several kiddos with this issue. The playtex bottle is a great one to try, I've also had success with Avent and one kiddo with the NUK bottle.
Do you have a friend or family member, even Dad, who is willing to work with baby for several hours? You need to leave the house, go do errands, go to the gym, go to the spa!! You need to leave knowing that baby will be hungry soon. Let the patient person you have chosen to help have 4 or 5 hours with your little one. She will probably refuse it at first, next time might think about latching on to bottle then refuse. Eventually she will figure out that "I'm starving and this is where the food is" and drink it (perhaps just an ounce or two at first). Once you get her going make sure that Dad has an opportunity to feed her once a day, you may have to go to another room in the house.
I have found that breast fed babies like thier milk very warm.
I had a client once that told me her little guy had been taking a bottle. She dropped off at 7:45am and I didn't get that kiddo to take ANYTHING until 1:30pm and then it was only an ounce and a half.
Good Luck!!
Have you tried different bottles? There are some that look just like a boob that some babies really like. There are also the kind with the bag and you can kind of "squeeze" the milk into the babies mouth until they realize that it is something they want and suck on their own. Or maybe even a sippy. My daughter also refused a bottle (the first week back at work I had to go nurse her)..but then found that she liked the Toss and Go sippys. I think because there is no valve, the milk kinda dripped into her mouth until she was like..."oh yea..I want this!"
