My 2 Month Old Is Refusing the Bottle

I had the exact same problem when I went back to work part time with my 2nd. It took her a few days at the sitter but eventually ate. My newborn is going through it now when I go in to the office at night and it's harder because it is daddy and not a "stranger".. Good luck to you.

With my first my husband tried to give her a bottle when we were getting ready for me to go back to work while I was still there, but she did not want anything to do with it. As someone else said, my mom gave me the advice to not worry about it and that when I was at work, she would eat once she was hungry enough. Once I was not there she was able to take the bottle. I didn't get any special bottles, but I did pump my breast milk. If you are going to continue breast feeding, then it worked for me to still breastfeed whenever I was there. Then my daughter knew that bottles were for when I was not around. I am sure that everything will work out just fun and good luck with your first days back at work.

You can try putting some breast milk on the bottle nipple so that she can smell it, just keep triing. I am also a first time mom and my daughter is about 3 1/2 years old, its never easy. Another thing to do is start mixing your breast milk with formula to transition her to just formula after 6 weeks if you are going to ween her compleatly.

The basics that I have always heard are leave the room for twenty to thirty minutes before her feeding so that she knows you are no where around, have a blanket with your "smell" that whomever is feeding her can put near her or wrap around her while she is feeding, and of course, just keep trying until they eat. This has never been a personal problem for me, however the lactation nurse that works with my mother (also a nurse) had this issue upon returning to work and for a whole year, her son just didn't eat while she was at work. He literally waited all day for her to come home and feed. It took about two weeks for her breasts to get used to it, but that was just the way it had to be for them. I think the bottom line is that it will all work out as trying as it is and whatever is right for you and your daughter will prevail! Hang in there, I know that this must be hard for you on so many different levels. Good luck!

My first child would NEVER take a bottle. I ended-up nursing her exclusively until she was 9 months and then weaned her to a sippy cup.

Are you using pumped breast milk or formula?

My second child was given one bottle a day starting at 3 weeks. When he was about 8 weeks old, he started to refuse the bottle (There was a 3 day break from bottles while my hubby was out of town). I thought I would go mad if I had to nurse exclusively again. So I started to experiment with different formulas. The one that he would finally take was Good Start, by Carnation (I think).

I did not have much luck pumping milk. so I chose to use formula with the bottles. If you are going the formula route, this may help.

Perhaps the flow of milk is too slow on the nipple, try switching to a faster flow nipple.
When my son went on bottle strike, we finally figured this out. But until then we used a syringe to give him his milk.

This is one of those things that makes moms crazy! Nobody want to think they are leaving a screaming hungry baby :)
I agree with everybody else, keep trying, and try both formula and breast milk and try just heading out for a while. If you have a caregiver set up for when you return to work, maybe you can work out a schedule over a few days. You leave for an hour one day when it is time to eat, 2 hours the next time, go do something that you aren't going to be able to do once you start working again!
My second hated his bottles - we just kept offering them and eventually he decided they weren't so bad.
Hang in there!

Don't give up breastfeeding. Those special bonding moments between you and your daughter are priceless and you don't want to lose that opportunity. I just recently had the problem of getting my daughter to drink from a bottle. Not because I wanted to have her drink from one, but because I have had a decrease in my milk supply and she was pretty much starving and I had no choice but to supplement with formula. At first even though she was starving she would not take the bottle just because it wasn't me. All she did was make a mess (the formula was coming out but she wasn't swallowing). After a few days of keeping at it, she finally took. Sucking from the bottle is different than sucking from the breast. The child actually has to work differently to get the milk, so your baby will just have to learn the new skill of sucking from the bottle and like an infant learning to breastfeed that just takes time. Hang in there.

Just don't breast feed anymore

A.

What are putting in it is my first thought. Are you pumping so that she is still getting breast milk only? If you are not then she won't drink it. Make sure you a pumping so she is still getting breast milk.

If you are then the best thing to do is start squirting some of the milk into her mouth from the bottle so she realizes what it is. Make the milk get all over the nipple of the bottle so it tastes right before you put it into her mouth as well.

The other thing to do is make sure she is getting skin to skin contact even when she is getting fed from a bottle. That way there is still that comfort factor when she is eating from a bottle. Have dad feed her with his shirt off.

My first didn't refuse a bottle so much as he didn't really understand what was going on. I had to work with him a lot to get him to be able to figure out how to get anything out of it. He used to look at me like, "Aw, come ON mom! I KNOW you can help me out here. Just let me do it the easy way!" It really did help when I wasn't the one trying to give him a bottle, but I was the person most motivated. I wasn't going back to work, I just really wanted to be able to go somewhere for longer than 2 hours and know that my baby wouldn't be screaming the whole time.
Which gives me an idea. Try leaving for a while when you know there's going to be a feeding. You don't have to go far, but maybe it'll sink in that it's the bottle or nothing. If you're hanging around, maybe your baby is still holding out hope that you'll give in and do it her way.

I too, had this issue. My mom actually gave me the best advice. At some point she'll get hungry enough to eat...if she refuses the bottle, don't give in and give her your breast. This is just enabling her to refuse the bottle more. Keep trying with the bottle each time she fusses and is hungry. I hate saying, don't feed your baby...that just sounds heartless,but it does work. And look at the bright side, at one point she won't want to give up the bottle for a sippy cup, and then the sippy cup for a big girl cup. :)

Our first son did better with formula than breast milk from the bottle, particularly if it was from me. As for a sure fire way, I'm with the last post. She'll eventually get hungry.