My daughter will be 6 months old. She is on solids now and has been breastfed and still is. She has taken a bottle of only breastmilk at 4 days old. All of a sudden at 5 months old, she doesn't want it at all. Will cry so hard when it comes near her. It doesn't matter who is giving it to her. It's not formula its breastmilk. But she is teething. All the signs are there and the doc said that they sould be popping up soon. Could this be the reason why. Not to mention that the doc told me to give her a bottle every 2 -3 days so she doesn't end up rejecting it. my husband and I thought that was impossible and never followed through. I feel like this is all our faults. I have been giving her a bottle everyday(once a day) and having my husband give it to her too. She also cried so hard when my husband had her and I left the room. I did read that that is normal for a five month old to do now is cry when mommy leaves the room. I am a stay at home mom. I love to play with her all day(read books, tummy time etc) but I also let her play on her own too. Am I doing something wrong. I feel like i really mest up. Has anyone had a similar situation!!!!HELP
Have you tried a sippy cup. my daughter was on a sippy cup at 3 1/2 months she just did not want a bottle anymore either.
Good luck
M.
Yes yes YES!!! It hurts when she sucks. This will happen on the breast too. Give the girl some tylenol!
I have a nephew who loved sippy cups around that age. It's so hard with our first little babies isn't it? We just want everything in the world for them, and it's hard to know everything even though we think we should. Just use all that love inside...you're doing it right. Yeah for breastfeeding!!!! She's benefitting sooooo much.
Jess
Sounds to me that you are a good mama! You are not doing anything wrong!
I weaned my daughter at 5 months, and she had never had a bottle before that. At first she didnt want anything to do with it. I felt huge regrets, just like you.
First, I created a routine that I would always breast feed her in the same rocking chair. That way she associated eating to the chair. This was an eating chair only. After a week or so of setting up this pattern, Then once a day ( in the same rocking chair) I would show her a bottle of breast milk, let her get a little bit on her lips, so that she could taste that it was the same, and associate the bottle with a feeding. (pick a time of day when your baby is in the best mood. Not sleepy, or cranky. When she is happy is a time when she will be the most open to a change. Stick with this time every day.)
For 2 weeks she rejected the bottle. At the point of first rejection, I would then breast feed. Then finally, one day, she latched on to the bottle. She drank a little , then wanted the breast. So I gave it to her. I continued the routine everyday, and everyday she would drink more of the bottle and less breast during that one feeding. After she was satisfied with substituting a bottle for the one feeding , then I started working towards substituting another feeding. and so on. The last feeding I eliminated was our morning feeding. My daughted needed the closeness in the morning. Other children may need the closeness at night. Just depends on the child.
After she felt comfortable with the bottle, I switched over to formula, and the switch was very smooth. This process is a long process, but a loving one. We didnt leave the house for long periods of time in order to keep to a regular routine, but it was worth it.
I hope I was of some help. Take Care. Heidi
Lauren was 5 months when she started the cup. She refused the bottle! I was quite happy with losing the bottle. I started with the sippie cups that have handles. Then graduated to non handled ones. She is now asking for regular cups!
My Son was the same way we found the breast milk had to be heated. And I mean as warm as you can get it without causing burn. Try that. When you nurse her she is used to a certain temp and unless it is the right temp and I mean exacat she might not take it. That is how my son was for a long time.
Hi N.,
You are not doing anything wrong. Both my kids NEVER took a bottle they were both breastfeed and they went straight to a sippy cup. You can control the flow of a sippy cup just like the bottle nipples. My ped said that it was great if they only took a sippy, one less habit I would have to break! My daughter just turned one 2 weeks ago and still has a fit if daddy is holding her when I leave the room, she follows me everywhere. I hope this helps. Good luck!
N.,
I have a 9 1/2 month old that has not taken a bottle since she was 4 or 5 months old. She has never had formula, when she was taking a bottle it was of breast milk, but then all of a sudden she refused to take it and cried. so I am still breastfeeding. Now we are working on a sippy cup. i have been giving it to her since she was about 6 months. She didn't really do much with it, but recently she has started drinking out of it. But if i put breastmilk in there she will taste it, slam it down on the tray and then throw it on the floor, then looks at me like i have just betrayed her. It is an awful feeling but i keep trying. Just last week she actually drank about 2 oz of breastmilk from the sippy cup. Her doctor said I should just keep trying and offering it to her and that if she gets thirsty enough she will drink. I have not been persistent or consistent with it so I think if I were a little more regular with it that it may help. I hope my experience helps... it is frustrating and i am looking forward to when i can start introducing whole milk when she turns a year... At least with breastfeeding I know she is getting what she needs. -E.
Try offering her a cup. It was about at this age my Ped Told me to start my son on a cup for water and certain juices. The cup won't hurt her development at all, but she might be more accepting of a sippy than a bottle, since it's a little firmer and she can chew on it as well as drink from it (I found that a godsend when teething became a big issue)
HELLO NIKI NO YOU ARE NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG it could be her teeth but my oldest would not take her bottle after about 5 1/2 mo so i would put the brest milk in a sippie when i had to so that what i ended up doing with all the rest of them when i had to.like you said you are a stay at home mom just go with what feal right for you if i can be of any more halp let me know
N.,
Don't worry. First of all its GREAT that you are nursing her and giving her the breastmilk. It could be that because she is teething she wants Mommy instead of the bottle. Nursing soothes a baby when they are sick in any way or feelling pain from teething. If your a stay at home Mom why not just nurse her instead of the bottle for a while. Just keep offering her the bottle through out the day and I'm sure she will take it eventually. I breastfed all 3 of my children until 9 months and they had some days when they would not want the bottle. It can be frustrating I know, but just remember they are only gonna be so little for so long.. give her Mommys breast if she wants it.. its the best!! ..and she may need the soothing during this time of teething. Just tell Daddy that he may have to skip a few feedings to get your little one through this tough stage. Good Luck and keep me posted! - Marcia
Hi N.,
Same exact thing happened with my son,but he was only 3 months old when he started rejecting the bottle. (He had "latch on" issues for the first 3 weeks of his life and ONLY took the bottle. After 3 weeks, he did breastfeed mostly, but had at least one bottle a day. Again,like you, it was (usually) breast milk.) After 3 months, he rejected the bottle and I finally read online (on several sites) that this is very common of nursing babies. What I ended up having to do (when I couldn't be with him) was to feed him from a sippy cup. I would remove the non-spillable valve and pour tiny amounts into his mouth at a time. (Well, me, or whoever was the one feeding him.) This also helped when we were in public (like a restaurant), as I hated breastfeeding in public. This way could get a little messy, but it always held him over long enough until I was able to breastfeed him again at home. Good luck!
