I have a 5 month old daughter who we have always given an occasional bottle to. She has taken it since she was about two weeks old. Some breast milk sometimes formula. but within the last two weeks she ha decided she doesn't like the bottle. It doesn't matter if it's breast milk or formula. After much fussing I can get her to drink about an ounce or two but that's it. Does anyone have any suggestions. I will be starting a new job within a few weeks and she'll be in a daycare so she'll have to take a bottle.
We just kept at it and she did end up taking the bottle fine. I found she couldn't eat the rice cereal and we had tried putting it in her bottle and I think that is why she wouldn't take it.
hello L.
have you tryed giving her a sippie cup avent has one that has a soft spout that what i used when i switched my daughter i just put brest milk in it give it a try
I would closely inspect all of the nipples you have, to make sure they might not have become a bit worn. It's possible that they are flowing too quickly for her. If they look good, maybe it's that she's ready for a faster flowing nipple. It might also be that her mouth hurts, from cutting teath or something. So maybe some Orajel before a feeding will help.
Hi, have you tired having someone else give her the bottle? Sometimes when the baby can smell mom they refuse the bottle. Good luck!
Hi L.,
I had the exact same thing happen to me. (My son would ONLY take a bottle for the first 3 weeks of his life; then I had the best of both worlds for the next 3 months when he took both breast and bottle--great for me!) Then he stopped taking the bottle completely, and I learned this is very common with breastfed babies.
I skimmed through the other member's comments and I'd say give their ideas a try. What worked for me may not work for you, especially since I did not have to return to work. But heck, it's worth a try:
When I was in a restaurant (I hated bf'ing in public) or if I needed to be away from my son for a while, the only thing that worked for us was: feeding him breast milk (or formula) in a sippy cup. I removed that non-spillable valve that most sippy cups come with these days and just sort of poured a little into his mouth at a time. It was a little messy and time consuming, but it definitely held him over until I could bf him.
Like I said, I don't know if this will work for you since you are returning to work and really need your daughter to take a bottle. But it might be a little bit of a help for now, anyway. I found that my son did not start to take the bottle until I started to wean him from my breast when he was 6 months old. I guess he was just hungry enough to finally give in and take the bottle...
I know it's frustrating; I wish you the best of luck!!
I had the same probelm with my son. Try having someone other than you give her the bottle. My son would never take a bottle from me but, would take one from my husband and sister.
If you haven't done so, try a faster flow nipple. Each time my son was ready for the next nipple, he would get frustrated because he wasn't getting enough from the current flow. Once we would switch, he would eat fine. We used the Avent bottles so there were several flow options. If you're using a bottle with only a slow and fast flow option for nipples, make sure the faster flow isn't TOO fast for her. You don't want her to gag or choke. That's why we went with the Avent (though not my favorite bottle), they had many flow choices. She may spit up a little bit more than usual when you first switch until she gets used to getting more at one time, but it doesn't take long. Hope that helps!
Hi L. S. I had somewhat the same problem with my son. Maybe you coould try and get the nipples that are shaped just like a breast nipple. That worked for my son. The nipples are a little bit more expensive than the regular nipples but it is worth it. Once my son started to get used to the nipples I started to ease the regular nipples back in so that it wouldnt be hard for him to adjust to the other type as he started to get older and I stopped breastfeeding. There is also an excellent bottle by a Dr. someone that you can find at any Toys R' Us. The bottle looks a little weird but it is very effective and the baby gets no air to the belly. Hope this helps.
I agree that having someone else give a bottle may work. Lots of times breastfed babies don't want to take a bottle from mom.
Try different bottles or a nipple with more holes. I had the same problem with my daughter and it turned out she just couldn't get enough milk because there weren't enough holes in the nipple and she had to work too hard for it.
L. - It could be teething. My son went on a bottle-only version of a "nursing my breast, but would cry if I tried to give him a bottle. It only lasted a few days at a time, and it did help to give him a little baby orajel first. I hope that is all it is. Good Luck with the bottle issue and your new job!
I would try to have someone else give a bottle sometimes that works. And don't even be in the room. I also found these gerber bottles the ones that are triangler and chubbey the only ones my daughter would take. Eventually the baby will come around. Good luck M.
Have you taken her to the doctors lately? She may have an ear infection. When my middle boy was about that age he stopped taking his bottle. He showed no other signs of an ear infection so at first I dident even think that was the problem.
You never know sometimes she may have just changed her mind.lol
Good luck. Suz
It may be the type of bottle it is. I went through about 4 different types of bottles with my daughter and ended up with the playtex ventair bottles. You may need to try a different bottle.
