I went back to work last week and for a month and half have been trying to give bottles to my son. He is 3 months old. He will not take it from my husband, me, or my daycare provider. The funny thing is he took a bottle fine at 2 months old. Well I thought when I went back to work he would just eventually take the bottle because he would get too hungry. Well that didn't happen. For 3 days in a row he did not eat during the day for about 9 hours. My daycare provider said he was not fussy at all and the only time he cried was when she tried to feed him a bottle. He ate a little more at night and did get up once more in the night. Is not eating all day for 9 hours okay for babies? Will he lose weight? It would be nice to know if other people had this issue and their baby did fine because if that is the case then I won't be so worried about him not eating. Also, is there anyone who had a baby that never took a bottle and what did you do? This is so foreign to me because my other two took a bottle fine. Thanks for your help.
Thank you so much for all the wonderful advice. It put me at ease that others have gone through this before. Well after over a month of refusing to take the bottle, my son finally decided to stop being stubborn and he is now taking one bottle a day at daycare. He actually ended up taking a cheap 0.99 bottle my daycare provider had on hand and also with a brown rubber nipple. He's averaging about 4 ounces a day which is not a lot but he is making it up in the evening and also during the night. At his 4 month check up he had gained 3 more pounds and was in the 94th percentile for weight so he obviously was making up for going all day with no milk. Thanks for all the help.
My baby who took bottles at two months also refused them at three months. We never had the do or die day care experience. But I never have been able to get her to accept the bottle and she is 14 months old. Sounds like you have a high needs baby. I would defiantly monitor weight. I know others who had high needs babies. Though it meant losing a lot, they ended up quitting their jobs (but did not regret it).
Been there! My son (now three) did the exact same thing. I tried every bottle available...no win there. THe only thing the daycare provider was able to find was she had to take the bottle and squirt it into his mouth...then he would only take a little at a time.
He never did learn to drink from a bottle, we went to sippy cups. (And I don't need ANY flack from the pros on how this makes me a terrible mom). I did what I had to do to get my child to eat/drink the breastmilk that wasn't coming straight from me. He continued to drink from a sippy cup as long as I wasn't around and would nurse (he nursed just great until he was 13 months old).
I've had moms encounter this problem; I'm a peer breastfeeding counselor in CA. As long as he's content, I would leave it alone. He'll eat when he's hungry :) His current behavior may be a result of his new routine, surroundings, etc, and he may very well settle into it and take the bottle. Yes, he may lose a little weight, but his behavior is the most important. Like I said, if he's content, hitting his development milestones in an appropriate timeframe, and is eating approximately 1oz per pound of weight in a 24hr time period, things will probably be ok.
There are 3 things you absolutely cannot force a baby/toddler/etc to do: eat, sleep, and poop. Once I realized this, my parenting style really relaxed :) Hope this helps!
My son had the same issue with bottles when I went back to work (he was 3 months). He is going to need more help eating, as I don't think not eating for 9 hours is fine at all. He will need to "learn" how to drink from a bottle, preferably from someone other than mom, so he is less confused. What worked for my son was being placed in a baby bouncy seat while eating, every time he was "cradled" to eat, he got confused and would fuss looking for me. I nursed my son exclusively for a year and to be honest, he was never a great bottle eater, but did figure it out...just pretty messy, milk running down his chin, etc... when eating - which did not happen with nursing.
Best of luck - this is a challenge!
From what my La Leche League leader says, that can be pretty normal. Some babies will just wait until they can nurse and then nurse more in the evenings/at night.
I can totally understand how concerning that would be, though. I say if he's happy and continue to put on weight, don't worry about it. I really do think it's perfectly normal for some babies.
I didn't read the other responses, but I thought I'd chime in. My youngest didn't ever eat as much as daycare as he seemed to at home. At three months, I would usually pump 12-14 ounces of milk, and he rarely ate more than 6 - 8. I know it's not the same as your situation, but a bit similar. I would send three bottles, and he would drink the third one when I got there to pick him up most days. He was always still hungry enough to nurse when we got home 10 minutes later:)
Anyway, it might just take her some time to adjust. If you're nursing, she might try to keep you up all night to make up for it. My little guy eventually starting drinking all of the milk I pumped, but it took a while to get to that point. Good luck:)
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I don't have a solution, but I am right there with you!!!! My three month old is also refusing, and she took a bottle at two weeks. She goes nine hours daily without eating. I did take her to the pediatrician when I returned to work three weeks ago because I wanted her weight to be checked so we could monitor it. I don't know what your son does, but my daughter makes up for it every evening. She's eating five to six times a day, which I know isn't enough, but at her four month check-up we'll see her weight. Call a lactation consultant or la leche league leader for suggestions. We have tons of suggestions but nothing is working yet. Good luck!!!
My girlfriends grandson at that age just used to wait for Mama to come
home. Would not take a bottle, content and gained weight because he
made up for him. Then my grandson comes along and did the same
thing! He finally took a bottle at around a year or so and then went to a
sippy cup. He took the bottle I think because the weather was now getting
warm and he was thirsty. Not a big fan of it unlike my own kids who all
loved their bottle. Go figure. If he is hungry enough, I bet he would take it.
He is happy and as long as he gains weight don't worry.
Try BREAST FLOW bottles. BF babies seem to love them.
You got some good advice. I would add to ask your ped and to contact a local LLL support person. Personally I would not be willing to let that go. I think 9 hours is way too long for the baby not to eat. They have tiny stomachs and I cannot see how he is having proper energy throughout the day without eating.
