6 Month Old Won't Take Bottle!

This link has some helpful advice:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T025000.asp

Also, at 6 months you can start her on a sippy cup.

Hey L.,

You're getting a lot of advice on this one and some of it may feel a bit less than friendly. You're doing a great job at being a mom, I'm sure. I've had three and it wasn't until I had my third that I had this problem! Every child is different so take some of this advice with a grain of salt. My third wouldn't take a sippy cup OR solids no matter what we did. Given that she was our third, I'm pretty sure we knew what we were doing! Anyway, what we did was my husband had to feed our daughter and I had to not be near them. We used the Medela bottles and my husband had to squeeze it into her mouth for the first day. It was traumatic for me to hear and see...but it's what worked for us. Now she drinks from straws (sippy cups actually are linked to slowing speech..fyi). She's 15 months and we made it through all of that just fine. You will too. Hang in there!!!

:)

When I switched from breast to bottle, my daughter liked the Playtex nipples, but maybe you can try her on a sippie, it's not impossible. Dont worry, eventually she'll get the idea, though at six months it's a great time for food!

J.

You can try the Adiri breast bottle. I have given it to babies as old as 7 and 8 months that refused everything else and they took it. it is shaped like a breast and they latch the same way with thier lips on a warmed surface. it really helps. You can find it both at Babies R Us (alittle more expensive) or at The Nestingplace.
good luck,
K.

My two sons nursed and took a bottle but when it came to my little Hannah she would have no part of a bottle ever! I tried all different kinds with breast milk pumped with different nipples and she never would take one. I could never leave her anywhere for very long with anyone. I nursed her for a year and she then went straight to a sippy cup. You might try that Hannah actually loved the avent sippy cup with the soft spout and took it earlier on, but for some reason would NEVER take a bottle. It was very frustrating. She is now four and I am pregnant with my third son due in Feb. so I am hoping this little boy will be less stubborn and take a bottle of breast milk so I can have a break sometimes and his daddy can help feed him. Good luck!

L.!

I was right there with you! My DD did the same thing-she actually NEVER did take a bottle and we tried every one we could get our hands on and only with pumped milk! Finally, at about 7 mos., we put her directly on a soft-tip sippy cup (Nuby). That worked just good enough until I totally weened her at 11 mos.!

Have you tried making sure SOMEONE else gives her the bottle? Baby's will not take a bottle from mom or if mom is in the room because they know the REAL nipple, not the fake, plastic one, is within reach and the real is always better to a baby than a fake! Make sure you are out of sight and sound when somone tries to give her a bottle but make sure that someone is patient and tries over and over because it does take persistance.
Aslo, try to find a bottle that most mimics the breast. We opted for the Play-tex nurser because the bag contracts just like a breast milk duct does and suction is simular. She did take that bottle some-what but still not that great. Our son, however, took to that Playtex bottle with no problems and like a pro!
We also tried on our DD the bottle that looks and feels like a breast (out of desperation) from "One Step At A Time" and with my milk but it didn't work at all for her either-every baby is different though: I guess you could give it a try.
It became just as easy for us to just start her directly on a sippy when we got to the point of giving her a "bottle" often. We bought the Nuby that came with several different transitional nipples from soft sippy top to almost reg. sippy top.

I know the frustration of not being able to leave her anywhere: again, I was right there with you and I HAD to work part time. But realize that she will not starve herself (said to me by several pediatricians and books): eventually she will give in and take a bottle, even if just enough to sustain her. No doubt this is troublesome to you and the sitter so make sure the sitter knows your baby well and the situation and is patient and comfortable with the situation. Unfortunately, it may take you forcing yourself to be gone from her for a day for her to start taking to a bottle. Tough love may be the only answer for you: it was for us! Hopefully you can find a better transition! Just make sure that once she actually STARTS taking a bottle some-what, even if you are around her enough to not have to give her one, keep giving her one at certain intervals (at LEAST once a week) so she doesn't resort back to refusing a bottle again!

BEST OF LUCK!
YOU WILL MAKE IT THOUGH IT! In a few mos. you will be looking back thinking "that didn't seem that hard" or "Man, I just really wish she wouldn't pick a sippy cup over me now!"

Just like everything else in infancy, it passes to quickly and becomes "just a memory" that you savor and sometimes or often long to have back!

T.

Trust me on this... The First Years-Breast Flow bottles are the most similar to breast feeding for your baby. You can find them at Babies r Us or Super Targets.

At six months she should be able to transition to a sippy cup and at six months, she should also be on solid foods. Unless you are talking about leaving her for hours, I think maybe you are stressing yourself when you don't need to. To get yourself some time while you are going through this stage, feed her right before you leave her with someone, have solid food and a sippy cup available and start with leaving her for a fairly short time and go from there.

I recently had lunch with my daughter's god mother and she reminded me of my daughter not much older than yours. She used to love the baby oatmeal mixed with apple juice and would say yum yum between every bite of food. As long as that kid had her oatmeal, she was good to go, lol. Hard to believe that was 15 years ago!

Your daughter should find the sippy cup appealing because it is something she can do for herself, might even want to try drinking out of one too so that she will want to mimic your behavior.

Greetings L.:

Be proud that she doesn't want a bottle! Sit back and enjoy breastfeeding while you can. Breastfeed as absolutely long as you can- at least 18 months. I have a friend that brags her daughter has never had a bottle- I'm so jealous! Breast really is best!!

I don't have any advice, but just a comment that I have been there, too! My first daughter went back and forth no problem, and my second daughter ended up taking a bottle VERY reluctantly at about 7 months, but my son never would. I tried everything and he just absolutely refused. We went straight from breastfeeding to cup at a year. It was just easier to let him have his way than to fight with him :)

Luckily, once your daughter is eating food you can still go out once in a while and just let her snack while you're gone and nurse when you get home.

Good luck!

Good luck! My son refused a bottle completely. I nursed him 13 months but while at work my husband fed him with a cup.

They do make a bottle that is soft and flexible that looks and feels like a breast. Maybe that will work.

I know that you've gotten a lot of advice. I just thought I'd throw my two cents in.
My DD was b/f for 11 1/2 months. She NEVER had a bottle the whole time. We started her on a nuby soft spout cup at 5 months. She did great with it. I started her on baby food at 4 months, so if I needed to go anywhere, I'd b/f her first, and then let dad or Aunt feed her jarred food or her sippy while I was gone and as soon as I returned, I b/f again.
I never had any problems with it, but, I also didn't ever leave for very long. Hope this helps a little bit.

Try a a sippy cup at her age. Or try letting someone else give her the bottle. Some babies wii refuse the bottle from the boob lady :O)

You might try the Breastflow bottle ...found at babies r us it works more like the breast.I have some for my 4 week old baby and she seems to transition easily.

sorry about typ-os....one handed typing!

Witho our third child who is now 12 weeks, I have found and LOVE "First Years Breast Flow" bottles. I found them at Babies R Us. It works just like breastfeeding - google it and see. There is a nipple inside a nipple and it takes the baby a bit to get the milk (similar to letdown) and the rate is slow & not overwhelming.

Good luck - never had this with the others, but would recommend these bottles to anyone! Good luck.