At Wits End - San Mateo,CA

Your husband has to give her the bottle. Ideally you are not in the room, and out of the house if possible. I only saw my son take a bottle when I quietly sneaked a peek from afar, or through pictures. Also, have your husband try holding her in different positions, maybe different positions from a nursing one. Also try doing it when she is hungry, but not famished so she's calmer. Good luck! We had a hard time at first too, but it all worked out.

The nursing mother is not supposed to give her a bottle at all. You need to leave the house, have her get hungry, and then have another adult like your husband or a female relative/friend give her the bottle. Most nursing babies reject a bottle when offered by the mother. It is confusing for them.
Hope this helps.

Dear D.,

So sorry to hear about your struggle. I share your pain - my 15 week old won't take a bottle either! My son, who is now 4, was also a refusenik. With him, I was going back to work when he was 4 months, so I was desperate. I don't remember how we did it, although eventually he would take the VentAire (but ONLY the VentAire!) I just read about a bottle called the Adiri Natural Nurser which I'm going to try. It has good recommendations for fussy babies and is also BPA free (yucky toxic chemicals are present in most baby bottles - maybe our babies are smarter than we think!)

My only other advice is to be patient with yourself and your baby. I'm sure life is VERY challenging with a 19-month old as well. But even if your daughter never takes a bottle, within a few months you can try weaning her to a cup for day-time. So while it feels like forever now, your situation will change, even if you do nothing.

Good luck!

have you tried Adiri bottles? they are most like your breast. You can get them at Babies R Us or online. Oh and they have always been BPA free.

Meg

Yeah, you can't be around when she takes a bottle. She's probably completely confused as to why she should take a bottle when your boobs are right there. ;)

She WILL take a bottle when she's hungry enough. My daughter has never been thrilled with the bottle, but she'll take it when I'm not around.

Good luck!

~ E.

Hi D.,
I agree with the other moms. Have someone else give her the bottle. Leave the room so she can't see you or smell you. Of course she would rather get her milk from you than from a bottle so it's not surprising she gets upset. My daughter always preferred the breast over the bottle, even though my supply was pathetic. There were times in the beginning that the ONLY way to soothe her was with the breast. (She was VERY colicky)
Good luck!
L.

Give the bottle and the baby to someone else (preferably someone who has fed a baby before) and leave for an hour. Don't take your cell phone, so that you won't be tempted to call and they can't call you. She will be fine with out you for that hour, angry but fine. I had my mom do this for me and it was a huge help. Now she takes a bottle regularly at daycare. Also try different bottle temperatures. My daughter likes her bottle very warm, almost too warm according to her colorchange spoons.

Good luck,

A.