Baby Won't Take Bottle

Neither of my children would take a bottle. I recommend starting a sippy cup within the next month or two. Mine started at about 5 months and it worked well. It was different enough from a bottle so there was no confusion.

I would try several different nipples. My son is 2 now, so I'm not up on the new styles that have come out, but I would try to find one as close to the real thing as possible and see if that works. The ones you're using just might be uncomfortable in the baby's mouth.
Good luck

Unless you have a really good reason to bottle feed her, why not relax and nurse since you stay at home? Nursing is better: the nipples on bottles are made from plastics and polymers that are toxic - try as hard as the industry does to reduce this toxicity.

Babies don't nurse just for food, they also derive an enormous amount of comfort from it. Also, breast-feeding stimulates neurons in the baby's brain that bottles cannot. Tests done about breast-fed babies are so conclusive on the importance of the ACTION of breast-feeding itself and brain development that avoiding it when you have the time and the full breasts doesn't make sense.

Four months is early to wean a breast-feeding baby when both of you could be getting so much from it. Seeing as you have a two year old, sit down with a chapter book while you nurse the infant and read to both of them. Both of their little brains will be getting stimulation and it will give the three of you loving, quiet, bonding time together.

Chapter books for age two: Winnie the Pooh, Little Bear stories, Francis stories

K.,

All my kids did this at this age. If they don't take a bottle at least twice a week consistently, they will stop taking it altogether. Why suck on cold, hard plastic when you can have a nice, warm mommy?

With our kids, I just made sure I was around for nursing times and only left them when they were asleep or could eat baby food.

Somewhere between 6-9 months, babies can learn to drink from sippy cups. I always started them early. Just gave them a cup in their high chair full of water and let them play with it. It took a couple weeks to get the hang of it, but they all do. Now they even have soft spouts so the transition is easier.

Good luck,
S.

honestly it might just be a phase. i would not force the bottle. try once a day or something and see if it passes.

My son did that at 3 months. He never did take a bottle after that, although he had never been good with it like your daughter had. She is almost getting to the point where you could start introducing a sippy cup and experiment with different types of sippy cups. My son ended up going straight from nursing to a sippy cup at 14 months, but I started introducing the cup at six months. In the greater scheme of things it's such a short period of time that they nurse that I would just enjoy nursing her. Your situation does sound a little different though since she used to be o.k. with the bottle and suddenly stopped. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have her examined by your pediatrician just to make sure there isn't anything physical going on that may be bothering her.

I had the same problem with my son and figured out that what likely happened was that a couple of times the breast milk had started to sour (even though I had thought I was really careful. This meant that he began refusing a bottle every time. You may just try the milk to be sure it is still tasteless.

My daughter also refused the bottle, not because of souring milk, she just wasn't open to it. In both cases we tried every bottle we could get our hands on and just kept trying. I remember reading to try giving when hungry and not hungry, while the baby was in a crib, riding in a car, in a bath, anything to break a negative association or to cerate a situation where the baby isn't thinking about it too much. We tried my husband wearing my shirt and me trying from a position similar to nursing. I say all this because you never know what is going to work. For my daughter, one of the nipples we introduced worked, it was the MAM nipple that is a little flatter. We tried this and right away it just totally worked. For my friend who had the same problem, her daughter liked the one that actually looks just like a breast.

Good luck

I breastfed all 3 of my kids. My youngest was very picky when we gave him a bottle. It had to be just the right temperature. If you have noticed, breastmilk is very warm to the touch. Try warming it a little more.
My daughter around that age did the same thing. Her problem was the bottle we were using. We had been using the playtex bottles(That was before playtex had the numerous types of nipples). We had to switch her to the regular gerber bottles with the regular bottle nipples.
Hope these ideas help.
J. Stoll

There is a bottle on the market from Adiri that is crazy-similar to a breast! You can take a look at it here:

http://uggamugga.blogspot.com/2008/03/adiri-natural-nurse...

I think this would be a great transition bottle for your child! It's also safe as it's 100% bisphenol-A and phthalate free. Best of luck!

You could try cup feeding your daughter or use a med syringe. Or a new nipple or bottle If none of that works and It doesn't bother you to do the reverse feedings at night that is okay a lot of babies of working moms have been known to change their feeding times around moms work schedules. if your away often make sure to pump while your gone to keep your supply up.

That is really really common for breast fed babies to not eat a lot during the day and to wait for momma to come home and nurse all night. You can try using a nursing baby friendly bottle (I like Adiri's Natural Nursers and Sassy MAMs) but if those don't work, and as long as she is gaining at a healthy pace, I wouldn't worry too much about it, and I would clear your evening schedule ;)

Also, don't ever give her a bottle yourself. You will usually find it won't work because you are momma, you have the boobs, which she prefers, but if it ever reverses and she decides she likes bottle feeding better than breastfeeding (due to it being easier to get the milk out...a good reason to NOT give her a faster flowing nipple, my five month old is still using newborn nipples due to this), then she'll know you give her a bottle, and therefore, will refuse the breast.

You can try the breast bottle - here's a website:
http://todaysbabies.com/breastbottle_nurser.html
they're a little expensive, but babies really seem to like them. The bottle is basically the same shape and feel (as close as synthetic can get at least) as a breast. I brought one for a demonstration at at La Leche League meeting, and one of the nurslings in attendance glommed onto this and walked around with it all night. She really loved it!
You can also try having your baby drink from a cup. Babies will actually lap at milk out of a cup - try to find a soft flexible one, like a medicine cup.
Another alternative is using an eye dropper or a syringe (without a needle, of course) to get her the milk.
good luck!
J.

Hi,
My sister had problems with her baby doing the same thing. She talked to my cousin who is a public health nurse and she said that some babies are "cluster" feeders where they will go hours without eating until they are nursed again. It can be very frustrating. I have heard to let somebody else besides you feed the baby a bottle. They can smell you and know they should be breastfed. Also I know it is a little too late now but I read in a magazine that you should try a bottle with your baby between 6-8 weeks of life to get them used to it. Just some advice in case you have more children. Just don't give up.

Steph N.

My son did this to me. I am a working mom and he was just fine with a bottle until 2 days before I went back to work! I too tried everything. I was very stressed and even thought I wouldn't be able to go to work. I finally used a nipple called NUK. He took it. It was the only one. They are hard to find. Look at Baby's R Us. They usually have them. They are funny shaped, but it worked. Good luck and keep breastfeeding!!!

I agree when they get hungry enough that they will eat. I had one other suggestion. If you are using a newborn nipple the flow might not be enough for her. They can adjust their own flow when they are breast feeding, but if they aren't getting enough out of the bottle nipple they get very frustuated and won't drink. I breast fed my 19 month old for 15 months and I remember him being frusturated by too small of a hole in the bottle nipple when I pumped. It is amazing how the littlest thing can make a big difference. Good Luck.

My second son did the same thing...refused a bottle, nuk, everything but ME! He just waited all day until I got home and ate very little while I was working. He would only sleep if he was on me, nursing, or in his swing. My first son was the opposite--would go down awake and go to sleep himself, took a nuk, quit nursing at 8 mo, etc....

My second litte angel never did take a bottle, so you might want to ask your pediatric MD if it's OK for whoever is watching her to try a little cereal, just to get her through until you can nurse. I started the sippie cup early and he would take breast milk from that. I had to wean him at 13 months because he was still not sleeping through the night!

SO...good luck and I hope you can get her to eat:) If not, she will survive and will not starve!!!

My first thought is an ear infection.

First, I love your daughters names!!! Second, when she gets hungry enough, she WILL take a bottle. My doc told me that. Have daddy try to feed her and see if she takes it first. If he has luck, then she is just smelling you and only wants your "usual" feeding techniques. My son did this. He took a bottle from everyone but NEVER from me. If I tried to feed him, he sensed me and only wanted boob.
Also, make sure she doesnt have thrush. It is painful to have suck bottle with thrush on inside of mouth and cheeks, which may be part of the problem.
Good luck.

My son wouldn't take a bottle either..they know what they want! A warm and soft mommy is way better than a bottle! When I went back to work full time, my son refused to eat all day and would nurse all night long. My mom had to feed him with a cup or she would use an eye dropper during the day. The doctor just said the baby is showing you what he wants and to be persistant! We tried 8 different bottles. The one he would finally take was the drop-ins with the soft nipples. The one that "is most like a mother's nipple." The doctor told us to be patient and that if he got hungry enough, he would eat! It took us three weeks of trying! Hang in there!

I DON'T agree with the - if they're hungry enough they will at statement. My son did the same thing and actually ended up losing weight. (I wasn't available some nights and it was awful for my husband.)

I have a couple suggestions, first try the Playtex Nurser if you haven't. That was the only bottle my son would ever take. Secondly, if that doesn't work, they do sell breast shapped bottles online. I never tried them, but I have heard they work well.

Also, make sure the bottle is very warm - like body temperature warm. They get used to having it a certain temp and want it like that all the time.

I would also continue to have your family try when you aren't around. Hopefully she will start to take it again soon.

Good luck!

I went through a similar situation with my little girl...I tried all the fancy bottles but the only thing that worked was feeling her in a bouncer, (not in my arms) and using LATEX nipples. They can be harder to find but are softer and more like the breast. Hope this helps, but beware, once my daughter took the bottle well she no longer wanted the breast. Now I'm left pumping which is much more work!