Hi Mamas!
I need your help. My 3 month old baby is refusing the bottle. I am currently breastfeeding and would like to have the ability to leave my son alone with my husband or mother sometimes, but my baby is refusing the bottle! I did feed him with an expressed bottle of milk around 6 weeks and it went fine but then I got lazy and didn't keep it up. Now, I don't know what to do! I have been trying everyday for the past two weeks to feed him with a bottle/different nipples and he still refuses. I am so frustrated! Please help...
Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for your wonderful responses. I will try to leave the house so that someone else can try to feed him like my husband or my mom. Hopefully, this works...Otherwise, I think I can hang in there and just continue to be close to him at all times to feed then I can try the sippy cup when he's a little older...thanks again!!
Try a sippy cup too. My daughter wouldn't take a bottle for the longest time. I had to go back to work after 4 months and she would only drink 2 ounces while I was gone. She would do it if she got hungry enough. But we finally just went to a sippy cup and she was fine. Good luck. I know how frustrating it can be but if they get hungry enough they usually will eat.
At this point, I can't see the other responses, so pardon me if someone has already suggested this.
The only bottle that my breastfed boy would take is made by The First Years, and it's called The Breastflow. You can look it up on Amazon.com, Target.com (and Target store), and I think even Babies 'R Us has it. It has a two part nipple, and it's said that it simulates breastfeeding.
Good luck.
Hi! Have someone else feed him the bottle, babies can smell breastmilk from 20 ft. away so if you're near he'll know and will of course prefer to get milk from you. Also, the first time we gave our baby a bottle I had to squeeze some milk out of the bottle's nipple into his mouth before he figured out there was food in there.
Good luck!
I have to agree wholeheartedly with what Allison said below. My daughter refused the bottle, and believe me, we tried everything. I spent hours on the internet looking for help, I talked to her doctor, I bought almost every bottle and nipple on the market and spent loads of money, all to no avail. She just would not take the bottle, no matter who offered it to her. We put so much time and effort into trying to make her take that bottle, and it was such a struggle that it just wasn't worth it. However, we made things work with just the breastfeeding. I wasn't working and wasn't going anywhere, so I was able to stay with her or take her with me when I went out. Yes, I would have had more time to get out and do things on my own if she took the bottle, but the months went by quickly and before I knew it she was drinking from a sippy cup. So my advice is to not stress too much about it and know that you will be able to make it work even if he never takes the bottle. Enjoy all your bonding time with him. (I also have to mention that whenever I read posts like this one I've just written I would feel upset and think that there MUST be a way to get the baby to take the bottle, so I feel kind of bad for suggesting that he might always refuse it, but sometimes the baby has plans his own!) Good luck and take care.
My daughter did the same thing. I was in a class a the lactation center and the LC said that it was common at 12 weeks to assert themselves a little. They are getting past the age where they suck on anything that they get in their mouths. Try having someone else give your baby a bottle. I was worried that my baby wouldn't take a bottle and we'd be sunk when I returned to work, but she took it again and we were fine. I agree that you might have to physically leave the house because babies are known to wait for "the real thing". I bought fancy Avent bottles and stuff and my daughter ended up just using the Medelas (with wide nipples, when they became available). I had bought a few, too.
If he really won't take one, ever, then I agree with Chris S. to figure on planning outings around his schedule or getting out more when he's on a sippy cup.
I agree about someone else feeding him...some ladies have to leave the house entirely. Good luck!
Your baby wants you! Be happy he likes the bond between you two. He doesn't want a fake nipple. Recognize that being a breastfeeding mom is a high honor. You are giving your son the best. You need to make the commitment to be close by your baby for awhile longer. You can slip away for an hour or two when he doesn't need to nurse. They are little babies for such a short time. Treasure being a nursing mother! AF
Hi,
I know exactly where you are coming from because neither of my babies liked the bottle. They both breastfed until they were big enough to drink from a sippy cup. In hindsight, I spent a lot of energy and stress trying to get them to bottle feed and it just didn't work out. Now I wish I hadn't fought it. I ended up being glad I could be with them and bond with them so much. You can take your baby everywhere with you, using a baby sling, etc. In the grand scheme of things it is not a long time out of your life. Enjoy this time when your baby can be with you a lot. I even worked part time and my caregiver brought my daughter to work for me to feed. There are ways to make it work. Hang in there and I'm sure you will make it! Best of luck! (By the way, don't believe those doctors who say "your baby will take the bottle when he/she is hungry enough." Not true in all cases! My daughter just cried herself to sleep instead.)
Like the other ladies said, try letting your husband offer a bottle while you are not in the room. Suggest to him that he take off his shirt. No worries that baby will try to nurse from him, but one of the things babies love about breastfeeding is the skin contact, especially at this young age. Seperated by clothes from a living, breathing person may not trigger the feeding impulses. When bottle-feeding expressed milk, we had the best luck with the Doc Brown bottles. I have also read that the Avent nipples are most like human for less confusion. Also, does your son ever take a pacifier? It may be the sensation of silicone in his mouth is going to take some getting used to and a pacifier may help. But certainly having him try the skin contact. Good luck!
If you are the one feeding him the bottle try letting your husband feeding him and you might need to go to a different room (maybe take a relaxing bath then). Also you can try a cup according to the bf book I got in the hospital. Good luck!
Have someone other than you try to keep offering him the bottle. You should leave the room when they are feeding him. We had to do this with both of my boys. It might still take a few tries, but if he can't smell you (the source ... lol) then it should be easier to get him to take the bottle.
You'll probably need to have someone other than you try to re-introduce the bottle. Because he can smell you (and the breastmilk). He knows there's another option as long as you are there.
