Help, My Baby Won't Take a Bottle - Seattle,WA

hi K.,

I had the same problem with my daughter. We just kept practicing a little bit every day. Then when she went to day care they just kept trying over and over again a couple times aday. The first week or so she didn't eat very much, but once she adjusted she started taking it no problems. I was really worried too but I found what they say it true. If they are really hungry they will eat. Hang in there!

Try Dr. Brown's bottles. They're the absolute best, the most like real breast feeding. I cannot stress enough how great they are. We tried everything else and then finally tried Dr. Browns and it worked. We had to go to glass when the whole "bad plastic" thing happened, but I think they have good plastic ones now too. My daughter was the same way but she took to Dr. Brown's a lot more quickly. Hang in there. He'll take to it eventually, when he's hungry enough, he just knows that he likes you best :) PS - Don't feel like 3 weeks is the deadline to have this process tied up w/ a neat bow. It will be a work-in-process and he'll accept the bottle when he's ready or when he's hungry enough.

I got my daughter to take a bottle by putting her in a football hold and I would start to nurse. right after she got sucking I would slip the bottle nipple in her mouth... I also put breast milk on the nipple and warmed it up. Good luck with your new little one.

There is a bottle called Adiri (I think that's the spelling). It actually looks like, well, a boob! My hubby called me at work and actually said, "Where's the torpedo boob?" It's long like a bottle, but shaped like a breast and nipple. It's spendy (about $12 for one bottle if I remember correctly), but worth it if it works! They sell them at Babies R Us. He will catch on... They all do eventually. Hang in there!

I had the same challenge -- my daughter is now 7 months old -- and worked with the folks at the occupaional therapy department at Children's Hospital to work through it.

In short, what they told me was three things:
1) the goal while you are working is to get enough milk in him so that he doesn't dehydrate. your doc or a lactation consultant if you're nursing can tell you what to aim for. my daughter was 20 weeks when i went back to work and our goal was 6 ounces in the 8 hours i was at work -- so not a lot, just to give you perspective. don't stress is he is isn't taking what he would normally take from you during that time.

2) that said, expect him to reverse-cycle when you are back together -- in other words, nurse more once non-bottle food is available. for me, it meant that my daughter who was on a every three hours schedule for nursing before i went back went to nursing every 2 hours for a while. she was just making up the amount she needed to given how little she was eating during the day.

as the OT explained it to me -- think of your son "sleeping through the night but during the day" -- he can go longer stretches, it's just that he's going to do that while you're at work.

the downside is that you will get less sleep.

3 the last thing they told me -- and this ultimately worked -- was to work with different delivery mechanisms - not just a botte. P would drink from a spoon or a small (shot glass, really) cup in very very small amounts. when she got older we took her to a sippy cup at about 6 months.

lastly, the daycare people helped immensely -- the same two people gave her a bottle every day and were incredibly patient. now, at almost 8 months, she will take a bottle from those two (we're up to about 14 oz a day now -- yay!) but still no one else, including me or my husband.

so -- three pieces of advice:
1) aim for minimal amt of fluid during the day
2) allow him to reverse cycle
3) try different delivery mechanisms but keep the people consistent, if you can.

GOOD LUCK -- I know it's stressful on you. I cried and cried and cried and worried, but the options that the OT gave me helped us find a solution that worked for us.

And if all else fails, ask your doctor to give you a recommendation to Children's Hospital for an evaluation if your insurance will cover it.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

L.

We had the same problem and my daughter wouldn't use the same bottle as my son had used. We ended up with playtex with the "orthodontic" nipple- had to buy these seperately at Walgreens or another drug store. She was a big pacifier kid and someone told me to try that nipple. Your baby is young enough that you should be able to win this battle. The older they are the more difficult it is. My friend's kid never took a bottle and didn't each much during the day but nursed all night long (he was a bit older though. I know this is so stressful and the mommy-guilt is high. Hang in there. You are a good mom!

We had the same problem...finally, he **finally** took a Playtex Drop Ins bottle with an Original Latex Nurser Nipple. Kinda hard to find, of course, but worth it. I found them at Fred Meyer.

We tried for me to be out of the room as well, but he would only eat if I fed him. This bottle and me holding him worked. Like 5 minutes later, my husband was finally able to feed him. It was great.

My son was the same way. We tried everything to get him to take a bottle and nothing worked. When he was 6 months old, I stopped nursing him cold turkey. It took him about 6 hours to accept the bottle, but once he did, he was fine. When your baby has no other choice, he will take a bottle just fine. He may cry about it and skip a meal, but he will not be any worse for the wear.

I have a 9 wk old & she started a bottle a couple weeks ago. She likes Dr. Brown bottles. Good luck! Sometimes it's just a matter of finding the right bottle.

My oldest daughter wouldn't take a bottle forever. I was finally able to get her to take the soothie brand bottle and it was the only one she would ever take. She didn't ever take a binkie but if your child does it is the same shape as the soothie binkie and is supposed to make the transition much easier. That is my hope with my second child she does like the soothie binkie so I hope when I do try a bottle it will be easier this time. Good luck and hope this helps.

H.

I have heard that the Adiri Natural Nurser is great for transitioning from breast to bottle. It is supposed to be the most "breast like" bottle. I hope it works out for you!

Hi K.,

I had the same problem with my now 5 month old. She only wanted to be breastfed. I work from home, but I was having a hard time getting anything done when I had to stop and feed her for a half hour every 2 hours. She finnally started taking the Avent brand bottle. They are more similar to an actual nipple and you can buy a 0 month nipple, which really helped my daughter. She kept gagging on the other bottles, because the milk was coming out so fast. I basically just had to take away the option of breastfeeding during work time, and eventually she took the bottle from my babysitter after she got a little hungry. I hope it all works out.

Hi K.,
I did like the playtex drop in bottles but I was wondering if you have tryed formula in the bottle, when my daughter was born and I had to start back to work she would only nurse to get her breast milk and would only take formula in the bottle. She was very smart even then and new where breast milk came from. It was very hard for me to let her have formula but she refused anything else in the bottle - so what do you do. She would nurse at night and have formula in the day, which also let her brother and her dad feed her too. Just a thought - hope this helps.

Cee

Oh I know this can be so hard but he will take the bottle when he gets hungry enough. My son did the same thing and we tried all kinds of bottles - eventually ending with the gerber NUK bottles that were like his pacifier but I think the real thing was we just had to keep offering it until he was hungry enough to break down and take it - which he will do. I had to leave the house while my husband tried to give him a bottle. there are lots of other things you can try though - try having the person feeding him put on a shirt that smells like you (or hold one between themselves and the baby), or what helped us was that my husband would take off his shirt so he was skin to skin with our son while he took his bottle. For us it was a battle for several days but after that he took the bottle like a champ! Keep at it - he won't let himself starve. Good luck!

It will be OK. Even if he stubbornly refuses right up until you've gone back, once you are actually gone he will eat. It does sound like he might be a tougher nut to crack, but he'll get there. Try leaving a shirt that you've worn to wrap the bottle in.

You may need to make sure that the bottle is not getting clogged. When my daughter cried like that it was often because the bottle was clogged or the nipple wasn't working right. I mostly breastfed, but towards the end of breastfeeding my daughter used the bottle more and this would happen. My husband thought I was going crazy one time when he saw me sucking on the formula bottle until I told him what I was doing. Then, he realized why she was crying so much when he fed her. The poor little baby would have starved if I didn't figure this out. I'd really try to find the cause for the crying, if possible.

Have you tried warming up the milk in the bottle? That is what finally worked for my son.

Try enlarging the hole in the nipple or adding another smaller hole along side the original. It's hard for some babies to make the transistion, but to persist is to achieve. Are you continuing to pump once you return to work or are you going to switch to formula? If you're using formula, that could be part of the problems as well. But try an additional hole in the nipple so he doesn't have to work so hard when sucks. His latch on the nipple may be uncomfortable, so try to find a supple latex/rubber. Best of luck!!

I breast fed both of my children for ten months they would not take any bottle except the Dr. Browns not sure why, i pumped when i couldn't feed them- but they would only use the Dr, Brown. Great bottle the only thing was that they leaked if placeed on the sides. Had to sit up right or upside down. Weird. If your baby takes a binky try to find a similar nipple that may work also my children did not take a binky untill i stopped breast feeding. the nipple they chose was just a standard Dr Brown nipple. ( and i tried everyone i could find to bye- untill i found Dr. Brown.

Don't worry..he'll take a bottle when he's hungry enough. Was he exclusively breastfed for five weeks? He may just be refusing the bottle because it's different. There are other bottles out there that mimic the nipple - can't remember the name of them right now but go look (online, Walmart, Babies R Us, etc). You are right in trying to have someone else feed him because he probably associates your smell and feel with the breast. Good luck and keep at it...you'll find something that works!

K.,

I am using the Breastflow bottle by the First Years with my 8 week old in prep for returning to work, and she does fine with it. It has a 2 nipple system for mimicking the normal jaw action required for nursing.

Good Luck,
J.

I might be repeating some advice from below, but wanted to share just in case.
My experience is having somebody other than you offer the bottle. Sometimes they may still fight but keep trying to get the baby to take it. Evntually they will cave in.
my niece was the same way when she was a baby, refused the bottle from momma daddy and brother. I was the only one that had the patients to sit with her long enough for her to take it. I babysat her from the time she was 6 wks old and I remember sitting in the chair rocking her with the bottle in her mouth until she finally took it. I would let some of the milk in her mouth so she knew what it was.
I know how nerve racking this is but patience will get you through it. Another thing whomever you have trying get get the baby to take the bottle make sure they are relaxed and not tense. Babies pick up on that and make them more anxious and upset.
Best of Luck!!!

For our baby it didn't matter which bottle or nipple we tried, she wouldn't take breast milk from a bottle, only formula. They're smart little buggers, that's not where it's supposed to come from!