Hi. My 3 month old screams his head off when i try to bottle feed him. he has only been breastfed till now but i am so busy with my other 2 kids that i need to bottle feed him if we are out. i have been putting 1/2 formula and 1/2 breastmilk. i have tried for a week now using avent, nuk, and gerber bottles, trying different nipples. i dont know what to do. he screams his head off. please help. his baptism is this saturday and i was hoping i could bottle feed him at the restaurant and/or church if he gets hungry but so far no luck.
thank you all for such kindness and great advice. i ended up buying a few more bottles and there is one that finally works...ADIRI, it looks just like a breast and its soft like a breast, he is not thrilled with taking it but he does and the craziest part of it all is that he will only take it from me. he also loves drinking from a cup and also spoon so thank you all for your help. i only need him to take it at least once day so he can eat in case we are out somewhere, emergency pops up, or whatever reason so i think this works great.
breasflow bottles were the best...my daughter didnt take a bottle from anyone until I got her this bottle. they sell it at babiesrus good luck!
Your little guy is just really smart. He knows where the good stuff is! I would suggest getting a sling and nursing your baby in it when you're out with your other kids until he takes a bottle. You might find it's easier than lugging bottles and a frustrated baby around. I'd also give all breastmilk in the bottles until he is used to taking them. Formula tastes a lot worse than breastmilk does. And the taste along with forcing him to take a bottle might be too much at once. Here are some links that may help you with some gentle ways to get him to accept a bottle. Good luck!
http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/offerbottle.html
http://www.mother-2-mother.com/bottles.htm
http://www79943.temp.w1.com/pa_pt1/hhg/introbot.htm
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html
You are not alone! I think your baby won't take the bottle from you because he prefers the breast (why eat at McDonalds when he can have the 5 star restaurant?). I would leave the house and have someone else feed him the bottle - he won't want it when you are around. Keep on trying, he eventually will take the bottle, I'm sure.
Good luck!
get a good ring sling or pouch or ergo or wrap & get out & about & nurse that baby :)
google: broward babywearing
you can meet local mamas who can show & teach you the ropes!
fabulous!
I breastfeed my daughter for her first 4 months, then tryed BreastFlow bottles from the first years.
I am still breastfeeding my 7 month old son, we introduced the bottle around 8 weeks old, so my husband could feed him while I am at work. The bottle is called breastflow...they are sold at Target and Babies R Us, my sister also used them for her breastfed daughter. Breastflow bottles are shaped more like the breast than any other bottle I've seen, and they are the only bottle we tried and my son took to it very well!!! I highly recommend them!!!
I know that some people recommend having your husband bottle feed and that you be out of sight, but my son wouldn't take the bottle at first with my husband, so I had to give him his first bottle, and then my husband was able to take over with ease :) Good luck, and check out the breastflow bottles!
Hi Carmela!
My daughter did the same thing! However, my situation was a little more pressing, I was in school, and had no choice but to leave her in the care of my mother-in-law. She REFUSED the bottle. Breastmilk and formula. I tried every bottle on the market, i even tried a cup at 4 months just to get her through the 5 hours i was gone...NOPE! she refused!
I don't want to discourage you from breastfeeding, as a last resort (which is what it came to for me), i had to completly wean her from the breast in order for her to take the bottle. She had the "ALL OR NOTHING" personality.
Good luck...let us know how it goes!
Dear Carmela,
I just believe that it is not the time for the bottlefeeding yet for your kid. Though you have 2 other kids who keep you busy i would keep on breastfeeding and exclude visits to restaurants or even church or any other public places whenever possible .What your child needs is his mom and he is not to blame that you have others to pay attention to.Ask some relative or just someone to help you with the other two not to miss a breast feeding time and keep on trying in a week or two.
i DON'T KNOW WHAT STORES SELL IT BUT iF YOU GO TO oNEsTEPaHEAD.COM THEY SELL A "BOTTLE" THAT IS SHAPED LIKE A BOOB WHICH I KNOW SOME CHILDREN THAT HAVE DONE REALLY WELL WITH.......ALSO IN THE BEGINNING HAVE SOMEONE ELSE GIVE YOUR BABY THE BOTTLE, IF YOUR SON SMELLS YOUR MILK IF YOU ARE HOLDING HIM HE IS NOT GOING TO WANT TO TAKE THE BOTTLE......WHAT i DID WAS LAY MY CHILD DOWN ON THE BOPPY PILLOW ON THE SOFA TO GIVE THE BOTTLE ALSO I HAD SOME CLOTH DIAPERS THAT I WOULD SLEEP WITH SO IT WOULD THROUGHLY HAVE MY "SCENT" AND IT BECAME A "SECURITY" THING FOR MY CHILDREN AND GOT THEM TO TAKE A BOTTLE. lASTLY JUST TO GET THE BABY "GOING" WITH THE BOTTLES, TRY DIPPING THE NIPPLES IN SUGAR WATER. aLL THE BEST TO YOU...........
go to adiri.com
they make a "natural nurser , that is so close to the real thing.
my daugter LOVES IT ,it is the ONLY bottle she will drink milk from ( and LOTS of it) other than my breast, we are still breastfeeding,( mainly to go to sleep)but it cut the time in half.
I hope it works!!
this must be so tough with two other kids. WOW, you are doing and amazing job.
he is blessed to have you as a mom.
He will let you know when he is ready for a transition,he's still such a baby.
hang in there!!
with kindness,
S.
Hi Carmela, You're husband or someone else should try giving your son the bottle & you should be out of site & out of ear-shot. If he's hungry he'll eventually give in & take the bottle as long as he knows that you're not around. It worked for my son when I was breast feeding. It was great to have that option that someone else can feed him. Hope this helps.
God Bless, J. formerly of Sat. Beach now living in Queensland, Australia
Hi, my daughter just turned one and still nurses. At one point, I needed to be on antibiotics that weren't safe for her so I had to switch to bottle until they were out of my system. She screamed for a day straight! I litterally had to force feed her in the beginning so that she would eat. Your baby may end up being more flexible than mine, but she was the same age as yours when this happened and it was a nightmare. Even after she had to take a bottle for almost two weeks (it was tons of fun pumping all that time!), she still hates them. When she absolutely had to take them though, her favorite was the Dr. Browns. You can get them at Target, but I bought her a special kind that they only have at Toys R Us which is supposed to be even more like nursing for them. I hope this isn't too discouraging for you.
