Hi Moms,
I am a mother of two, a 31 month old and a 5 week old. My 5 week old is exclusively breast fed and she is refusing the bottle (breastmilk). I have tried 4 brands of bottles, different nipple flows, pretending to put her to the breast and then slipping the bottle in and nothing is working. I have left the house, had family members try, but she really does not want to take the bottle (she has also rejected the pacifier). Any help or ideas would be appreciated!
Breastflow bottle by the First Years!!!! Only bottle my daughter took being exclusively breastfed!!!
Baby's are smart! They know what moms nipple is & what the fake hard plastic thing that feels so unnatural is! I would try as much as possible to keep her to the breast as It's SO beneficial not just the milk but your actual nipple in her mouth, the skin to skin touch, everything, the whole experience, nothing that a bottle can compare too! But when you just have no other option like when she's not with you, then like what my mom always told me/my sisters through each of our kids with bf'ing & bottle feeding & even trying new foods.. If there hungry enough they'll eat! I just watched my 8 month old nephew for 2 days & a night the other day so my sis could have a MUCH needed girls weekend away. He's been strictly breastfed, he refused the bottle. an hour after my sis dropped him off, feeding time came around, he wanted nothing to do with the baba. Screamed & cried & flailed himself around in my arms as soon as he figured out this was not moms boob! LoL I just put him down to play & every 10 or so Min's I'd pick him up & try again. It took 2 hours & a lot of crying later he gave in & chugged the thing down like he hadn't eaten for a week LoL The second feeding came around, I offered him the bottle, he turned his nose at it twice, then the 3d offer he relented & didn't put up another fight the rest of the time I had him.
Baby's aren't going to starve themselves. Next time you leave her with someone, pick someone with a lot of patience & when she gets hungry enough she will take the bottle! It may take some crying & getting mad but she'll take it eventually! Have them squeeze a bit into her mouth much like you do when you bf for the first time, so she knows she'll get milk from this thing. Oh & try another position then breast feeding position, tends to help sometimes.. Hope she'll take it soon!
My daughter also refused the bottle. When I first took her to day care at 3 months, she still had not successfully taken a bottle. Like you, we tried several different kinds. What we found worked was the take and toss sippy cups. There is no valve so the baby doesn't have to suck as hard to get the milk out. She used those exclusively for a while, then finally started taking the bottle better. Now, she will use both. Our day care will also try to cup feed her her milk if she is not taking the bottle well or even put a straw in the bottle and she drinks from the straw.
Wow, lots of differing opinions. I'm going through the same thing and my baby is 11 weeks old. When I'm at work 2x/week, I'm gone for 12 hours and its really troubling....I HATE knowing my baby does not like taking the bottle. This week I'm away 4 days for 13 hours each day. She is taking only about 2-6 oz during the entire day. I guess it hasn't been horrible for her, she knows how to suck the bottle, but she just doesn't want it. When I get home, she won't leave me alone. We have tried numerous different bottles, and I called our bf program at the hospital, and they said to try a syringe, a dropper or cups. Also to try milk that hasn't been frozen yet (fresh from fridge). But, in our case, nothing really works WELL. Right now we're using the Adiri bottle with milk from fridge or freezer. She's not incredibly fussy during the day, she just prefers her mom :)
And, according to La Leche, you are not alone :) Some just prefer mom and will "wait it out". Just keep trying :)
If you don't have to go back to work, then just enjoy it. I exclusively breastfed, on a four hour schedule - so I could still go to the grocery store, out to dinner with my husband, etc, without having to deal with bottles.
Hi R.,
When I was a nanny, the new born didn't like the bottles we had either, but I had to use them. We just purchased a bunch of different nipple brands and flows and he finally found one he liked.
Good luck!
R. Magby
5 weeks is a bit early to start bottles unless it's an absolutely emergency. You have a much higher chance of creating nipple confusion - which is very hard for most Moms to overcome. She's not even latching on perfectly every time yet at this age and you already want to introduce a nipple from a bottle?
I'd say let your newborn have some time to get proficient with nursing from the breast before you get her started on new things.
Sorry..... I dealt with this too. But I didn't "need" to use a bottle so we just didn't. (We farm so I was not going back to "work" in a normal sense.) NOTHING worked with my son. So we just exclusively nursed for 9 months and then added baby food. Nursed till 18 months. Do you NEED to have the bottle???
Otherwise, I've heard of people trying a cup with young infants and just getting them to take enough to satisfy till mom comes back. BUT then they tend to turn their days and nights around and nurse like crazy at night.... Sorry I don't have any better ideas.
I thought I had the same problem when my daughter was 5 weeks old. Turns out I actually have a lipase issue BUT, here are some things I tried when I thought it was a bottle strike:
1. rubber band a used breast pad to the bottle so that it smells like you
2. slip the bottle to your daugther when she's just waking up from a nap
3. run the nipple under hot water (so that both the milk and the nipple are warm)
Hope it helps! Good luck!
I had the same problem! I waited too long to introduce the bottle to my infant and so I was stuck breastfeeding him exclusively. If you waited longer than one week of your baby's life to put a bottle in her mouth, then I am sorry to say that you are screwed. Nothing worked for me. I wish you better luck than I had!
