Transitioning to Bottle at 6 Months

Try to give her a sippy cup! That might work. Good luck
Also she might be cutting teeth my 9 month old wont take his either he only wants a sippy cup.

Hi, M.. I went back to work when my youngest was 10 weeks old, and it was a challenge even then to get him to take a bottle. I put together a webpage for working, nursing mothers afterward, and I hope you will visit and see if you find anything of help there. It's at http://www.kjsl.com/~cee/working.htm - there is a specific page related to helping a breastfed baby who is reluctant to take a bottle: http://www.kjsl.com/~cee/bottle.htm

Just a couple of other quick comments, though... with a baby who's already 6 months old, I wouldn't even try to force the bottle. I'd give her pumped milk in a sippy cup, even if she needs some help holding it. My son started getting most of his pumped milk at daycare from sippy cups when he was around 4 months old, although they did still give him one bottle a day to get him to sleep for his afternoon nap (I nursed him during my lunch hour and that usually put him to sleep for the midday nap).

You mention that you've given her milk at room temperature and cold. Have you tried it warmed up to about 98.6F? That's the temperature she is accustomed to when nursing. :-)

I agree with Heather P (which didn't surprise me and won't surprise Heather) about the rice cereal. If you really want to give her cereal, stay away from those iron-fortified ones. Go with something more wholesome - oatmeal is still a favorite in our house, even though my "babies" are almost 29 and 15 years old. I didn't give either of mine cereal as a first food, though, preferring to start with fruit and then veggies. Breastfed babies are accustomed to sweet Mama milk so they're more likely to accept something else sweet... like fruit! :-)

I tried every imaginable bottle and nipple before we found one that my son really accepted readily, but he was a big fat baby and hunger eventually won out with him.

I hope you're able to resolve this issue before you return to work. Please feel free to email me personally if you want to chat further about working and breastfeeding. Use this address: ____@____.com

Good luck!

Nuby sippy cups worked like a dream for us when we had this problem with our first. Give her water in the cup to play with during the day, so she can get used to it, then leave the house and let someone other than you give her the breastmilk in it. My daughters preferred very warm milk over room temp or cold.

Also, remember that many breastfed babies will reverse cycle when mom returns to work, taking only one or two feedings during the day and then the bulk of their nutrition in the evening/night.

As far as the foods go, she may be more interested in veggies than in cereal. Babies really don't need the rice cereal anyway, and the iron-fortification actually interferes with iron absorption from breastmilk. Our pediatrician recommends against rice cereal at all, preferring to start with oatmeal or millet.

Next, try avocado, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and grean beans. Last, peaches, plums, pears, and apples. Also, the baby yogurts can be tried once the fruit in them has been tried, so this can be a good food choice, and one that packs a big calorie punch while baby is waiting for Mom to come home.

Good luck!

We had the same problem. I had my mother start taking her for a few hours at her house so that I wasn't in the house (and she couldn't smell/hear me), but I knew that i & my daughter trusted her. At first my daughter would go 6-8 hours with my mother and would just scream & refuse to take the bottle. I bought at least 10 different types of nipples/bottles and then another mother suggested I try the Playtex nipple that is shaped like a mother's nipple (latex not silicone) and it worked. It was the only nipple that she would take for 2-3 months. Good luck! I hope that I have helped in some way.

i know exactly what your going through my son wouldnt either my mother was taking him up at my work when he got hungry but thats a chore so i pumped and she had to feep him with a spoon or a medicine dropper then he went straight to a sippie cup they he refused to take the bottle they have sippie cups for this age group you have to read the package because of the diffrent flows but i pumped at work every time i got a chance and he drank from his cup.

I had the exact same issue. I finally got my daughter to take breastmilk out of the Nuby sippy cups with the rubber spouts and the plastic handles. I got them at Wal-mart, and they worked great. My daughter also HATED rice cereal but she loved the Oatmeal cereal (and the mixed cereal). I used to mix breastmilk with the cereal and she would gobble it up. You might ask your day care provider to try this as well! Best wishes!

Have you tried using a sippy cup? You would be amazed at how good they do with it, even at 6 months. Do you have an electric pump so you pump at work? I understand the dilemma you are going through,when a wee one refuses a bottle it sends Mama into panic mode. Have you tried letting someone else try to feed the baby the bottle? I hope it works it! I am sure it will :)

I had the same issue. Mine would only take a cup - we'd pour a little milk into a flexible plastic cup (usually a medicine cup), bend the cup so it shaped to her little mouth, and she'd take it right in. She hated all makes and models of bottles. If the cup works for you, I hope your day care would be more helpful than mine was. (You would have thought that I'd asked them to handle the sweat of Satan instead of breastmilk! They persisted with the bottle, and she'd take maybe 2 ounces per day and hold out for the real thing.)

I have since heard the same advice the other mom gave you about the cheapo bottles - all positives. Best wishes~

I know you said you tried room temp and cold, but have you tried warming the bottle? Remember that your breast milk comes out at almost 99 degrees. That may be it... my little one wouldn't take her milk if it wasn't warm. If that doesn't work... have you tried nipple shields, to get her used to sucking through something when she's on the breast? I always had good luck talking to my lactation consultant. There's a great clinic at St. Vincent's, the Seton Center for Women & Children... you might try calling them and asking them for advice.

Don't worry... most of the time, a baby is more likely to take a bottle from someoAne other than Mommy and 3 weeks is enough time for something to take before you go back to work.

Good luck!
K.

When I started bottle feeding my baby, my doctor suggested that I have my husband give her the bottle. When she was with me, she would just get frustrated and yank at my shirt. She knew that if it was feeding time and I was holding her, that it meant I was breastfeeding, however this was obviously something that her father couldn't do. She got upset the first few times but we had to stay focused. She would cry and throw a fit, but when she really got hungry, she let her guard down and ate. You have to stay strong and not give in. My husband was better at this than me.

Try the cheap bottles. Sometimes baby prefer those of the expensive ones. Or try getting her to take a pacipher first, then find a bottle with a similar nipple. My daughter loved the hospital issue paciphers. They are sold at Target and I believe walmart. They're green and rubbery all over. kinda big but she chewed every part of it. Maybe let her get a little hungrier before giving it to her, so she's happy with anything.

Other than that all I can suggest is to be persistent. Good luck!

She may take a cup. I have seen a couple of friends in the same trouble use a cup and a pacifier.
I would also take her to the care provider you are going to use, when you can rescue her. She may never take a bottle from you, but will with someone else.

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