My baby won't take a bottle!!

amother

Fri, Nov 13 2009, 8:16 am

I nurse my baby and she refuses a bottle. She took it more than once when she was a newborn, but got very sick one night after it, so I was scared to give it to her again (my mistake) and now she won't take one anymore! I've been trying and trying! She just turned four months and it's driving me crazy that I can't go anywhere without her for longer than a couple of hours. This is my 6th kid and I'm totally at a loss as to how to get her to take a bottle. I've tried 3 different bottles and have been using breast milk to try to entice her, but she just chews on it, gags, and cries. Any advice please!

yummy2

Fri, Nov 13 2009, 8:35 am

Wait till she is realy starving, and have your husband feed her a bottle. NOT you. In fact, you should not even be in sight! She is a smart little one, if she sees you, she knows you have better stuff to offer. Been there, have someone else feed her a bottle. Good luck!

amother

Fri, Nov 13 2009, 12:19 pm

aisheschayil wrote:

OP here. I've tried that. I left my husbnd with a bottle one night when I went out for a few hours to a school function. She refused the bottle and just screamed and screamed (from hunger) until I came home. Help!

Ezrachar

Mon, Nov 16 2009, 1:43 pm

What type of bottles have you tried? THe only bottle my exlusively breastfed baby would take was the MAM bottle, with thesort of flat nipple, and I had a few of the smalls that I gave other breastfeeding moms who were having trouble getting their babies to take a bottle, and it worked for them all too (I think three). If you are in Israel they are easy to come by, if you are in the US they are a little harder to get.

www.mambaby.com

EvenI

Mon, Nov 16 2009, 2:51 pm

Ezrachar wrote:

Definitely try this. A metapelet told me that many of the babies that come to her don't take bottles and she finds that they all take Mam bottles.

The same metapelet had success with my son before she started using Mam bottles, using a bottle she brought home from the hospital when her daughter gave birth. It had a latex teat/nipple and was a glass bottle, so it wasn't so practical, but it was the same shape and fit as the standard, cheap bottles (not latex) you get in Israel all over the place in lots of different brands, where the parts are usually compatible between all the different brands. Like the tulip brand, for example - they literally cost between 3 and 10 shekels a bottle. So, I went out and bought one of those and he took to that also.

We had terrible trouble trying to get him to take any bottle from anyone before that, regardless of all efforts - me being out of the way etc.

shev

Sun, Dec 13 2009, 7:51 pm

my son was 3 months old and I had to go out to work so I started giving him bottles. he refused to drink from them for one whol e week I never nursed in the middle of the day I only pumped and fed him from bottles. he used to scream and scream that he was hungary till he had no choice but to drink from a bottle but he only drank enough that he was a little full then five min later he started crying again that he was hungary I tried everything to get him to drink from a bottle my dh used to feed him but nothing helped it took a whole week until he gave in but it was def worth it

Seraph

Mon, Dec 14 2009, 12:52 pm

I found the tommee tippee bottle worked for me for my baby that refused the bottle. It looks like a breast and works like one two...
http://www.tommeetippee.co.uk/
I also found that for kids I watched who refused bottles but needed one- I'd jiggle them while offering them the bottle- kinda did a little dance while giving them the bottle, and the dancing calmed them down enough to get them to start sucking. Or I'd put the kid in a car seat and give the bottle then- holding the baby in a nursing position and trying to get them to take the bottle just upset them more than anything...
I think the avent bottle is the WORST for getting a kid to take a bottle- the nipple is too long and too hard.

Isramom8

Mon, Dec 14 2009, 1:20 pm

I wasted a lot of money on different kinds of bottles that my baby refused to take. Just don't go anywhere without her till she can drink from a sippy cup or straw cup- reasonably, at maybe 8 months, give or take, or till she eats some solids. The time will pass, really.

The gemach gained a handful of fancy, new baby bottles...

levial

Mon, Dec 14 2009, 1:20 pm

May I also add touching the baby's cheek (as one's own chest would be somewhat touching) while feeding with the bottle also helped. I held the bottle with thumb, pointer, middle finger, while the ring and pinkie fingers rested gently on the baby's cheek helped, too.

imasinger

Mon, Dec 14 2009, 2:14 pm

Several of my kids were like this. It took experimenting with finding the right bottle, and repeated tries when they were hungry.

Alternatively, by 4 months, she may be able to take a little bit off a spoon, and work the edge off her hunger/thirst before you offer her the bottle.

6coop

Sun, Dec 20 2009, 9:46 pm

OP here-
Thanks so much for all of the advice. I bought the MAM bottle that a few people recommended and I left her with my mother-in-law (who has a lot of patience with babies) and my baby still will not take the bottle!!! I left her quite a few times and my mother-in-law says that she won't even try one suck on the bottle!
She doesn't take a pacifier or even suck on her own fingers. She doesn't suck on anything unless it's milk directly from me! I'm really at my wits end. I guess I have no choice but to wait until she eats solid food and can drink from a cup.

amother

Sun, Dec 20 2009, 10:00 pm

Don't give up!
keep trying every day with a specific bottle that you choose.
try to add some baby cereal to make it a little thicker.
I went through this when my daughter was 6 months old and I wanted to stop nursing because I was pregnant!
I also tried a tiny bit of choc. syrup on the nipple to get her to start to suck it...
there is also a bottle that comes with a thin tube that attaches. you can use it while you nurse.
the baby nurses and sucks on the tube at the same time. If you try that with formula, she might get used to the taste and want to suck on a bottle that has the formula, eventually...
Maybe someone you know knows the company, brand, or how to get it... I don't remember!
A speech therapist let me borrow one from her, she was trying to help me out!
(It's really used when someone wants to nurse but does not have enough milk supply... they nurse with the tube to give the baby a fuller feeding!)

shnitzel

Sun, Dec 20 2009, 10:24 pm

I also tried different bottles and while DD does have a nipple she prefers 4 months later and being babysat twice a week, most days she barely eats while there.

If they are hungry enough they will eat or else will make it up later by nursing constantly. My baby has b'H grown beautifully despite her bottle dislike. If you really need to leave your baby she wont starve.

Boys"R"Us

Sun, Dec 20 2009, 11:21 pm

I am having this problem too, except that my ds is one year old already!
He is not a good eater, and mainly loves to nurse.
I wanted to get him used to some other source of drinking before our upcoming Bar Mitzvah. Up until about a month ago, he fairly happily took the nuk nipple bottle with my dh, once a week, when I went to my choir practice. Then, we moved, and the bottle wasn't offered for a few weeks. Since then, he REFUSES it, totally. As soon as it touches his mouth, he turns his head away. Same with any sippy cups I've tried.
I think I will try the Mam, since so many of you have recomended it. Also, I will try th Adiri bottle that is supposed to be most similar to a breast. Any of you tried that??
~Debbie

imasinger

Mon, Dec 21 2009, 11:48 am

By 1 year of age, I doubt it's an issue of which nipple is closest in shape to the breast. He's going to notice the difference in smell, texture, you-name-it.

Some kids are resistant to change. But kids need to get used to new things in life; it's very important.

So, what parents have to do is be calm, patient, and persistent. For both a 4 month old and a 1 year old, if you want them to take the bottle, try offering it several times a day, both when the child is hungry, and when s/he is not. Be calm, be patient, and be persistent. Keep reassuring the baby that the bottle is good -- whether they understand your words or not, they'll still be able to feel that you are there to calm them. Don't give up!

I have a DS with sensory issues. He loves music, but only familiar music. He cried hysterically when I introduced a new CD before Chanukah with some Chanukah music on it. But I kept playing it for a few minutes every day, and now, he's very sad to see me put it away until next year.

Moral of the story -- you can get these babies started on the bottle, if it's important enough to you. And then, you'll have all the fun of getting them to stop someday. Smile