Taking a Bottle...

Updated on September 26, 2007
J.P. asks from Kansas City, MO
14 answers

Do any of you have any tips or tricks to getting a nursing baby to take a bottle?

I have a beautiful 3-month-old daughter. She's my 3rd child and she nurses great. I love nursing her and am not looking to wean her, but I would like her to take an occasional bottle so I can leave her with friends to go out with my husband or do something with our older kids.

I've been pumping twice a day since she was about a week old and have a huge stash of frozen breastmilk. We gave her a bottle when she was 5 weeks old and she took to it wonderfully. We kept doing bottles about once or twice a week and she did great with them for about 3 weeks and then just started refusing to take them.

She went about a week without taking a bottle at all and since we got her to take one about 3 weeks ago, we've given her one almost every day. The problem is she really doesn't like them. She'll only eat about 2 oz and she fusses and cries and fights the whole time she's eating. And when she's "done" she's obviously still hungry.

I'm really anxious about her taking a bottle. I'm a stay-home-mom so I don't need her to take a lot of them, but my oldest son is in preschool now and I need to go on fieldtrips and special days with him and sometimes it wouldn't be appropriate to take her with me. In addition this Saturday my husband and I are supposed to go to a marriage conference (we've already paid $80 for it). He really doesn't want to take her with us because he thinks we won't be able to pay attention with her along. But I'm afraid to leave her for 7 hours knowing that she doesn't eat off a bottle nearly as well as she eats off of me.

We have tried a variety of different times to offer the bottle and it doesn't seem to make any difference how hungry she is. We also make sure the milk is body temperature and it's EBM. We've tried a few different kinds of nipples - my boys always liked the playtex nurser big silicone ones so we've tried those and avents. She reacts to them about the same. It also doesn't seem to matter if I'm home or gone or in the room or not. And I don't try to feed her bottles, my husband does.

Any ideas to help her take a bottle better?

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S.G.

answers from Kansas City on

Hey J.,
My sister swears by the new breastflow bottle. It has 2 nipples and simulates the compression and suction used in nursing. She is breastfeeding her 3rd and feeding a bottle at the same time and there is no confusion between nursing and bottle. Her second refused to nurse after beginning the bottle because it was easier to drink a bottle than nurse. Just a note I have seen more babies refuse the avent bottles than take them.
I am due with my 3rd in December and plan on using the breastflow bottles since I would like to nurse as long as possible to keep the cost of milk minimal. Here is a link to the bottles, I know target has them and babies/toys r us. They are $13.99 for 3 I believe. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=240920...

Good luck.
michelle

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T.G.

answers from Kansas City on

I had to put my baby on the bottle without time for weaning. You have to try holding your baby in different positions that she's not used to being held while breast feeding. You need to hold her away from you instead of cradling her. Have other people hold her that way to start with so that she's not expecting mom's breast milk. You can also try sitting her in her infant seat & holding just her bottle. There's a start, these things worked for me instantly.

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W.B.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi J.,
I have a few suggestions also.

1) try the Dr. browns nipples, I believe the make them in wide now like the playtex ones. I use the playtex ventair with the Dr. Browns nipples. I would imagine if the regular ones fit then the wide should fit the playtex ones also.

2) Depending on which way you feed her when you BF, you might try this.....When you or anyone else goes to feed her turn her so her belly is touching yours or the person that is feeding her, take her arm and put it under your and then take her face and turn it so she is looking at you. Hold her and cradle her just as if she was BF but she is drinking a bottle.

3) When you try to feed her put a towel between you and her if you are gonna try and feed her from a bottle

4) And if you have a blanket over yourself when BF her have the person feeding her do the same.

I hope this helps you in someway or you find something that does, W.

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K.A.

answers from Kansas City on

Have someone else try feeding her the bottle and not have you around.

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N.K.

answers from Kansas City on

Hi J.! I had the same problem with both of my kids. I had to stop breastfeeding cold turkey. They had a very hard time taking the bottle. As some of the other ladies suggested, have someone else feed her. Believe me, if she is hungry enough she will take the bottle. You might try faster nipples too. The ones you are using may be too slow and she is getting frustrated since she has to try to hard. I used parent's choise from Walmart. It was the only one that my son would take. I would also try the different positions too. I would try to face your baby away from you (not cradling) that way the can see things going on in front of them.
Good luck!!!

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J.R.

answers from Kansas City on

The best thing you can do is leave her with someone else (not you or your husband) as often as possible. She will very quickly figure out if she's hungry - the bottle is the answer. I'm not suggesting day care, just maybe twice a week for an hour or more and definitely during a "feeding" time. Neither of mine took kindly to the bottle (or the sippy cup for that matter!) but with a little persuasion and consistency we were able to do either without a fuss. Maybe look at a faster flowing AVENT nipple, both of mine were about 3 months ahead of what AVENT suggested and both would get upset if it was too much work to get the milk. Also, try offering the bottle before she gets hungry so it won't be so frustrating for her when she's already fussy from being hungry.

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H.M.

answers from Kansas City on

I nursed my daughter too and she never would take a bottle either, we eventually talked to the doctor and they suggested giving her a sippy cup instead. I babysat for a friend last year while she worked and her son was breastfed and hated bottles too, he'd go all day eating only 2-4 oz while she was in school and then nursed like crazy when they got home. The doctor said that was normal and that some kids will change their eating schedules to reflect the mothers, and so he started eating at night and going hours without during the day. The thing to remember is a kid won't starve themselves, they'll eat when they are ready. I know its easier said than done though. I wish you luck!

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L.K.

answers from Springfield on

My first son was the same way. He took a bottle for a little while when he was a newborn, but not after that. I had to wait until he was about four months and I introduced a sippy cut. It took a while for him to get it, but it helped. I could leave him with someone and know he would get at least a little food.

You might just have to wait it out. Some babies just wont take a bottle. Sure, you could just leave her and she might cave, but that is a mean thing to do to an infant if it can be avoided. My mother-in-law tried to get me to do that to my oldest, but I didn't have the heart. I am very glad I didn't do it.

It is very likely that your daughter would go 8 hours or more without eating. I worked with a women that left her baby for 10 hours and he just didn't eat. He was 20 at the time she told me about it and she still felt guilty.

You can keep trying to get her to take a bottle, but I wouldn't force it. Keep in mind that she will be a teenager before you know it, and she won't even want to eat at home. Good luck.

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S.S.

answers from Kansas City on

J.,
Are you trying to feed her the frozen brestmilk? My son absolutely refused to drink the frozen breastmilk. I would pump several times at work and my husband had to use fresh breastmilk to feed my son. It is something to try if you haven't. The other thing we did, was to mix breastmilk with formula. Good luck.

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A.J.

answers from Kansas City on

Just a thought but have you tried someone, not you, feeding her the bottles? I nursed all 4 of my children. 2 of whom did wonderful with both while 2 wanted to only nurse and refused bottles. But I do know that it's also harder for a nursed baby to take a bottle if they smell the milk you have. So to get my son to take a bottle, I'd either have his father feed him. Or make sure my nursing pads were freshly changed and dry and I was clean so there was no milk for him to smell. If they have the choice, a lot of times a nursing baby would much rather nurse than any bottle.
Another thought is maybe you just haven't found the kind of bottle your little one particularly likes. When my third daughter was getting switched it took awhile to find a bottle she would take. She'd been nursed exclusively for 10 mos. and the transition was a little rough in the beginning.
Also sometimes it worked for me if I rolled them closer to me like I was nursing them. I don't know if they were more comfortable or they really thought they were nursing. But just try different things and see what works for your baby.
Good luck and I'm sure it'll end up ok. Just don't stress that can make it harder on her :)

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K.P.

answers from Kansas City on

I am a working mom, and my second baby was the same way. He is 5 months now and takes the bottle just fine. When I first started back to work full time, we had a couple of hard weeks where he ate very little during the day, but he continued gaining weight. He is a healthy boy (bigger than the first). My advice is just go to that conference, relax as much as you can, and let your caregiver take care of your baby. I know it feels terrible to leave your baby knowing that she'll be hungry for a while, but it isn't really going to hurt her. Either she'll make up for what she missed that night (that's what my boy did for a while) or she'll get hungry enough to eat from the bottle. Don't feel guilty! I think that as long as you are so anxious that you can't leave her, she won't learn how to eat from the bottle. She'll have someone there to comfort her and that is the most important thing. If it is at all possible, I would suggest dropping the older children off at a friend's house for the day, and getting a babysitter for the baby. (Grandmas are good!) That way she will get all the comfort she needs. You are not a bad mother if you leave her for the day. I don't think there is an easy way to get a baby to take the bottle if he/she doesn't really like it.

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A.

answers from Kansas City on

I would suggest a couple of things. One is warm the milk up a little more. All 3 of my boys would stop eating once it cooled off and if we warmed it up they would continue eating. My other suggestion would be to try a few more nipples. My 3rd boy will only take the playtex with the flat top. My first two would only take Gerber. None of them would touch Avent at first but would take them later.
I would also agree with your husband that you should not take her to the marriage conference. She will be ok even if she doesn't eat well for 7 hours. Your marriage is most important. You have to keep that strong so you can continue to be good parents.
Good Luck.

M.A.

answers from Kansas City on

HI J.,

ONe of my girls never took the bottle, but I found out that even as older she wouldn't take milk that was heated in anyway....she said that the taste changed and make her want to trow up.
So you never know, I would try with fresh milk not frozen first.
Ask the doctor, but sometimes you can add a little sweet to it (never honey!) from formula or a pediatrician's milk like pediasure. Sometimes a few drops does the trick.
Others.....if it changes the flavor they won't take it.
One thing that I did once that she took some milk with a bottle, it was open the whole a little (make it larger) milk comes easier from you than from the bottle and some babies don't want to do the job or they can't figure it out. try a zippy cup...without the valve! and with soft tip. And yes, try nipples with larger holes.
Good luck! Mine never took it....
Mariana Abadie
www.MyKidsFirst.com

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B.H.

answers from Kansas City on

J., I don't have many good suggestions, just support, b/c I went through the very same thing. My youngest now 13 months would never accept the bottle. My older two never had any problems going back and forth between bottle and breast, but Reese refused a bottle from about 2-3 months on. I never got her to take one, happily, at least. It was h*** o* me, but I just resigned myself to the fact that I was her only source of nutrition and went along for the ride. Like you, I tried all the differen nipples and bottles. It did get better at around 6 months or so when she started taking some solids and when I introduce the sippee cup which she had no problems with. I could get away with leaving her for more then an hour and a half at a time. I also have to say that weaning her from the breast was a thousand time easier then weaning my older two from the bottle, she basically did it on her own and it was painless for both of us. We had our last nursing session two days before her 1st b-day. I really wasn't trying to wean her, she just stopped being interested in the breast. I'm sorry this isn't what you wanted to hear, but just know that you aren't the only one to go through this and you and your baby aren't crazy. Good luck.
B.

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