Boob only baby

[petster]

Hi guys

I need some advice on getting my 4 month old to take a bottle of EBM... When she was younger she did have a couple of bottles of EBM without too much drama - but now it's like she's just too smart!! "Don't be silly Mummy - I know that's not booby!" I have tried giving her a bottle first up in the morning when she's hungry and still sleepy... I have also tried a couple of different teats - Avent and Pigeon. Apart from that I have no idea! My Mum suggested putting honey on the teat to make her suck - I was aghast at the idea!! Any help would be appreciated... (Heck - maybe the honey trick might work... :eek: )

Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

[mummy_to_4]

I wouldnt use the honey as it ahs known even small amounts to cause teeth to rot even if they have not broken through yet.
Have you tried letting someone else give her a bottle and you going for a walk. You may find that if you arnt there on hand she may take a bottle from someone else???

[lucyp]

Hi -Just a note on the use of honey I would definately NOT use honey. Honey poses a health risk in the first year as it may contain the spores of Clostridium botulinum , which can cause botulism ( with constipation, weakeded sucking, poor appetite, and lethargy) in babies. This serious though rarely fatal illness can lead to pneumonia and dehyration. It appears to be rare in Australia - but I would not chance it.

In regards to bottle, I found that it really was trial and error. Feeding on an empty stomach sometimes worked and other times I fed him on a full stomach so it was not so much of challenge. Or even offereing a little water in a bottle????

Have you tried feeding it to bub during the "dream feed" when they are actually asleep??

Also I found that knowing when to surrender - temporarily aslo helped. By that I mean - don't let it become the object of a battle - once bub objects, take it away and try again another day. Perserverance , whilst retaining a nonchalent helped me and also didn't send out tense signals to my baby. Good Luck

[2girls&1boy]

Hi,

I had the same thing with Grace(she is now almost 1) she would not take anything but the breast. I tried water in the bottle, breast milk and formula all to no avail. We also tried every teat on the market and no joy.

She did however like to take a sipper cup from a really early age. We managed to get her to drink water out of it no problem but no milk.

I have heard(not sure if it is true) that if you don't give them a bottle before the age of 1month you can forget it. Well it is certainly true for Grace.

I hope your persistance pays off and maybe a cup might work better for Eleni.

Cheers
Paula

[WeThree]

hi miranda, im afraid i am of no use as i am in the same position! you ry and give matilda a bottle of ebm and she cries as if her heart is braking- she puts on a real performance! i have given up for now she just loves the bood so much (it can just be a pain sometimes cant it, when you have an appiontment or something and you cant leave them with someone for very long), cooper was the same but once he weaned himself off the breast he loved a bottle of watered down juice, and now that he is 2 i cant get him to give them up! anyway try what someone else suggested and get someone else to offer it to her whilst you are not there-good luck :)

[Briannabear]

My DD is a boob baby too. Ive tried to give her a bottle with water in it but she wont take it. She just looks at me as though to say - What do you think you're doing?!?! I worry about what would happen if for some reason I couldnt breastfeed her - how would she take her feed? :confused:
She has started to take water in a cup now though. She doesnt like sippy cups so we kind of bypassed that whole thing. But she wouldnt take a milk feed in a cup - she gets more on her top than what she does in her mouth!

[justtwogirls22]

miranda - eliana is a booby only baby too - i had to go out when she was only 4months old so did some trial runs & she refused everything till i got a peristatic (think that's how you spell it) teat - now she will drink with any kind of teat but only ebm im struggling to get her to take some formula now
hope that helps
mel

[petster]

Hi guys

Thanks for the help so far... And I was joking about the honey ;) ...

Paula, what kind of sipper cup worked?

Melissa, what brand of peristaltic teat did you find worked?

My husband has tried giving Eleni a bottle while I'm out - she still throws a hissy fit.. I guess we'll still keep working at it...

Cheers!

[belinda]

hi there
i would like to let u no the only teat my boy would take too is the nuk brand u can get all different types u can get silicone ones or the other types that feel rubberey i dont know whats its called ok it might help u out ok hope it works out for u

[belinda]

i remember the name of the other nuk ones they are the latex ones they are brown and they are different in texture so it might feel like a nipple ok just thougt i would let u know

[TLCC]

Hi All,

My DD is also a boob only baby (90% of the time). She is now 10 months and on 3 BF a day but won't really take the bottle. She too took one on occasion early on, but we gave her a bad bottle one day and that was it..she isn't stupid.

Our main problem was that i was really full most of the time so she never had to really work to get fed which she did when given the bottle. We got the pigeon teat that is for older babies and she really only has to bite it. The only problem is it flows out very fast and she couldn't adapt to the flow for quite a while.

She now drinks from a pigeon straw cup for everything but milk..still working on that one.

Keep trying, sometimes it just works. If its stress ful for you both and their is no hurry just stop trying for a few weeks and then pick it up again one day.

I found that when she was doing it (a month or so ago), sadly plonking her on my lap in front of the simpsons helped. She had something to distract her and she just took the bottle (she has now dropped those particular feeds so we are back trying again).

Good luck,

Cheers,

[justtwogirls22]

i can't remember what the brand is but it was the only kind at the chemist at chermside

[aardvark]

DD#1 was a firm boob-only baby, which was a pain, as I went back to uni when she was only 6 weeks old.

Eventually I gave up expressing once she was on solids as well, and would leave her with a bottle of the Heinz baby juice - which I would usually end up drinking while feeding her when I got back, as she would not take it from a bottle. Once she started sucking through a straw, things improved.

DD#2 was quite happy with EBM from Avent teats until she was old enough to use a sipper cup.

The lactation consultant at the hospital where I had DD#2 suggested that babies as young as 4 months will sip EBM from a medicine glass if you can't get them to take a teat. She also suggested that there is a teat that they use in Veterinary practices for baby animals which some really fussy babies will take to when they won't use anything else. I think it is one they use for lambs or foals, but it might be an expensive experiment if baby is determined to refuse.

[petster]

Yay! Eleni just drank 30ml of EBM from a sipper cup! I bought the Avent Magic cup - has a rubbery teat in sipper cup style, and the teat fits all Avent bottles. I was amazed - she actually sucked instead of just rolling the teat around her mouth! Thanks for the sipper cup suggestions!

Cheers!

[WeThree]

I think i will be buying one of them on monday then and trying it on matilda!