Baby wont take the bottle

[FluffyDucks]

I am not sure if I should be in this section or the breastfeeding section but hopefully someone can help me.

I have been exclusivley breastfeeding now and would like to start expressing so hubby and I can go out on date nights. And with a bottle of milk in the fridge, NanNan can feed him if he wakes up while we are gone.....sounds like a plan eh?

Problem is I expressed today and tried him with the bottle (heated the milk too and not too hot) and he hated it. Mind you the look on his face was priceless but he just wouldnt take the plastic nipple.

DS is almost 5 months and doesnt have a dummy.

Do you think that I have lost my chance to use a bottle as he is so used to the breast or should I just persist? Anyone have any ideas? He does like to drink out of a glass (has drinks of Mums water) should I skip the bottle and go to a sippy cup???

Michelle

PS....I am going to post this in the breastfeeding section as well so dont be alarmed if you see this twice!

[kimmy]

Maybe try a different teat, they have those nut shape ones that are more like a nipple shape i think.
that's what my 2 kiddies liked so am speaking from what worked for my kids....
good luck.

[JanetF]

My son never took a bottle but I loved taking him everywhere with us anyway. He went to restaurants from birth pretty much :)

[xkwzit]

Try the sippy cup, lots of kids go straight to a cup (although I'm not sure of how old they were). All kids are individuals, you may find he takes it OK.

Otherwise, just keep trying. When I had to express for a new born, the LC told me to use long cylindrical teats, at least as long as the top two joints of your little finger, this is as close to breast as silicon teats get (no orthodontic teats).

Best of luck

[Mumoffour]

i had the same experience two weeks ago- i have to get bubs to take milk from the bottle as i go to work. She didnt like the avent ones but she takes the pigeon peristatlic bottle which has an teat which extends when bubs sucks on it (just like mums nipple). They are about 12 dollars from the chemist. it worked for us- hope you have some luck.

[Nickster]

Hi Michelle,

I tried to use the Avent teats for the odd feed of EBM (I work one day a week), but found they didn't work too well, and luckily stumbled across the pigeon peristaltic teats - and woohoo - they fit the avent bottles. DD took those for a while, but then at about 6 months, decided she didn't want a bottle anymore!
We tried to use a sippy cup, but had our best luck with a straw cup. She now happily takes her milk and/or water from a straw cup. We use the magmag brand - a bit fiddly to wash up, but hey, whatever works.... :)
Good luck!

[Mumma]

I have the same problem and boy is it stressful! Its hard for my husband because I will go out and he will try to give our adorable son a bottle and it ends in tears!!

I will be working two days a week in the NY and so its really important we work this out. Interestingly, our boy has taken a bottle before but this week no luck.

We have tried Avent and Nuk....more luck with Nuk. He is only four months so not sure how he would go with a cup...but I might try this today.

All advice gratefully taken!

[FluffyDucks]

Thanks all for all your help!

I have tried all the different teats that I could find (and wasted a lot of milk in the process!!) and he hated them all. I tried Avent, Pigeon, Nuk, Tommee Tipee and some others and just would take them.

So I tried the advise given by a few mums here about using a sippy cup and found a great Avent one that the bit where they drink from is interchangable with the Avent bottle as is specifically designed for people weaning their babies from breast/bottle to cup....and it works great!

Its a bit messy but he likes it and so do I!! :D

Thanks again!

Michelle

[Mumma]

Success!!

After much effort we are successfully getting our four month old son to take a bottle. It is such a relief.

For any others in this situation..hang in there. We ended up having success with Nuk bottles. Other things that must have helped was sticking to the forumla that worked (I wasn't sure what to get so we tried a couple...I think this didn't help...so if you get one that does work - make a note of it and stick to it). We also try getting our son to suck a dummy. He hasn't been a fan (except for the very early days) but he took to it this time.

The other thing we are doing is making sure he takes a bottle everyday now so he is completely comfortable with it.

My next issue is how to get my supply to calm down!

Good luck to all~