Baby wont take the bottle

[FluffyDucks]

I am not sure if I should be in this section or the bottlefeeding 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 bottlefeeding section as well so dont be alarmed if you see this twice!

[jonesso]

A few ideas to try (you may have already tried them)...

What bottles are you using? Avent are more exy but they are great as the teats are supposedly more "nipple like" in design - to my untrained eye it looks like bub's mouth is the same shape on avent teats as on my breast. THe other great thing with Avent bottles is that everything is interchangable - small bottles or big bottles take the same teats, lids, etc - you can even get training cup handles that slip over the bottle and drinking cup lids to make it more cup-like. This way you could start on bottles and if persisting with that doesn't work then try coverting it to a cup.

Also, how warm did you make the milk? If you expressed it and gave it to bub straight away there's no need to heat it - body temp is the perfect temp for bottles. A nurse told me to pour a little on the inside of your wrist - if milk feels cold then you need to warm it more, if it feels warms then it's too warm. Basically you should not be able to feel it, just wet with no hot/cold sensation. If it was too warm bub would not have taken it very well.

A friend of mine started her DD on a bottle a day and it took a few days before she'd take it willingly. She just persisted with it. I'd say if you've tried for 5 min and bub refuses, then leave it a bit and try again. If you do this on and off and still have no joy and bub is getting really distressed then give bub the breast for that feed and give it a shot next time.

Hope this helps! Good luck. It's so important to get that time alone with your partner every now and then.

[aardvark]

I had success with the avent teats when nothing else was acceptable to DD#2.

They also make a silicon beaker spout type of thing which fits in the bottle in place of a teat. I'm sure we moved DD#2 onto one of those about 5-6 months. Just because it is milk doesn't mean it has to come out of a teat as such. DD#2 was sucking it out of a straw cup by the time I returned to work when she was 12 months old.

Another recommendation I was given from a lactation consultant is that someone other than mum gives all expressed feeds.

[draught]

You haven't left it too late - my DD2 didn't have bottles or a dummy and at 8 months I went back to work quicker than I had planned and had to leave her with a nanny with bottles of EBM - and she took them with no problems at all, much to my surprise and relief!

I didn't use Avent - just bottles from the supermarket and I think we had the NUK teats. I think the key is having someone else give them the bottle when you aren't around at all, and that the person giving the bottle is calm and copes with them fussing with it etc. My MIL was the only person who could ever get DD1 to take a bottle ( i weaned her onto a cup with a straw at 12 months) and her theory was that she treated it like giving a bottle to the baby piglets on the farm :eek: - I have no idea what that entails though!

[FluffyDucks]

Okay thanks....I like the idea of having someone else do the feed. It actually makes sense as I assume that when DS is in my arms he would want the breast instead of the plastic thing I am trying to shove in his mouth.

And I suppose I just have to persist as well....I will probably try using a bottle with the interchangable tops to make a cup if he still wont take to it.

I guess the whole expressing thing just feels odd as well (not having done it before). It makes my nipples feel weird, well when you look at your nipples while you are pumping it just doesnt look right! But I guess thats what is happening with the baby sucks and we cant see it...maybe I am just sending vibes to DS not to take to the bottle. I dunno! :)

Thanks for the tips! I will persist and will see how we go!

Michelle