My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Parenting

Breastfed baby won't take bottle

20 replies

MummyLostInParenthood · 04/04/2012 10:35

Hi all! My DD is almost 3 months old, and took to breastfeeding straight away, and we've had no problems whatsoever. Yesterday I tried expressing some milk and feeding with a bottle for the first time. It was a little trial as there's a friends birthday coming up at the weekend and I'd love to leave her with Daddy so I can have a well deserved night out.

I'd hoped that she would take to the bottle as easily as she did breastfeeding, but no such luck. She just wouldn't suck on the bottle teat. When she was hungry she cried until she got the boob. We tried giving it to her when she was calm, and she kinda chewed on it a bit, but wouldn't suck.

We tried it with DH by himself in a room, but that didn't make any difference.

Have I left it too late? Should I give up hope that I can go out this weekend? Have any of you experienced the same thing?

I know one technique would be just to deny the boob until she works it out, but I really don't want to do that - no night out is worth that much stress and unhappiness!

Any tips or ideas will be gratefully received.

OP posts:
Report
hermionestranger · 04/04/2012 10:37

I can't give you any advice but to say some babies just won't take a bottle I they are ebf, neither of mine would. Can you go for a few hours and drive instead of drinking?

Report
MumbleMumm · 04/04/2012 10:49

Hi, my dd still won't take a bottle at 9mo (didn't try v hard to be honest tho as am crap at expressing). However, I did come across a website giving hints and tips... can't remember where or I'd post a link. One of the methods that they said to try was to start with boob, then swap to bottle in the middle and back to boob at the end of the feed... until they get used to bottle being a part of it - then gradually stopping the boob bit.
I never managed it - but thought I'd suggest it :-)

Report
pooandmorepoo · 04/04/2012 11:02

did you try or your DH? I thought they were more likely to take bottle from someone other than mother who they associate with breast milk or perhaps can still smell it.

Report
valbona · 04/04/2012 13:37

I think tbh you'll be lucky to fix it before this weekend. Am in same boat and solve the going out thing by making people go to pub no more than 10 mins cycle away so I can nip back if baby surfaces and needs food. (That sounds as if I'm in the pub all the time ... I wish!)

My DD refused a bottle until she was about 5 and a half months, DS is mid-refusal at 20 weeks. It does seem to be that some babies will go back and forth between bottle and breast fine and some won't so def don't beat yourself up if your DD doesn't take to it.

Only advice is to keep trying gently as often as you can. DS is starting to take a little bit - an ounce maybe - so am hoping it'll click in next month or two. Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottles worked for us in the end with DD, but I think it was more that she "got it" rather than us suddenly trying in the right way, with the right temperature etc etc

Good luck. It feels like forever when they won't but one day they will - or at least one day they'll eat banana and toast!

Report
MagnumIcecreamAddict · 04/04/2012 13:50

Some babies just won't bottle feed. I tried everything with DS: other people feeding, different teats ( latex teats supposed to be good to try for ebf babies), waiting til really really hungry etc. None of it worked.

Started using a cup when he was 10 weeks, and he was confidently using by 5 months. Our health visitors recommend the doidy cup but we managed to make stunning mess with it and very little went in.

Doesn't really help for this weekend. Have to say I think it's unlikely you will find an answer by the weekend but good luck.

Report
NellyTheElephant · 04/04/2012 16:47

I had terrible trouble getting DD2 to take a bottle, no particular tips (with DD1 and DS they had occasional expressed bottles from early on so never lost the ability to do both). How long are you planning to be out for this w/e? If you feed before you go and then it's really just one feed that you'd be missing then it's not the end of the world - your DH can try and give a bottle and see what happens, if it's not that far away then presumably your DH can call you back if he is having a total nightmare and she won't starve if she refuses the bottle and then you are late back for one feed. And how important is it to you? I ask because sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go and believe that the baby will be fine and feed from the bottle when hungry enough. With my DD2 I had to go somewhere when she was about 3 months old, I had no luck whatsoever getting her to take a bottle. My Mum said to be brave and go and she would manage. It was fine, shortly after I had gone she took a bottle from my Mum and was totally and utterly fine while I was away, calm content took bottles happily after the first. As soon as I was back she never took a bottle from me (although my Mum was still able to give her one).

Report
Tillyamy · 25/01/2013 11:48

MagnumIcecreamAddict - which cup worked for you? DS2 is 3.5 months old and having none of the bottle. i'm going away for 4 days when he's 6.5 months old and have tried with a free flow tommee tippee but it comes out too quickly for him. have another tommee tippee with a valve that i'll try tonight

Report
pookysarah · 25/01/2013 14:59

DS refused a bottle no matter what we tried (although we never left him until he was "hungry enough" - I couldn't do it)..so at 4m we tried expressed milk with a spoon which he loved, then he took expressed milk from a cup..now at 5m he's suddenly very enthusiastic about taking it from a bottle. For some reason he's ready now.

Report
pookysarah · 25/01/2013 15:10


I found this at kellymom.com helpful.

Report
Missingthemincepies · 25/01/2013 15:15

Hi Tilly I was magnum before name change.
I used the free flow tommee tippee. My HV suggested slightly melting the teat to block off one of the holes to reduce flow. Apparently works v well, but DS was a greedy little thing and was quite happy with 2 holes.
Just to add though that at 10-2 weeks DS would only take a few sips. We did it daily and by 6m he could down the whole cupful in under a minute! Don't worry too much if its not brilliant yet, just keep going and you'll get there.

Report
Knittingnovice · 25/01/2013 15:22

DD never took a bottle or expressed milk, we tried everything....cheap bottles, expensive bottles, beakers, doidy cups, room temp, heated, cold.

I left her overnight when she was 7 months old and my parents syringed milk into her.

We started trying with a bottle from the time she was 3 weeks like we hd with DS and she never got it.

I even bought ready made formula and she was having none of it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Report
whatsoever · 25/01/2013 21:07

My DS is 15 weeks and takes a bottle when he's in the mood but when he's not in the mood, heaven and earth won't make him take one. Unfortunately when he's in the mood is usually when we're having a trial & when he's not is when I'm actually out!

So far this has resulted in me & my mum being called back from a day out shopping before we'd had lunch because DH & my dad had endured hours of screaming punctuated by naps from exhaustion from said screaming and a hair appointment where he refused the bottle calmly from my inlaws & just waited for me to come back and feed him.

I have a night out planned when he is 5 months and I hope he will take a bottle or cup by then as I have a £40 concert ticket riding on it!

Good luck OP.

Report
Weissbier · 29/01/2013 07:02

DD always had a bottle a day from birth as I figured that'd prevent this happening. It didn't. The day I went to France for work when she was about 4 mnths, she refused. DH tried spoon, cup, pipette...nothing worked. As I was already out of the country all we could do was phone doc who said don't worry, just keep offering it. The hunger strike ended as suddenly as it began after ten hours. DD didn't seem at all bothered while it was going on, but still, don't recommend this as a tactic :(

I think you just have to keep trying with cups etc and if nothing works look forward to weaning.

Report
Tolly81 · 29/01/2013 10:15

We had this with dd but did solve it eventually - you're very unlikely to have it cracked by the weekend though. We found the nurtured child blog about bottle feeding Breastfed babies amazingly useful and it was that that cracked it in the end. We used avent natural bottles and tears which are designed for bf babies but tbh I think it was a combination of things. We finally got her to take it one afternoon (realised for her bedtime feed she was too tired and wanted comfort). I kept trying with very small amounts of EBM (so that I didn't have to throw too much away). A lot of the nurtured child blog is about bf babies not being in control of the flow whereas they are at the breast, so use the slowest flow (newborn) teat and keep the bottle horizontal not too tipped up, otherwise it comes without them sucking. I have to say holding it by my boob and getting others to feed her never worked for us, even now she would rather have a bottle from me than anyone else. You're right not to try the starving her until she takes it thing - I think it would be horrid. We did try every day though, when she was hungry but not starving, and not too tired. We'd offer it for 10 minutes then abandon (just resting the tear in her lower lip) or we'd abandon sooner if she got really upset. One day she just drank it all, properly, and that was it. It took weeks though. She is now nearly 9 months and entirely bottle fed as I am back at work as a shift worker. Also, make sure the milk is very warm (my dd still refuses cold milk!), lots of kisses and cuddles and don't be tempted to try formula instead of EBM as they usually hate that!

Report
Tillyamy · 10/03/2013 18:45

Missingthemincepies - thanks for the recommendation. I am started weaning now, slightly early and introduced the cup. Only been a few days, not much going in but I shall persevere. Then I need to teach my DH what to do while i'm away as he seems to think that it'll be a doddle looking after a 2.5 year old and 6.5 month old... Foolish man!

Report
Tillyamy · 16/03/2013 23:49

We had a breakthrough witht the bottles 5 days ago. NUK glass firstchoice with the latex teat worked in the end. He'll take 3-5 oz at a time, think he just decided to give it a try and liked it! Warm milk and a warrm teat seemed to do it for him. I will keep on with the sippy cup too. He loves chewing it but the flow is still a bit fast for him.

massive weight off my mind. Good luck ladies x

Report
fenzy84 · 25/04/2013 11:26

We had the same problem as loads on here, our baby just wouldn't take a bottle, very picky! After we've spent lots of money on loads of bottles, we discovered the mimijumi baby bottles at The Baby Show in London in Feb. The bottles were pretty expensive i guess but I just thought we should give it a go...last chance kind of thing! We tried it the same night and filled a 4oz bottle and my 6 month DS took to it straight away! I was gob smacked! Give it ago if your struggling.

Report
robbo902 · 26/04/2013 11:49

Yeah....this bottle solved our issues as well. Think we'd spend around £200 on bottles trying to find one our son would take. Worked first time. I found them online (www.mimjumi.co.uk) while googling for solutions. I just thought why the hell not! It was quiet different from anything we'd tried before, nipple was skin textured and coloured. They also claimed that the latching action was the same as that used when a baby breastfeeds and I thought this might be the thing that clinched it. Anyway...it worked! Oh yeah...If you are thinking of buying one then use 'mimi10' as a 10% off voucher code

Report
rowtunda · 26/04/2013 15:16

My DS never took to the bottle and really wasn't fuss about drinking from a tommy tippee cup until I stopped bf at 13 months - sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Report
Tailtwister · 26/04/2013 15:42

I had the same issue with both our DC and never got either of them to take a bottle. Judging from the experiences of friends, the key seems to be persistence and finding the right bottle.

Good luck!

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.