Milk is an important source of nutrients that you and your family shouldn’t miss out on. If someone in your family has lactose intolerance and the rest of the family still want to enjoy the taste of real milk, try Lactofree - the UK’s first virtually lactose-free dairy drink.
- tommy tippee closer to nature, both newborn and medium flow teats - doidy cup - sippy cup - me giving it, dad giving it, gran giving it - evening time when she's very hungry after her bath - lunchtime-ish feed when she's not always all that hungry - 1st thing in the morning - room temp milk - warm milk
Going slighly doo-lally with it, and also panicking as back to work in a month, with one full day to do in less than 2 weeks!
If anyone has the solution, please share!! Thank you.
Who is caring for her when you go back? As she is 5m you could try a Doidy cup.
Everyone I know who panicked about this found their LOs took milk from whoever when they realised Mummy was not about. One of them took a day with no Milk before they took to the bottle but that was out of the ordinary. My BF advisor told me they would just make up for it when they got home
never managed it (ok twice) but wasn't that bothered as wasn't going back to work.
If I was going to do it again though I think I would be tempted to go out and leave someone else to it for a couple of hours... I think bfing is so bound up with mum being there and comfort etc that with some babies maybe you have to be out of the picture for it to work.
The only advice I can give is perservere! If she's hungry enough she'll take it! However now ive got my dd 4 months to take a bottle, she wont take formula only ebm, so I know how u feel!! Very tiring and lots of frustration from both sides xx keep trying and good luck xxx
Sorry to sound smug but had no problem with either of mine. Use Avent with both, blood-temp, first bottle given by partner not me. Might be that they both had dummies too and we started a bit earlier; that or mine are super-greedy guzzlers!
Assume you mean expressed milk?
Not very helpful but suggest you post this in the Child-minder boards as they may have better ideas. Good luck.
Caz-Im back to work next month-part time inc one 14hr shift a week. 8 month old DD started to refuse EBM from a bottle at about 3 months and we tried everything.
She now has milk from a tommee tippee cup which isn't an ideal solution as they are not meant for hot drinks.
It took me ages to get my ds to take a bottle. In the end I tried to give him a bottle every day. I gave up with trying different people and bottles and just expressed an ounce or so and tried with that. At least that way if he didn't take it then I didn't have to throw much away. It worked in the end and I gradually just increased the amount I gave him. Hope that helps.
DH will have her when I go back, at least for the 1st fortnight - she has always refused a bottle from him but I have always been in the house so maybe I just need to bite the bullet and go out for a few hours.
She was getting regular EBM bottle top ups at around 5-8wks and took them with no problem, but as her weight gain improved we dropped them. Then at 12weeks I was going out for lunch with friends and confidently swanned off leaving Dh with a bottle of EBM...he had to call me after 2hrs of trying she was screaming the place down and still refusing to take it...awful
Since then we've been trying once every couple of days, trying not to make it stressful for her, but with no success.
Doidy cup is great to play with empty but caused a big screaming fit with milk in it
Caz, I had similar problem - we tried every time of day, several different types of bottle & teat, holding her in different positions, feeding her in different parts of the house, me going out for hours (this didn't work), letting her play with an empty bottle so it seemed 'normal' (we were getting desperate!), trying to give her the bottle then waiting before bf'ing her, bf'ing as soon as she rejected bottle - the list goes on.
What I ended up doing was trying at pretty much the same time every day and when she knocked it back I would just bf her instead. After about 5 weeks I was about to admit defeat, dh made me try one more time and she took the bottle! I think the fact I was (by that stage) so over it and not at all tense may have helped? Who knows - it's still a mystery to me as to what was different that day, but persisting paid off in the end - good luck!
Ok not a doidy cup. Try a Tommee Tippee. The hard spout ones - if you can still buy them. They have to suck a little bit but there is no real valve in them to make it too hard. Cups to play with are a great idea, DD had a TT for months before I put water in it. First day I did she drank some.
We have the same problem with DS - he took the bottle (tommee tippee ones) fine for weeks, then at about 13 weeks, he stopped. I decided to go straight for a cup and bought a whole load for SIL to try when I was at work (about 4 hours a week).
DS liked the ASDA trainer cup - like a bottle but with a rubbery spout - sort of half way between a bottle and a cup, which was the first one she tried.
However, I tried going out in the evening when he's hungrier, and he downright refused to take it from DH - he phoned up to ask if I had any tips to get DS to take the milk and I couldn't bear the crying in the background so got him to pick me up.
I'll be watching this with interest too, although my tip is to offer before your DC is obviously hungry, or at very early hunger cues (DS is not good at these!)
callmeovercautious the TT hard spout cup is the one we've had most success with - however success for just now is defined as DD not screaming madly for ages, she still hasn't drunk from it but will tolerate it in her mouth!
ChairmumMiaow I have one of these cup/bottles too, it's the only thing I haven't tried yet so I guess that is what is coming out next!
Mam teat/bottle was a resounding failure this morning !
I think dh is starting to panic about being left with a screaming hungry baby...
My DD (7 months) was the same. I tried Avent teats / sippy cup etc and no joy with milk. But she would take water from the cup. So I went and bought Tommy tippee bottles and teats (the boob shaped ones) and gave a a teat which was slightly below her age limit (ie, not the 3 one for 6 months and over, but a No. 1 at first and now its a No.2 teat). I let her have the bottle with just water in it at meal times and she took it and then gave her formula. I went through trying different formulas (SMA, Apitimal) and found Hipp Organic was a hit as its as sweet as boob milk and doesnt taste too rank!
I am now on my last boob feed this week and will be stopping next week and I never thought it would be possible!
The HV told me yesterday that DD only needs a bottle in morning and eve now and to make up extra with milk onb cereal, yogurts, cheese etc. Do at 8 months yours could do the same. Mine doesnt really want the bottle mid morning or mid afternoon anyway - would rahter a rusk and some water or rice cake etc....
We had that problem with DD. DH got up to her every morning for a week and gave her a bottle when she was at her most hungry. She couldn't know that I was in the house, and it took a whole week for him to be really successful. DD is stubborn, but DH was more stubborn. He basically said that once she had taken a sip or two then he knew that he had it cracked and that it was just a question of quantity.
not easy, we have equally large selection of cups and one stubborn dd! However, we are more stubborn (only just tho!) I had to leave her for a day to do a course and she took maybe 2 oz all day then 3 feeds in a row from me when i got back and was fine - tis called reverse cycling and means making up for it later! Easier said than done but don't stress- she will probably take absolute minimum to get by then catch up and gradually get better. Once you think about weaning it will definately get easier as you can get liquid into her with food.
horseymum how was your dd when you left her that day? mine yells and cries when she is hungry, and went into hysterics that one day I went away and her only alternative was a bottle, dh said he thought she would throw up she was crying so hard! if i thought she would just calmly do without and make it up later I would feel better!
Have you tried a syringe? We begged a couple of 60ml (2oz) syringes off the hospital and GP which we gave her top ups in. They usually say single use only on them, but that's because they're for hospital use normally. As long as you don't steam sterilise them they're fine to keep using until they get too stiff.
I've got the same issue with baby no 2 but first baby eventually got the hang of it when I slipped the bottle teat in his mouth half way thro breastfeeding.
We had this with DD2 at a similar age and in the end did early weaning so that she could eat yoghurt, cheese sauce etc and not be so dependent on milk.
Like Tink says, a month is a long time. She might well take milk in a bottle or cup in a months time. You do right not to push the issue and just offer a bottle every couple of days or so, no point upsetting everyone.
Don't forget she will be 6 months in a months time, so you can mix milk (expressed or formula) into her food.
Or you might find that she starts reverse cycling, i.e. sleeping when you are at work and nursing more when you are home in the evening/night.
Lastly could DH not bring her to your work for feeds ?
Mine just wouldn't take a bottle - even at 14 months. On the first day I left him with a friend for 6 hours she got some down him with a spoon.
Having said that, he's a stubborn little monster and when I insisted that he no longer needed a lid on his cup at 2 3/4 (when we'd just spent a week campling and not using a lid) he refused to drink point blank for 24 hrs. He then took about an inch from the bottom of a cup (without a lid) and then went another 24 hours. In the end he was so thirsty he gave in. We did this with lots of smiling and plenty of offers of fresh and lovely drinks but all without a lid.
Maybe you've just got a stubborn one too. It may be that you have to resign yourself to feeding all night. LO won't come to any harm and you may find with you definitely out of the picture (when you're back at work) there's no point struggling so she'll drink quite happily from a bottle/cup/spoon/syringe . Good luck
dd1 eventually took bottles with dh when she got hungry, although she also reversed her night/day feeding patterns as well i.e. fed more than usual in the evenings and overnight.
dd2 (6 months) won't take milk in a cup, but will take water with no problem at all.
So long as you can get liquids into her during the day (for dehydration), you can put milk into her food and bf feed lots in the evenings/early mornings.
Again, thanks so much! She actually drank some water from her sippy cup more happily than she did milk, so might try it in a bottle.
I think I just have to get over the mental hurdle that she will not starve, even if she has no milk during my working day. I just hate the thought of her being hungry and upset.
Babieseverywhere, for the 1st 2 weeks DH will be able to bring her up most days, THANKFULLY! Really hadn't wanted to do that because i think it might upset me and/or her, but it's better that than she starves!!
Got a NUK bottle - my final weapon!
What do people think - best to pick one type of feeding method and stick with trying to get her to take it, eg keep trying the same bottle every day? Or if she rejects it, try something different?
Caz - i can 2nd or 3rd the being more stubborn than they are trick. I can't remember what age she was, but probably about 3-4 months - i offered the bottle (TT although i know your DD has rejected that one) and if she refused i would let her bf for a few seconds and then slip the teat in. We just kept repeating this, taking short breaks if it escalated. Then returning to the bottle/breast/bottle for up to an hour (yes, i am VERY stubborn ). She did get the idea that the bottle was a good alternative after a surprisingly few sessions of this. I would suggest you have someone in the house with you who can take LO for a few minutes break as it can be emotionally draining and you need to try and stay as calm and relaxed as possible as though it doesn't really bother you if she won't take from the bottle. Easier said than done, i know. Good luck! Oh just remembered - our DD also really quite liked very cold breast milk from the fridge...maybe worth a try if you haven't already. Sorry for the waffle
Caz-My DD will take milk out of a tommee tippee cup so am trying to find a bottle type thing with a similar spout, have started a thread in Products and have had lots of helpful suggestions. My DD doesn't like teats...
Milk is an important source of nutrients that you and your family shouldn’t miss out on. If someone in your family has lactose intolerance and the rest of the family still want to enjoy the taste of real milk, try Lactofree - the UK’s first virtually lactose-free dairy drink.
. Good luck 
). She did get the idea that the bottle was a good alternative after a surprisingly few sessions of this. I would suggest you have someone in the house with you who can take LO for a few minutes break as it can be emotionally draining and you need to try and stay as calm and relaxed as possible as though it doesn't really bother you if she won't take from the bottle. Easier said than done, i know. Good luck! 
Oh just remembered - our DD also really quite liked very cold breast milk from the fridge...maybe worth a try if you haven't already. Sorry for the waffle 
