bemused by bottle but refuses to suck

[motherpeculiar]

title says it all really

DD2 is 5 months - we've been trying with a bottle now every day or two for about two months. At first she would gag, now she just lets it in her mouth with the milk dribbling out. She has never sucked.

3rd party childcare starting next week. Can't bear the thought of her being fed like this. I will be working from home with childcare in the house for first two weeks so can bf if necessary but after that she is on her own.

What can I do? (apart from not go back to work which isn't really an option although I wish I wish I wish it were)

[wheresmyfroggy]

Hi Mp
DD2 was like this and we kept trying. In the end someone advised me to buy a mam bottle and lo and behold she takes it happily.

[SenoraPostrophe]

ds was like this.

it won't be what you want to hear, but he never did take a bottle. childminder used to cup feed him and then he's have a really big feed when I finished work - I worked 10 till 2, he had his main nap at 2. well he started to have his main nap at 2 at about that time.

are you working full or part time? if part time - it'll work out. if full time, it may take longer, but I strongly suspect ds would have eventually taken a bottle if he had had to be without me for that long iyswim.

[motherpeculiar]

wmf - thanks for the advice - so far we've tried mam, and nuk, and tommee tippee, and avent - all to no avail

SP - that's interesting - so she s not a complete freak then. Had been intending to go back fairly full hours on 4 days a week, but do a couple of days from home (with in house childcare on two days a week, nursery the other two). May need to rethink my time in the office - I am very reluctant to have nursery or nanny force feed her in any way that might be upsetting for her. I really like the bf'ing, and she is a very calm girl and amenable in every other way so I don't want her upset by this.

anyone else with any ideas?

[chipmonkey]

mp, my ds didn't like bottles but eventually took one after I refused to feed him for 4 hours. After that I gave him one daily to keep the habit going but he was never really happy about it. When he started on solids he was less reluctant again but will take some milk from one if very hungry. The one we used was MAM.

[chipmonkey]

Oh, and haven't tried it myself but the Haberman feeder is supposed to be good, responds to the weakest suck effort.

[motherpeculiar]

thanks chipmonkey - will search out a habermans

[alux]

either mears or milward wrote that they cup fed from 16 weeks. there are cups that are being marketed from 4 mos. She recommended using one without a spill proof valve which she got a few years ago from Mothercare. I have not looked in there yet for them but found a small cup at Boots made by Vitalbaby which seemed the treat. It comes with valve but removed it.

dd took to the MAM ultivent at nursery with a bit of insistence from the ladies there. She would take a bottle for a couple ounces before then but hadn't had one for about 2 months.

Funnily, she took as much as 13 ounces in one day by the end of last week but so far this week she has taken only between 3 and 8 ounces. I think she is now knowing when I am coming back and is holding out for me. It means more feeding at night for little ole me hence less mnetting and more early bedtimes.

[SenoraPostrophe]

mp - I meant to say she cup fed him, but he only ever took a couple of ounces - hence big feed later. he didn't cry or get really upset, he just whinged and refused. he's a stubborn little thing.

but anyway i take it you've tried getting someone else to administer the bottle when you're not around?

[motherpeculiar]

thanks alux - i'll look up that thread from Mears or milward - do you remember off hand whether they recommended a cup that needed sucking (I know you can get some w/o valve, like the anyway uo cup that still need fairly hard sucking) or a plain old spill out cup? the latter I would guess.

Glad your DD is settling so well, I'd imagine the feeding in the evenin must be kind of enjoyable, in a funny old way, or are you too tired to enjoy?

SP, again thank you for this. Yes, DH has been the one administering the bottle, I give in too easily! Will get going with a cup then as this seems to be the common experience. I just don't think it looks as comforting somehow. DD gets a lot of comfort from bf'ing too which I don't want her to lose...

[Roxswood]

She won't lose the comfort if you continue to feed her when you're around. My little one started drinking small amounts from a cup at around 5 months. I'd recommend the Boots own brand cup that has a soft spout and says suitable from 3 months. She really liked it and had a good old chew on it.

[alux]

my link here about using a cup. dd took a mam bottle so did not have to try out the cup.

[alux]

well she is feeding more at night so it means more getting up out of my bed. I am bringing her to bed for a couple of hrs then putting her back. I am a bit tired but I am hoping to persevere as she has inherited her dad's eczema. He had it v. bad as a child. I took her to the gp today about it and mentioned I am still b/f and he is keen to prescribe a breast pump for me on nhs if it can be done. will find out tomorrow as no one had ever asked him for that before.

[motherpeculiar]

hope you get the pump on the NHS Alux, thanks for the link

thanks roxswood - will give it a go

[alux]

I can only get a manual pump on the nhs . I got one of them sitting on the top of a cupboard already. will end up getting my own dual.

[alux]

any progress with bottle/cup mp?