Switching from Breast to Bottle

[Mizzey]

I have been successfully breastfeeding my ds for 20 weeks now. Unfortunately I have to go on a 2 day course end of July so have been preparing to give ds a bottle once a day to get him used to it. In theory, thought this would be great as when ds was younger took a bottle no problem. Well what do you know, ds absolutely refuses the bottle, I have tried Dr Brown bottles, Tommy Tipee special teats, you name it but he just screams and screams and screams. What can I do, I really love breastfeeding and I dont really want to stop just yet. If only I could get him on the bottle. Any tips or advice as Im getting a wee bit stressed!!

[littleweed]

only tip I can offer is to make sure the milk is really warm first - we found that to start with ds would only take v warm milk (he didn't mind where it came from!) HTH

[Blu]

Mizzey - TikTok had some really good advice on this, so hopefully she will be along soon!
Have you been trying him with a bottle at his usual feeding times, or when he is hungry? It's best only to offere a bottle wjhen they are relaxed, happy and NOT hungry. the reason being that they have not learned / do not know that a bottle gives them the comfort and food that the breast does, so they just get more upset screaming for what they really want. I presume you are using EBM? Try oozing a little from the teat into his mouth?

I hate to be pessimistic, but my DS never did accpet milk (ebm or formula) from a bottle....but then I didn't have the wisdom of TikTok to consult!

[madcyclist]

Mizzey,
Try somebody else giving him the bottle, with you out of the room/house.
Try when he is a bit sleepy, see if you can fool him.
Try when he is hungry, if the above doesn't help.
I had exactly the same problem, and I'm afraid I gave up in the end. He now takes a beaker, having missed out bottles completely except for a few weeks between 6-12 weeks.
If all else fails, he really is old enough to cope when you go on your course. My ds sucks and sucks on bath sponges and I thought that if he wouldn't take fluid in any other way, he would get it from a sponge!
I can only offer you support and not alot of practical help, I know the stress all of this puts you under.
Good luck.

[crumpet]

mizzey, I had exactly this problem this time last year, and remember finding some old threads on this, which reassured me that it was only a matter of time, so have a look at some of the older threads. In the meantime I spent a week or two haring up to the nursery to breastfeed dd before my maternity leave ended! I think it took about 10 days/two weeks before she finally clicked, and also found that regularly using the bottle almost as a toy between feeds got her used to the feel of the teat in her mouth.

[tiktok]

There's loads on this so do a search! At 20 weeks, though, you might want to think about not even worrying about it. He can take fluids from a cup or a spoon and cup or yes, a sponge, rather than have a fight on your hands for the sake of two days which are six weeks away.....when he will certainly be able to manage a cup wih help.

It is not worth upsetting yourself and reducing him to screams! He will remain well and hydrated for those two days as long as he has enough fluids in him somehow.

Honestly - forget about it, and enjoy feeding him and letting him enjoy feeding