PLEASE HELP: Anyone else had a baby with bottle aversion?

[Jacketpotatogirl]

I am being unreasonable for posting on AIBU! But I am desperate for help with babies bottle aversion due to being force fed at the hospital after birth and on feeding tubes. We were told to keep giving baby large amounts for his age and this hasn’t helped his anxiety. He’s almost 3 months. How did your baby overcome this?

Please do not be mad I posted on AIBU I’m actually worried I’m suffering with PND due to his feeding. No luck from HV or GP.

Can you try cup-feeding instead? It's quite common to cup feed newborns, although it can be a bit messy, but if he's really averse to the bottle it might help to have a bit of a break? You can use an open cup but you could even try an early type sippy cup to see if he can get the hang of it if you control the angle.

How does his aversion manifest? He won't drink from a bottle? or is stressed about doing so?

My daughter absolutely refused bottles. Not related to trauma, just stubborn. She just wanted breast feeding which was fine luckily but I needed breaks sometimes. She was happy to drink from a cup which helped. Not as convenient as a bottle but useful if breast feeding isn’t an option.

Thankfully mine was older 5 months used a diddy cup think it was called mine was breastfed and would refused to take bottle even when really hungry would still refuse just screwed their mouth up.

Mine were breast fed and absolutely refused bottles, in the end I just breast fed them. Luckily they were keen on food when weaning so quite quickly then they could be left for a few hours. A friend had more luck experimenting with lots of different bottles and finding one that her baby would accept.
I'm sorry but I am not clear on your problem, is it that your baby needs extra calories? Could you swap to a different formula so not as much volume is needed?

Hi OP.
I'm so sorry that you are going through this, I my DD had bottle aversion from about 3-5 months of age (we didn't realise initially) and she ended up with a NG tube for 2 months - anyway long story! Our lives changed when we read "Your baby's bottle feeding aversion, reasons and solutions" by Rowena Bennett.
there's a Facebook group too- please do join it I haven't been on it for a few years but the advice and support was paramount to fixing the bottle aversion and I don't know where we'd be now without it (probably still with a feeding tube if it was up to the paediatrician!)

The book is about £14 on Amazon and I know it sounds like I work for the author or something 😅, but I swear I don't. It honestly was life changing, and I read it in a day.

You have to learn to trust your baby, don't pressure x

Feel free to PM me if you'd like. You'll get through it OP. It's bloody hard, I know.

Here's a link to the FB group :

m.facebook.com/groups/babycarefeedingaversionsupportgroup/?ref=share

Neither of mine would ever take a bottle so both were EBF for 14 months each.

I think those sippy cups work for some babies - good luck.

This. My daughter had an aversion and it was completely solved after reading the book, following the rules and asking for support and advice on the fb group.

@ToadIsTheBest @Ifonlyiknewwhat Thank you both. We are Day 1 of the book programme and I’ve been questioning if it’ll actually work but reading your comments has given me hope. We’ve had a hard day, baby has been crying hungry all day. Only taking an oz a feed and I’m feeling stressed. I already want to give up, but won’t. When did you start seeing results? xx

Have a look into paced bottle feeding, it's a bit gentler for them

The first few days are so so difficult, I really feel for you, it is horrendous. We started seeing results at day 3. A bit of a relapse a couple of days later so don’t panic and then improvement again. Hang on in there, you are doing a great job and by not pressuring baby you are giving them the faith to trust the bottle again. Xx

I would suggest getting in touch with an experienced breastfeeding counsellor or lactation consultant to discuss alternative ways of feeding him. FYI, they are trained to support baby feeding in general, not just breastfeeding. I'm wondering specifically about a supplemental nursing system, where you put him to the breast but milk is actually taken via a tiny tube? Like this:

https://www.laleche.org.uk/nursing-supplementers/

Or cup feeding? Or trying an open / sippy cup?

@Jacketpotatogirl Honestly, i can't remember now how long it took.
I know it wasn't quick. I realised that there was no medical reason for her to have her feeding tube, she refused the bottle entirely once she had the tube - probably because she wasn't hungry! And so without the support of the paediatrician, and after reading the book, I removed the feeing tube and started.

Your baby needs to learn to trust you, that you won't pressure them. And (any medical reasons aside) you need to trust your baby.

Take all the pressure off, offer when hungry but if baby pushes the bottle away/ moves their head away etc then stop and offer again later.
Don't offer too many times (can't remember how many the book says)

I could go on for ages, but please do trust the book and follow the program. Join the FB group they will all help you too.

We had the added extra of a horrible tasting milk due to an allergy! Bloody nightmare it was- but so worth it now. She's 4 now :)

Hello, will you be able to tell me whether Rowena Bennett’s book applies to mixed fed babies too? I’m at a loss with my DD she has been refusing bottles for the last two weeks and will only accept the breast (i dont produce enough milk). She has been topping up with formula since birth. Thank you.