bottle feeding a breast fed baby?

[stillnotjustamummy]

In two weeks I want to leave my four month old at home and go out for an evening. I cannot take her with me. I've been trying for 9 days to get her to take a bottle of formula, but she keeps refusing. I've tried different types of bottle, tipee, avent, Mam, currently using a nuk latex teat, but can't persuade her to take more than an ounce. I'm introducing the bottle when she is calm and not yet ravenous - she plays with it, puts it in her mouth, but still isn't actually feeding from it. I can't express- even with a hospital grade pump, nothing comes out. What else can I try?

Get someone else to try feeding her with a bottle without you nearby/ you in a different room, she will still be able to smell your milk with you about so would rather that than want it from a bottle.

When you're not there and she's hungry, she'll take it. Have a great night out! Wear breast pads, you'll get full if you're missing a feed.

Yes get someone else to try when you're not around. You could also try a tommee tippee first sips sippy cup or similar. They're about £1.50 from big supermarkets.

I had a post on this recently.
After several tries with different bottles the only one that worked was
Nuk with a latex teat. Nuk the thinner long bottle not their first choices bottle

This also worked for my bottle refusing dd1.

Thanks all, will keep trying. Has anyone had any success switching formula types? I'm using Aptamil, is it worth trying others or are they basically the same?

Changing formula might make no difference. My baby won't even take expressed milk from a bottle. He won't take a bottle from me or anyone else even if I not in the room no matter how hungry he is. Some EBF babies just don't like bottles but good luck and I hope you get your night out.

The only way I could get both of mine to accept formula was to mix it with express milk, so 3/4 express to 1/4 formula. Then 1/2 and 1/2 and finally 1/4 and 3/4.

Have you tried expressing from one breast whilst baby feeds from the other, baby feeding triggers let down so it can be easier to express milk. It was the only thing that worked for me.

And loo brush is right, some babies will point blank refuse to take a bottle. It's hard work and very stressful trying ti get them to take one.

With my dd nothing worked st this age - she hsppily took a bottle of expressed milk when 2 months but refused at 4 months after a gap. I tried different bottles, teats, milks...

So you may just have to feed her before you go and then have a short night.

Avent make a sippy cup from 4 months of age, maybe that would work?

My DD would only take it from MAM bottles.

I just came back to say it might be worth trying one of these bottles:
www.daisybabyshop.co.uk/bottles-holders/mimijumi-very-hungry-bottle-8oz?gclid=CJ6WnPTknsoCFU-6Gwodzq8NRA

If anybody has tried one of these can you please let me know if it works as is I am thinking of trying it myself.

I just thought as well, if the bottle doesn't work when you're not there, there's that weird cup - the Doidy cup - that is suitable from 4 months. And syringe feeding as a last resort?

Tried the Doidy - dd wasn't having any of it!

With DD we had to heat the milk a little before she would take a bottle. Also she took one eventually when she got hungry enough!

I've just asked my health visitor about how to get baby to take a bottle, she suggested using nipple shields for a few days whilst breastfeeding to get baby used to sucking through a silicone shield and then introducing the bottle. I don't know if this works well or not.

More good ideas! Thank you! She's still playing with the Nuk ones and doesn't seem horrified by it until she realises it's that instead of mummy. Am beginning to think I won't make the night out though I'd have to leave her at 6 and wouldn't be back until midnight. It's too long to let her scream for. It's definitely wrong to smuggle a baby into a theatre isn't it? Darn.

You could try using a teat for an older age group - or simply make the hole in the teat you are currently using a little larger? We found that when it was easier, DC took much more in - made a massive difference for us, but took us ages to work it out!

I second captainproton on the method of expressing, you are far more likely to be successful if you can pump while feeding. Then hopefully the smell and taste of bm in the bottle will encourage her to take it as she will recognise it's food and not a toy! Good luck x

I second captainproton on the method of expressing, you are far more likely to be successful if you can pump while feeding. Then hopefully the smell and taste of bm in the bottle will encourage her to take it as she will recognise it's food and not a toy! Good luck x

I found that adding just a small amount of my breastmilk to the formula helped me, even just an ounce. My DD would only drink HIPP organic, smelt different to the others to me. Friends of mine have had success with doidy cups. Expressing after a hot shower may help you to get some milk.

The only bottle my DD would have was called Playtex. I believe you can now get them from Amazon. She needed to take high calorie formula for medical reasons and before we discovered these we had to syringe it into her mouth. Was awful.