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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

how do i get my baby to take a bottle?

29 replies

srce · 19/09/2010 12:49

DD3 is 20wks old and for a number of reasons i want to stop BF. she has been EBF since birth. with my other DD's i BF until 3 months, with 1 bottle of formula a day from birth. hence they had no trouble taking a bottle. the BF has been going really well with DD3 so i never bothered with a bottle but now wish i had as she flatly refuses it.

have tried expressed milk, 2 different formulas and 3 different teats. if i need to just go cold turkey i will take a deep breath and go for it, but thought id see if anyone had any other top tips first.
thanks.

OP posts:

harverina · 19/09/2010 13:36

The first time that my DD had a bottle I breastfed her first for a wee while then offered her the bottle and she took it no bother. I then finished the feed by breastfeeding her. She now takes a bottle fine. She was only 6 weeks when she first had a bottle though.

Original poster

srce · 19/09/2010 19:42

thanks harverina, someone else on another thread suggested starting with the boob then switching to bottle in the hope of tricking her! i'll try it. i think its the age that helps, fear ive left it too late and shes going to be attached to me day and night forever.

OP posts:

harverina · 19/09/2010 22:39

Give it a go but also keep trying! Let me know how it goes

Barbeasty · 20/09/2010 08:01

A few people I know have suggested a Doidy cup, rather than a bottle, as the action they use to drink from it is very close to that of breastfeeding. Or try an ordinary baby cup and see if she takes that, as it is sufficiently different to not be "slightly" wrong, IYSWIM.

pebblejones · 20/09/2010 08:16

I'm not much help, I'm in the same boat. DS is 24 weeks. I bought a doidy cup, sippy cup, medela haberman special needs bottle and unfortunately none have worked do far. The most success I have had is 1 oz from the bottle. The sippy cup is the one he gets least angry about, but there is no way we could do a full feed it takes forever and there is lots of choking/gagging involved.
I tried going 'cold turkey', well I refused to feed him from the boob until he was hungry enough to take the bottle, we lasted 7 hours before I gave in; and the last 3 hours were hellish!
Good Luck!

pebblejones · 20/09/2010 08:18

The doidy cup is also very labour intensive and very messy! The least successful I would say so far.

soniaweir · 20/09/2010 19:32

I am still trying to get my DD who is nearly 11 weeks old. i bought a nuby bottle but she still won't take it. tried the trick of giving it to her half way through a feed but she still won't - any other suggestions?

Original poster

srce · 20/09/2010 19:52

thanks for all your suggestions. pebblejones, good idea about the doidy cup, but something that is messy and takes forever just wont work, have 2 other DDs and time is always an issue.

after spending a fortune on different bottles and teats i have settled on the tesco own brand, narrow neck, fast flow (6mnth + age range) teat, which goes with any basic narrow neck bottle. fiddling with all the teats ive bought these seem the softest plastic, and similar to the ones i used successfully with DD1 and DD2.

so decided i could faff about for another fortnight without much progress so going to go for it, cold turkey, no boob, after 10pm dream feed tonight.

i did have a cold turkey daya couple of weeks ago, but like you pebblejones i weakened and gave in! hope i can manage it this time!
ill let you know how it goes.

OP posts:

pebblejones · 20/09/2010 21:05

srce yes please keep me posted... Because I think I will end up having to go cold turkey too :(

Original poster

srce · 21/09/2010 19:29

update on operation cold turkey! HV suggested started after bedtime feed as will be really hungry next day. so last night fed at 6.30, put down, dream feed at 10ish. DD then woke at 1.30, 3.30 and 4, and each time i settled her with a dummy (which she never normally takes) or her thumb. i did weaked at 4 and put her on my boob, but she literally fed for about 3 mins, than i could put her in her cot where she stayed till 6.30.
so today i have offered her the bottle every 2 hrs ish in between her naps and she totally refused every time. at 4.30 i picked her up while she was asleep and put it in her mouth and she took 4oz down in one in her sleep.

did usual evening routine then gave her bottle at 6.30 when i would normally feed and she took 6oz straight down without a blink! i was amazed, must have been starving.

so a hardwork day, but not too traumatic for hher i think, when you are ready pebblejones, go for it, ill keep you posted.

OP posts:

pommedeterre · 21/09/2010 19:31

If baby takes a dummy start with that and then 'sneak' the bottle in.

MoonUnitAlpha · 21/09/2010 19:35

Have you tried getting someone else to give the bottle? My ds is only 6 weeks but isn't very happy about taking a bottle from me but is fine about his dad giving him one if I'm not around. Think it must be a bit confusing for them to get a bottle from mummy when they know you have a perfectly good boob right there

Rhubarbgarden · 21/09/2010 19:57

I'm having the same nightmare. Mine took one bottle a day, of expressed milk, for her 10.30pm feed every night quite happily till she was 2 months old, when she suddenly, out of the blue, started rejecting the bottle. We have battled and battled with her, tried a variety of teats and bottles and tried offering it from the lid like a cup, but apart from one or two isolated occasions, no joy at all. I'm finding it tremendously distressing because she gets completely hysterical and chokes and gags and goes purple in the face. Just don't know what to do. She's 3 months old now and I'm at the end of my tether with it.

So no help to you whatsoever, other than that I feel your pain.

Original poster

srce · 21/09/2010 20:10

hi rhubarbgarden dont panic, if shes feeding from you happily then keep on with that till you decide that you want to wean her off you. is it that you want to stop BF? i know lots of people who managed to combine breast and bottle, search for a thread on this, but i could never manage it with any of my 3 DD's it had to be one or the other. if you are happy BF then enjoy it! if you want to stop then have a think about when would be best for you and her.

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valbona · 21/09/2010 20:50

we had the same problem - it's not easy never ever ever being able to miss a feed. I really feel for you.

the magic bullet for us was a tommee tippee closer to nature bottle.

she'd refused everything else for months (I'd spent a fortune on various teats etc) and when we offered her this she lapped it all up. she was about 23 weeks I think - maybe it was just chance but it was amazing.

good luck...

Rhubarbgarden · 21/09/2010 21:11

Thanks. I'm very happy breastfeeding, just want to be able to out once in a while, get my hair done and so on. I think I'm going to leave it for a week then have another go, maybe with one of the cup things. We tried the tommee tippee bottles but no success. Sigh...

varmit · 21/09/2010 22:13

Just to say I'm having very similar issues. DD is 23 wks and has been very tricky on the bottle front. She started taking it at 6wks for the 11pm feed, lasted a couple of weeks, then refused it. I tried changing bottles, teats, formula, then had success with the BreastFlow bottle, she took that for a quite a while, just one feed at night, but the last two nights we're back to flatly refusing it again. Slightly exasperating as she's nearly six months and I was starting to think about stopping BF soon! Never had any issues with DS, who switched between breast and bottle very easily and was an easy feeder. DD has been so much harder work! I hope this isn't the shape of things to come!

Will be watching this post with interest.......

Original poster

srce · 22/09/2010 17:23

quick update on operation cold turkey.....a complete success! from the moment she woke this morning taken 4 or 5 oz every 2hrs ish with no trouble at all.
so those of you who are wanting to stop feeding and want to go cold turkey i can say its been 100 times easier than i expected. slightly miserable day yesterday, but totally happy little DD today.
only prob now is that my boobs actually might explode!

varmit when you are ready to stop, go for it. i feel so relieved, now just need to tackle night wakings and i might get abit of my life back and energy for DD1 and DD2!

OP posts:

pebblejones · 23/09/2010 13:30

That's good to know... I hadn't thought of sneaking a bottle in whilst he's asleep. He's almost 6 months and I plan to try it then (especially as he almost has 4 teeth already and a habit of biting - oh the pain!).
I'm so glad it's worked for you!
:)

jemjabella · 23/09/2010 13:35

While your baby may have taken to bottles with success, going cold turkey puts you at a v. high risk of mastitis etc. I really would not recommend doing it as anything but a last resort.

varmit - you do know it's not compulsory to stop feeding at 6 months, yes?

Rhubarbgarden · 23/09/2010 14:16

We had some unexpected success last night! Tried a six month teat with extra warm milk and got her while she was barely awake. Drank the whole damn lot without a murmur. Brilliant. I'm not cracking open the champers yet though, she's done one-offs before so it could well be back to purple-faced refusal tonight. I shall report back.

Srce - super news! Must be a relief.

Original poster

srce · 23/09/2010 17:04

jemjabella thanks for the advice. i had mastitis in the early days of feeding with both DD1 and DD2, seriously unpleasant. however cold turkey was the only way i could get DD3 to take a bottle.
my tip to advoid mastitis if you do this is to hand express a very small amount every couple of hrs. do this by massaging your boob, but dont touch your nipple. lots of hot flannels and showers, and hopefully you'll be fine. its supply and demand, so if the demands not there the supply will dry up! just keep the milk moving in your boobs for a couple of days.
thanks rhubarbgarden ive loved every minute of breastfeeding but was ready to stop, so am very pleased! we had more luck with extra warm milk too.

OP posts:

Corblimy · 24/09/2010 17:19

I've been going through a similar thing - I wanted to stop breastfeeding DS2 at 6 months but haven't been able to get him to take expressed milk from a bottle despite all manner of different tactics - now he's nine months and waking 2 hourly at least for months, so I'm knackered........really want to put him on the bottle.

We're going away this week so DH will be around all week so am going to go cold turkey........really dreading it but hopefully will have a similiar experience to srce......any more tips about going cold turkey ( will express and then when gets used to bottle start mixing with more and more formula).....

Original poster

srce · 24/09/2010 18:24

the best tip i can give you is to remember that no baby will actually starve themself. they will take whatever milk you are offering, however you are offering it, eventually.

i was totally prepared for a nitemare couple of 'cold turkey' days, but it was much better than i expected (see my earlier posts)
if you want to stop breastfeeding then go for it. i loved feeding all 3 DDs but when i was ready to stop i looked forward to getting some life back.

corblimey , up to you wherther you express or not, probably you'll find he wont notice what milk it is.

take a deep breath and go for it! (remember to look after your boobs)

OP posts:

soniaweir · 24/09/2010 19:37

has anyone tried the NUK bottles? i am thinking of giving it a go, as the nuby silicone bottle has not been a success.

great to hear other peoples stories - very encouraging!

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