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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Bottle refuser - returning to work

14 replies

fifitot · 12/12/2010 10:09

Help! back to work in about 4 weeks. DS will be exactly 6 months old then. He is still feeding at least 3 times in the night and I am knackered. So lack of sleep is one issue, the other is his refusal to take a bottle.

Unfortunately he will be in nursery 4 days pw from 9-5. (Guilt...) and I had consoled myself initially with the thought that a BF morning and night would be OK as he would be on solids. However it just doesn't seem ready for solids yet at all and have been reading into BLW and while I won't be following this (can't if he's at nursery most of time) I do want to introduce food when he's good and ready. So what can I do? At 6 months 8 hours without milk and probably only a bit of food and water isn't going to be good is it?

My plan had been to get him on bottles and express but he doesn't want to know.

Any ideas? I went through this with DD a few years ago but she was 7 months when I returned to work and fully established on solids.

Am desperate for any advice/similar experiences - thanks.

OP posts:
Zimm · 12/12/2010 10:32

Hello,

My DD just rejected the bottle at 4 months and we had success with a NUK bottle - looks a lot like a boob! Another friend failed with the NUK bottle but was successful with breastflow - these 2 bottles are most often recommended for bottle rejecters. Other advice is to feed when DS hungry but not frantic, have the milk as warm as you can without being too hot and even warm the teat! Good luck!

Original poster
fifitot · 12/12/2010 20:10

Thanks. have tried and failed with both bottles.........

OP posts:
Elsa123 · 13/12/2010 10:14

Someone more qualified than me will be able to say what brands you can get, but I've heard a cup might go down better? Perhaps you could also consult the nursery for advice? They might have encountered a bottle refuser before.

Weemee · 13/12/2010 12:27

Hi fitfot.

My dd was exactly the same will not take a bottle. TBH I gave up (I tried from 12 weeks to 28 weeks!!) it was just too much hassle and went straight to a cup. Not that she will take anything but water from a cup Hmm..........

Are you going to be nearby to the nursery? Could you go in lunch hour and feed him? He'll be ready for solids and it wont be long before you would be able to stop the afternoon feed once he's getting enough calories? You could also feed him morning, evening and bedtime?

DD is nearly 11 months so when she started nursery last month, I dropped the afternoon feed about 1 month before (to get her to take milk from a cup tho' that didn't work!!) She takes a feed morning and nite (both breasts) and has water and solids thru day (lots of dairy).

This is the thing that frustrates me the most about breastfeeding (not that I would do it any differently) but everyone is so keen initially to get you breastfeeding, then after a couple of weeks you are on your own and support and advice are hard to come by. Then when you need advice about stopping or reducing cos you have to go back to work everyone heads for the hills!

Not really much help but it always makes me feel better to know that I am not the only one!! Hope you get somewhere Wink

KSal · 13/12/2010 12:58

fifitot, i don't have any advice, but a similar problem. Can you tell me how you managed with your DD, as i will be going back when DS is 7 months. Did you drop 'daytime' feeds and only feed her morning and evening? would she take anything from the nursery workers?

EatingAngelPie · 13/12/2010 13:01

have you tried a sucky cup with warmed milk (EBM for preference as it tastes nice)

pookamoo · 13/12/2010 13:04

My lovely health visitor said to me when I was in a similar position, that you will be surprised what they will do at nursery!

She also said don't beat yourself up about it for your last few weeks at home with your Little One. Enjoy that time, maybe try a sippy cup from time to time, and remember that the nursery staff have looked after many many children, and it is not your responsibility to "mould" a child for them - they will work out a way with him.

pookamoo · 13/12/2010 13:05

Oh and in the end DD went off with a tommee tippee "first Explora" sippy cup, which has a soft-ish spout, and after a couple of days she was well away with it.
Good luck! Smile

amijee · 13/12/2010 13:09

hello fifi

firstly - you have enough time to turn this around. I know the sense of panic sets in - I have been there with all of mine!

I agree with trying a variety of bottles ( which im sure you've done) and if you are planning to give formula a variety of formulas ( seems irrational as I know they are all the same but two of my kids had a preferance for cow and gate for some reason!)

What I had to do for my older two was express every single feed and offer a bottle until they took it. In other words, they didn't get the breast until they accepted a bottle of EBM. It's very hard and exhausting and try to do it when you have support around you and obviously start first thing in the morning. My ds went on hunger strike for about 8 hrs and then took to the bottle just fine and was happy doing both.

The problems of leaving them all day with only water or a littel milk from a doidi cup or sippy cup is that they could go into reverse cycling which is when they feed off you all night - not really compatible to working full time!

Bramshott · 13/12/2010 13:50

TBH (having had two bottle-refusers) I would just try to relax and enjoy the next 4 weeks. I think you'll probably find that even if your DS isn't ready for solids now, he may well eat a surprising amount once he is at nursery and there's no other choice. I would send him with food (unless they provide it), and a couple of bottles/cups of formula and let them get on with it. FWIW, DD2 started with the childminder at 5 months, eating a few solids incl a pot of fromage frais (you can get some which are made with follow-on milk), and formula in a sippy cup and she coped fine with that and BF morning and early evening and 2 x at night. Neither of mine have ever taken as much milk as recommended once they were out of the EBF stage.

Original poster
fifitot · 13/12/2010 14:22

Thanks all.

Weemee - very true about the lack of support at the end rather than the start!

pook - good point, the nursery will have experience in this so shouldn't worry.

Will try the other cups suggested too.

amijee - you have hit the nail on the head, I AM worried about reverse cycling as there is a bit of that going on at the moment. he is sooooo distracted in the day but feeds 2 hourly at night!

Have also decided to extend my mat leave by a month today. Can't really afford it but at least can relax a little bit now.

Thanks again for your great suggestions.

OP posts:
Original poster
fifitot · 13/12/2010 15:05

BTW KSal DD was a bit older and on 3 meals a day by the time I went back so could get along without BFing during the day. I fed her in the morning and on return from work.

OP posts:
chipmonkey · 13/12/2010 15:33

fifi, ds3 was the same. What I ended up doing was making a "rice pudding" with the EBM and mixing it with pureed strawberries or apples. I used ground rice rather than baby rice. After while nursery staff found he would drink from a Tommee Tippee cup ( they had lots of different ones to try!) He wouldn't drink much but it meant he didn't go all day without a drink.

I did find we "reverse cycled" i.e he fed loads at night but as we co-slept, this wasn't really an issue.

Some people have also found that the baby will take milk from a spoon.

I did find when he was really hungry and with my Mum, he would drink from these bottles but they were very hard to find!

KSal · 13/12/2010 15:38

thanks fifitot!

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