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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Oh crap - my baby won't take a bottle!

35 replies

Iwasthefourthwiseman · 13/12/2010 21:38

Dd2 is 3 months. She has taken a bottle twice but since then has refused any attempts to feed her with one. She didn't like the tommee tippee bottle but did take the avent one. That was after a hideous night when I tried to get a break and ended up being woken at 12.30 as she refused the bottle though she took it at 4am that morning.

Just been out for a couple of hours & for the second time she has refused to feed from the bottle. Dh then tried a cup but by then she was having none of it.

Help! I really want her to take a bottle! What can I do?

OP posts:
TrinityMotherOfRhinos · 13/12/2010 21:39

not sure ypu can do much

if she wont she wont

sorry

Original poster
Iwasthefourthwiseman · 13/12/2010 22:13

Aaargh! She's going to have to take something else at some point as I have to go back to work. But also I am honestly going to go crazy if I can't get a break from her for the next year.

OP posts:
thesecondcoming · 13/12/2010 22:17

This reply has been deleted

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tiktok · 13/12/2010 22:17

Babies can take a cup, with help, from about 4-5 mths.

They can, at a pinch, take liquids off a spoon.

They have solids from 6 mths.

It's not worth all this angst and struggle, is it???? :)

Pootles2010 · 13/12/2010 22:19

I'm going through same - apparently you just have to persist. Trying at the same time every day seems to help.

My breastfeeding support woman said just remember they won't let themselves starve, they will eventually take it, its just that they'll be furious in the meantime. I guess its if you can take it, I'm a bit of a wuss!

thesecondcoming · 13/12/2010 22:24

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Beamur · 13/12/2010 22:28

Mine never did.
I went back to work, she went to nursery, carried on bf around these limitations for another 20 months...

Original poster
Iwasthefourthwiseman · 13/12/2010 22:30

Well having had a Velcro baby for 3 months who wouldn't sleep except for on me I am ready for a break. So prepared for a little struggle if it means she will take a bottle and the angst is that she won't! I have a 3 year old who refuses to give up her nighttime bottle and a 3 month old who won't take one!

Any advice on different teats to try, best way to try it etc ?

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RipMacWinkle · 13/12/2010 22:33

I hope you have more luck than me.

DD is now 13m and didn't take anything. And we tried, my goodness we tried. Bottles, teats, formula, DH, MIL, my parents, DSis.

It definitely affected me at some points during the last year. But we've survived, not sure how, but we have Grin

Good luck!

MumNWLondon · 13/12/2010 23:12

DD wasn't keen on bottles, left her at nursery at 6 months, she although she initially refused, she did eventually cave in. Left a sippy cup and a bottle, she prefered the bottle.

AliBellandthe40jingles · 13/12/2010 23:15

DS would never take a bottle. He started to sip water from a cup when we weaned him onto solids at 6 months, but he still wouldn't drink EBM from a bottle.

If they won't take one, they won't take one. We spent a fortune and fought for several weeks and then just gave up and went with it - much easier. I'm not even going to bother when DC2 arrives in March.

fluffygal · 13/12/2010 23:20

I'm having the same problems with my 2 month old. I have bought a NUK bottle and she seems to like the teat on that- well she's drunk from it once no problems and refused once when she extremely upset. Going to keep trying with the NUK bottle.

BikeRunSki · 13/12/2010 23:21

Have you tired MAM teats? Seem to work in 9/10 of these situations.

Original poster
Iwasthefourthwiseman · 13/12/2010 23:23

I'm going to get a nuk bottle tomorrow if I can. Is it better to try when they are really hungry or catch them early?

OP posts:
dearprudenceandtheivy · 13/12/2010 23:24

I had a hell of a time getting DS to take a bottle, as I had to go back to work when he was 7 months.

For me, it was just a case of trying every different teat going - at least 10-15 types/brands. And we tried having other people offer a bottle, offering when I wasn't in the room, etc. He took one at about 5 and a half months, just all of a sudden. It was a latex teat, orthodontic shape, that I could only get from one local chemist.

Much later on, he took the more standard Avent silicone teats so it all became easier.

I loved BF, but I did need to introduce bottles once he went to nursery. Good luck with it.

goplayout · 13/12/2010 23:26

Are you using EBM or formula in the bottle?

Original poster
Iwasthefourthwiseman · 13/12/2010 23:29

Also there seems to be a variety of teats? Do o
I want silicon or latex? Is boots mothercare my best bet?

OP posts:
Original poster
Iwasthefourthwiseman · 13/12/2010 23:30

Ebm btw

OP posts:
thesecondcoming · 13/12/2010 23:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Iwasthefourthwiseman · 13/12/2010 23:41

I'm not ready to give up yet!

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Santaclaustrophobia · 13/12/2010 23:55

I tried everything. Literally everything. DD just refused to take a bottle. She got very upset and angry. It got to the point where all I had to do was take a bottle out of the cupboard and she'd start crying Blush

I agree with others who have said it's not worth the hassle or worry. It really really wasn't with hindsight.

I went back to work part time when DD was 9 months and it was fine. She could drink from a sippy cup by then (although she never drank much) and I feed her morning and evening.

thesecondcoming · 14/12/2010 00:03

This reply has been deleted

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TrinityMotherOfRhinos · 14/12/2010 05:46

you could maybe decide to think your baby doesn't have bottles and make your peace with it?

just saying, you may not ralise hpw much stress this is causong you, maybe you will feel better just not tyring to so hard

Longtinsellyjosie · 14/12/2010 06:05

wiseman all is not yet lost... you've only tried the twice (unless I've misread, it's early)

Taking a bottle is a learned skill for older babies. Try every day when they're not so hungry they're frustrated, but when they're peckish enough to want a bit of milk.

I wouldn't stress about which sort of bottle. But I would get yourself a slightly bigger teat so the milk comes out more easily. There's a school of thought that breastfed babies must have newborn teats or they'll go off breastfeeding but in our case this wasn't the case at all, DD was always one size larger than she should have been, until we reached Avent size 4. Once they make the connection that bottles are a source of milk, you'll be away. Try also dabbing the teat on the lower lip so a bead of milk appears, or manipulating the teat so it squirts a bit of milk on the baby's tongue. It may help the penny drop.

Original poster
Iwasthefourthwiseman · 19/12/2010 16:57

Just tried the nuk bottle & she wouldn't drink

Dh says she just doesn't know what to do with it, doesn't know how to suck. I've yet to observe him try so not sure if he has tried milk on lips etc.

He is suggesting I try later.

Urgh, I want to cry.

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