Return to work, baby refusing bottle - help!

[Petsville]

I'm back at work at the end of Jan. DS is exclusively BF at the moment and won't take a bottle. We've looked at loads of threads on here, tried different bottles, persisted with offering one at the same time every day - nothing seems to work. Originally the plan was that I would carry on BFing morning and evening and DH would give formula for the other feeds (I don't have the kind of job where I can reliably get any time to express, and my hours are long and unpredictable, so morning and evening is the best we can hope for). DS will be just 6 months when I go back, so it'll coincide with starting to offer solids.

I'm now beginning to think that the only way we're going to get him to take a bottle is for me to give up BF altogether, as surely he won't actually starve himself if the breast isn't available any more. Is this right? Really didn't want to give up altogether at this stage, but I can't see any alternative . (Please no-one post saying I can make it up at night: I'm the breadwinner, we need my salary to keep a roof over our heads, and if I don't sleep I can't do my job properly and I'll be first in line for the next round of redundancies.) Has anyone any advice /experience? Is there any RL help we can get with this? (Our health visitor is worse than useless.)

Hello,

Have you tried a cup? Hope you slept better last night (we are on another sleep thread) .

You don't need to stop breastfeeding

I went back to work and my DD never took a bottle

I fed her before work, when I got home and at 10 pm

Feeding her as much as possible on weekends kept my supply up too

Try a cup - any will do. DS will lap at it

if she wont take a cup perhaps try a sippy cup. i would try her on a free flowing sippy cup and see if it works for her.

also, are you sure it is the bottle and not the formula she is objecting too? Will she take any other liquid from a bottle?

No answers but good luck Pets. Stressful enough returning to work without this kind of trouble.

We've only tried a bottle with EBM, so it's definitely not the formula he's objecting to! We haven't tried any other liquid yet because we're trying to follow the WHO advice to give only breast milk till he's 6 months, but we might try with water and see if that makes a difference.

We've tried a cup once and it was vigorously rejected: we haven't tried again yet as we didn't want to set up the same kind of aversion he has to the bottle (and were hoping we could get him to take a bottle), but we're planning to try again in a week or two and see if we get anywhere.

Petsville: I was in exactly the same position as you. I had to go back to work and was the main breadwinner so no choice (DS2 was 4 months). DS2 refused to take a bottle, sippy cup etc etc. I had been advised to leave him with GP or DP so the only thing on offer was the bottle all to no avail.

I spoke about it at nursery (I knew them well as DS 1 had been there). They had experienced and dealt with similar problems.The first day he refused bottle or anything. Second day he took to bottle and was fine although I did continue to BF him last think at night and first thing in morning for another couple of months. Bottle was formula when he went to nursery as I could never express enough to give him EBM. All very stressful at the time and lots of tears (from both of us!!)but he is now a very happy, healthy, contented six year old so no lasting damage.

Try the Tommee Tippee free flowing cup (with spout - the ones that only cost about £1.50). My dd2 wouldn't take the bottle as it is a different sort of sucking with the bottle, so from six months I gave her the free flowing cup as all that needs to be done is swallow. It took about four weeks for her to get used to it so try her now and persevere. (I was only offering her water in the cup as ebf until 12 months though but still a new taste). I weaned her onto solids at six months and offered her the cup with every meal (so roughly every other feed). She is now 14 months and gets water and cows milk from the cup and I then breast feed her in the evenings. Good luck.

BodleianBabe (love the name btw), thanks for the encouragement and reassurance. I'm lucky to have been able to have as long as six months: four would have been really tough. Do you think the nursery was critical to getting your DS2 to take a bottle, or was it just the realisation that you weren't there all day and it was the bottle or nothing? We don't have any professionals involved as DH will be SAHD.