baby wont take formula

[emsken]

hi all

my daughter is 4 months old and i would like to stop breast feeding soon ish - problem is i can't get her to take any formula... i have mixed it with breast milk but this doesn't work - any other ideas?!

Have you tried getting someone else to give it to her while you are out of the room?

yep.... still didnt work xx

How long have you been trying? It can take a while to get an ebf baby to take a bottle even if it's ebm.

Have you tried different brands? DD is 9 months and I was trying to get her to have the odd cup of formula but she wouldn't drink the Hipp organic stuff I bought. A friend told me her baby would on,y drink Cow and Gate so I tried that and she will happily have it. They must all taste different I suppose.

A friend of mine struggled with getting her first DC to take formula - what worked for her in the end was the temperature - making sure it was really nice and warm. Worth a try?

My DD is the other way, the borrower - she will only drink it flat cold straight from the fridge! .

Worth experimenting with temperature.

Hiya,

I was at a bf group the other week with the same problem. My dd wont take a bottle of either ebm or formula.

Aparently the bf buddy told me I'd probably missed the boat and that she'd take it when she was good and ready. Not what I wanted to hear, as I'm trying to stop bf. I've had enough now, but alas, my dd won't let me.

Think you have to get the baby on the bottle at about 3 weeks in order for them to take it. Or wait till about 6 months. Thy're mouths change along with the way they move their jaws, making it easier to change from bf to ff.

I know this is not what you want to hear, but after spending a fortune on as many different bottles, teats, cups, I've resigned myself to me having to wait till she's ready.

My ds was very similar, but took a bottle alot earlier than my dd.

Hang on in there and it'll come good. I think I'm writing this convincing myself as well as trying to help you if that makes any sense.

Good luck and let me know if you get any joy.

Clury
xxx

Oh sorry is this a bottle refusing thread??? I assumed the OP could get her baby to drink expressed milk, just not formula.

DD would never take a bottle, but will drink milk from a basic Tommee Tippee free-flow cup. She would just prefer it to be expressed breast milk rather than formula.

Have you tasted formula? It is pretty yuck compared with the taste of breastmilk, I think maybe trying a cup and seeing if you could get her used to the taste might help? Or try 3 parts BM to 1 part formula and very very gradually get her used to the taste?

Any chance you could just continue BFing, I know 4 months is a bit of a PITA (well it was with my babies) but after about 6 months the pressure eases up so much when they are eating other stuff and quite frankly have better things to do that want to feed all the time!

she takes a bottle no problem - of expressed breast milk.. but the formula she refuses!! Have tried mixing with breast milk but she still doesn't like it! ... Will keep trying! I will try the cow and gate.x

I think the cartons taste ok - I tasted DD's and they don't taste of much really. I thought the powdered stuff smelled really awful - had a friend staying with me when DD was very tiny and she was making bottles up for her baby - the smell turned my stomach so I have only ever bought cartons.

how much are you putting in when you mix the ebm anf formula? I wonder if it's worth diong 95% or so ebm and first and then gradually upping the proportion of formula to ebm?