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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Can we have a 'my baby won't take a bottle' support thread!

37 replies

greeneone12 · 18/03/2011 11:40

Mine is 4.5 months and after giving her one in the early days we left it too late and now she won't. I try her every day and now have about 8 different types of bottle. I want to try with a cup but wonder if she will take to that in a months time as I have read that they change so much between months.

Anyway its always nicer to know your not alone....

OP posts:
LifeInTheSlowLane · 18/03/2011 11:46

DS2 was like this, I tried every type of bottle and teat and he just wouldn't have it! This was a major shock as DS1 took a bottle straight away and I was able to breastfeed and express so that DH could also feed him. He alternated between breast and bottle without any problem.

I suppose it depends on your circumstances and whether you are going back to work etc and have to get her to use a bottle, but in my case I was a SAHM so I just gave up for a while and realised that actually it was easier than having to do all that sterilising and making up bottles Smile.

I tried again about 6 months and he took the bottle, but then of course he decided he didn't want to breast feed anymore and I really missed it as I knew i wouldn't have any more DCs ...

CheeseEnforcementAgency · 18/03/2011 11:49

I've just about given up with dd3. She has a doidy cup which can get messy but doesn't really work as a proper feed yet or as a bedtime comfort thing

Original poster
greeneone12 · 18/03/2011 11:50

I am off for the year so I guess it doesn't matter but I am so ready for a day off where DP can take over! I am hoping in a month or so my DD will just 'get it' too as sterilising and wasting formula for nothing is getting annoying!

OP posts:
phdlife · 18/03/2011 11:51

my babies are past this stage now but neither of them would and I would've loved a support thread at the time. Nobody could understand why dh didn't help out with night feeds more Hmm

Original poster
greeneone12 · 18/03/2011 11:53

I had that from my friends family the other day. They just didn't understand that a baby could possibly refuse a bottle!

OP posts:
flipfloppop · 18/03/2011 11:56

DS is 8 months old and won't have anything but boob. Absolutely nothing!! I am all out of ideas!

Halfbaked · 18/03/2011 13:42

Hi another boob obsessed baby here too! DD 6.5 months won't and I return to work in 6 weeks. I've had more luck with a tommee tippee sippy cup and doidy, but messy and not a lot going in!
I agree with cheese, it isn't a replacement for bedtime comfort, which if I'm honest is what I wanted. I think I might have to throw in the towel, she just won't take it from me. I'm hoping nursery have more success.

4FoxAche · 18/03/2011 13:48

6 month bottle refused here.

I've tried him with everything. Sometimes he'll take an oz or 2 but very very rarely and even when he does it's when he's asleep but soon realises then fights for boob.

I just bough a cheap 99p sippy cup which he takes water from (albeit very messily) so I'm hoping once he gets the hang of that properly then he'll take EBM from it.

I get so chuffed with myself when I manage to express a good amount for him then tear myself to bits pouring it down the sink because he's refused it again.

mamjo · 18/03/2011 13:49

Ooh flipflip please don't say that!! My DD will be 6 months next week and has been refusing from 6 weeks. Prior to that she had 1 bottle a day. I have now given up and will start again next week with the NUK trainer cup as I've heard a few bottle refuser moms on here saying that it worked from 6 months. I have everything crossed because I really need a day away.

I hate that look that people give, like if it was their baby there wouldn't be any of this fuss. Everyone has an opinion, usually just let her get hungry enough and she'll take it eventually. Aaarrrggghhh!

Love the support thread thing. Thanks greeneone12.

Original poster
greeneone12 · 18/03/2011 14:08

That's what my Dad has said. Let her get hungry...she will take it. I just feel as if that would be cruel but them sometimes there is no other choice!

OP posts:
babababa280810 · 18/03/2011 14:50

my DD is the same - tried today with feed from tommie tippy cup again and she had a bit (even though she was really hungry as was 4 hours since her last BF) but I don't think she sees it as milk and wants boob as well - must be a comfort thing.

Might try again with the bottle over the weekend - she is a bit older now than when we last tried Confused

It really makes me worry about going back to work rather than enjoy the time I have with her until I do have to go back

Original poster
greeneone12 · 18/03/2011 14:58

That's the thing isn't it - we should be enjoying time with our little ones but instead it's a real worry...even if you do try and put it to the back of your mind!

OP posts:
TheSecondComing · 18/03/2011 15:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

babababa280810 · 18/03/2011 15:15

Why wasn't this ever mentioned as a potential problem? Instead the idea of combination feeding was frowned upon by my HV...If I had introduced a bottle at one feed a day from early days I might still enjoy BF instead of feeling stressed about it.

Won't be making this mistake again IF i have another

TheSecondComing · 18/03/2011 15:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

notasgreenasiamcabbagelooking · 18/03/2011 15:55

My 19 month old never took a bottle, and I went back to work when he was 6 months. Every now and then I try and give him some cow's milk in a sippy cup and he looks at it with utter contempt and knocks it flying out of my hand. Try not to worry about going back to work - ds just seemed to work out that during those hours he should take more solid food and if he was thirsty he'd take a little water from his sippy cup.

Original poster
greeneone12 · 18/03/2011 15:59

Did you have to do a cold turkey adjusting period 'notasgreenasiamcabbagelooking'?

OP posts:
Caz10 · 18/03/2011 16:01

I had one of these - spent about the last 2 months of mat leave stressing/worrying/spending a fortune on formula and bottles - as it turned out, when I went back to work she did take a bottle, but it was months before she would take one from me!

If you're brave enough might be worth just heading out and hoping for the best?

drcrab · 18/03/2011 16:07

I had that with my DS who's now 3 and was on the boob till he was 23 months. I went back to work when he was 7 months. I went to the nursery every day he was in to feed him at lunch till he was 1-ish?

I thought I'd learnt my lesson but no.... my DD is now nearly 6 months old and she doesn't take the bottle. She did at the start for a little while, and then nope. She starts nursery next week and well, we'll have to do what I did with her brother.

ahh. !

Original poster
greeneone12 · 18/03/2011 16:14

They are such pickles!!!

OP posts:
notasgreenasiamcabbagelooking · 18/03/2011 16:14

Didn't do anything really except get him into a routine so he had a feed before I went off to work. But he's (we've) never really been much of a one for routine and it changed all the time anyway. He fed a lot through the night so maybe he was reverse cycling which was knackering and I only sorted that out recently. I remember reading a really nice book about breastfeeding and it said there's really no point in wasting your last few weeks of maternity leave worrying about whether they'll take a bottle and trying to get others to give them one (and other such schemes) as it'll all work itself out in the end. I'm glad I followed that advice as he never would have taken the bottle and I would have got wound up.

How old will your DD be when you start back at work babababa280810? And how long will you be away from her for?

Bramshott · 18/03/2011 16:41

Both my DDs were bottle refusers. In the end they both had a cup with a soft spout and formula once a day from about 7/8 months (with bf morning, evening and dreamfeed) and then cows milk (because they seemed to prefer it) from about 10 months. They both ate well and I tried to incorporate lots of cheese sauce and yoghurt. I stopped bf DD1 at 10 months and DD2 at 11 months.

With hindsight, I wish I'd stressed about it less, but that's probably not so helpful when you're currently battling!

deemented · 18/03/2011 16:47

DS3 is 14 months and he will not have anything other than boob. He eats like a horse, but will not drink from a bottle, cup, sippy, doidy, straw, sports lid. You name it we've tried it.

And it's bloody tiring.

TheSecondComing · 18/03/2011 17:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

babababa280810 · 18/03/2011 17:57

notasgreenasiamcabbagelooking - I'm not back in work until June but feel like I want to get it sorted - Also I have a few things planned when I will need to leave her with mum or DP. Also always intended to feed her for 6 months then give a bottle - feel like I've done my bit -

When i DO go back to work I'll be away from her from 8am - 6.30pm !!!