Any ideas how to get ds to take a bottle/dummy.....

[LovesBeingWearingSkinnyJeans]

So ds has been ebf and is 5.5 months. He has had a bottle twice with tge last time being early new year. He has never been able to keep a dummy in. Just doesn't seem to be able to suck and keep it in. My mum had him the other day and she said he just couldn't get his mouth around it and she thinks the only milk that made it into him was minimal as most came back out.

Is there any hope? I am meant to be going out to tge theatre on Friday night and just don't see how it's going to happen tbh. Any ideas?

I too have theatre tickets next week and DD will not take a bottle. So what we're going to have to do is take her with us, I'll feed her before curtain up, hand her over to my sister who will hang around or go for a walk with her, feed her during the interval and then after the show, take her home!

Could you try giving him the milk in a sippy cup or open cup rather than a bottle? I think that Tommee Tippee do soft spouted cups which are suitable from four months.

showtunesgirl - unfortunately I'm going with friends and dh will be home with dd. what a fab sister you have. Hope you enjoy the show

scrivette - hmm I did wonder if that was my only option. I don't have alot stored and think I would cry seeing it split but think I do need to give it a go.

Thanks ladies

We have just been through a similar process and spent a fortune trying different bottles etc. It is really tough and I was so stressed that it wouldn't happen (going back to work - eek) but with a lot of patience, you will get there.

This is how we eventually managed it. Every evening before the early evening feed, DH would offer the bottle (expressed milk) with me totally out of sight and ear-shot of the baby. We also found it better to offer it when baby was in his highchair type thing rather than in the usual feeding position where he'd just go looking straight for a breast. We have one of these - direct.asda.com/Swivel-Feeding-Chair---Dot-to-Dot-fabric/002676298,default,pd.html. First couple of days the baby screamed and screamed. Then for a couple of days he kept the bottle in his mouth but didn't suck but wasn't screaming. Then slowly he sucked a little bit although he'd then spit most of it out, and then after a while and a few days of this he has finally sucked a whole 2ozs. Got 4ozs waiting for him in the fridge now! It does happen but is a slow process and we decided on the whole conditioning theory - getting baby used to it and knowing that will get mummy once had the bottle. Baby even took a bottle from me yesterday!

Best of luck with it - it is really stressful - never thought I'd get there but seems that we have. Hope you get there soon too.

DH taught me a dummy trick - you put the dummy in and then tap it very gently with your fingernail. I have no idea how it works but it does, after a minute or two they get the hang of it and keep the dummy in.

I can't help with the milk - some babies do seem to prefer a sippy cup. You could try with plain cool boiled water if you don't want to waste milk, so that your baby can get some practice in first.

Hope you don't mind me jumping on board your thread OP. I am in the same situation. I am invited to a wedding in 6 weeks time and my 4 month old (who was politely not invited!) won't take a bottle. She had a couple of bottles a few months back and was fine and I am kicking myself for not making this a regular thing. I am hoping I have enough time to sort this out beforehand and would love some advice on how to go about it.

Dummy wise I found that the modern orthodontic dummies were no good for my LO. When she tried to suck it popped out. I gave her a cherry teat soother one day and she immediately fell asleep. They struggle to keep the flat ones in there mouth I think and although there not orthodontic they are the ones we all grew up with and not everyone has dummy teeth so I wouldn't worry about that x

What bottles are you using?