I'm back at work and 5mo dd won't take a bottle. WWYD?

[HearMyRoar]

I am fast running out of ideas. It was my first week back at work last week while dp is on 3 months parental leave and she suddenly refused point blank to take any milk from a bottle. She had taken a bottle plenty of times before so it hadn't crossed my mind she might now change her mind. It was only when looking up bottle refusal that I discovered that this is prime age for babies to decide that don't want to anymore.

We have tried everything we could think or could find suggested on the mighty google but no joy. For the 3 days I was working last week poor dp ended up bringing her into work at lunch time so I could give her a feed to fend of her hungry crying. However, I could only really do this because my first week back was pretty quiet (though I still had to move some meetings about to make time), I really can't keep doing it and it's a real pain in the backside for dp as well.

So what do we do? I have spoken to a couple of people who had bottle refusers but they didn't go back to work until their dc were well over 6 months so could just have some solids at lunch to tide them over. At 5 months old I am reluctant to start giving her solids at all let alone as a substitute for a days worth of milk.

Aarrgghh! Why are babies so darn contrary!

Thought I'd bump this for you .

I know you don't want to try solids but what about greek yoghurt.

I didn't go back to work until DD was 9 months old - she is a bottle refuser and a milk fiend. I always send her with a big pot of greek yoghurt (Aldi do a great 100% fat one for about £1.

This seemed to keep her satisfied until she built her solids up to compensate.

I know you said you've tried everything on google - does this include an open cup? DD will take about 1oz of formula during the day but only from an open cup. My HV SIL recommended the Doidy Cup which I really must get round to ordering for DD.

If she's not taking milk, it's also important to keep her fluids up - cooled boiled water for 5 months and then tap water from 6 months. She could be getting upset from dehydration rather than hunger.

Thanks Claire. I don't think you a supposed to give dairy at 5 months but i guess we could try some really milky baby rice or something to get her through.

We have a doidy cup and she does seem less opposed to this compared to bottles but tends to just spit the milk out again.

I am really concerned about dehydration, especially while it is so warm but not sure how to get her to take water either

I don't know whether the dairy before six months is due to the weaning recommendations or for other reasons - it's not something I needed to research. Maybe someone on here can confirm either way.

If it helps, DD will drink water out of a sippy cup - just not milk So you might be surprised.

Is she only just five months or closer to six? Is she showing any of the signs of being ready for weaning - sitting up well, good head control, no tongue thrust? These are a much better indication than an arbitrary date. DD2 had these signs consistently about two weeks before she turned six months whereas DD1 was closer to seven months.

If you have no alternative, baby rice (made with BM if you are expressing or formula if not) sounds like your best bet.

Good luck x

I'd keep trying the open cup. Also, would she take some off a teaspoon? I read somewhere (Kellymom?) about freezing BM to make ice lollies or slushies so you could give that a go?

Just checking that you have a fastflow teat on bottle. Most 5mo bf babies neck their milk and don't need slow flowing teats recommended for younger bf babies to prevent bottle preference/nipple confusion. Has he tried cold milk or conversely warm milk (ebm) as some babies want it the same or different to how it comes out the breast depending on how they are feeling. When she had a bottle before was it fresh ebm? As some babies dislike older ebm with a higher lipase content (makes it taste soapy) - you can scald you milk after expressing to prevent the lipase increasing,

I would also start the weaning process just to have something else to hand really. Plum babyfoods used to do a porridge, you could make it up with water or ebm to just start giving her something with her milk (5ms from what I have ever read is fine to start gentle weaning - even Gill Rapley who started BLW trend, only picked 6ms as most babies she observed were able to better handle the food at that age, her experiments inculded younger ages of babies) - but then I weaned mine to purees just to make sure they could take a decent amount of solids when I was at work so I was not too pressurised to express loads, when expressing drops off for me after 6ms.

If you are seriously worried about dehydration, then water in a spoon or dropped in with a medicine syringe is possible.

Hope it gest better and it could very well be that next week she sips water from her cup and takes all bottles. At 5 ms there is a developmental thing so she could be unsettled by that and fine next week.

Best wishes

Fran

If she is used to being bf, then she will probably only take around an ounce an hour.

Just wondering if you've seen this on Kellymom and alternative feeding methods.

If you are thinking of weaning then the NHS have some good information here, including a list of foods to avoid before the 6 month mark. You might also like to read 9 good reasons not to use baby rice, it might give you some information you didn't previously know.

Sorry, didn't have much time to post earlier but glad I managed to bump for you. Just wish I'd known about MN when my DC1 was bottle refusing .

Thanks guys! You are all super. I think I was getting myself into a bit of a panic and needed calming words :)

We have come up with a plan. When I am at work DP will keep working on getting her to take something from the doidy cup as this seems to provoke least resistance (she just hasn't worked out that she needs to swollow and the liquid just pours out her mouth and down her chin while she looks at us expectantly),and while this is an ongoing project he will bring her into my work at lunchtime for a good big feed. Hopefully we will only need to do this for a few weeks before she gets the hang of the cup.

I've got some of the baby porridge stuff to try but I am not hugely keen (though she did grab some kiwi off me the other day and stuff it in her mouth so is showing signs of readyness), I also suspect she might not really go for spoonfeeding as she seems to like to do things herself. I think I might try making it up with lots of milk and see if she will take a bit.

Glad you've got a plan Hear. Did she eat the kiwi or spit it out? If she has eaten it I would have a look at BLW. I've weaned 2, first one with purees and the second one helped herself to a ham sandwich at 23 weeks and then totally refused spoons. BLW is just so much easier for everyone .

My DD2 was a real bottle refuser at this age. She suddenly took one from DH. I guess she got hungry enough! She still only has the brown latex teats and we have to get the L hole ones (designed for non-milk!) which flow fast.