The age old problem - I'm back to work in a few weeks and my ebf 4 month old baby has flatly refused a bottle for the past few weeks. I have been in the house each time we've tried, and my health visitor has said that I need to leave the house entirely and let him cry it out, and he'll eventually take it. I was out for four hours tonight (DS usually feeds every 2 hours...) and my DH said that DS cried solidly for those 4 hours, refusing and refusing the bottle. My question is, how long do we carry on like this for? When do we draw a line under it? Another HV suggested using a sippy cup, which is messy and time consuming, but a viable alternative (tho possibly not in the eyes of our poor childminder.) my last month with my beautiful DS is being ruined by this dilemma. Any advice appreciated.
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Infant feeding
How long should I keep trying the bottle?
cheapshitwine · 27/11/2012 22:35
That's great! I have good news too - my mum arrived at 2pm from down south, and by 5pm she had got 60ml of formula down DS with no fuss at all, using the sippy cup. So that's the 4pm breastfeed stopped, just like that! I know he's meant to be taking about 180ml in one go at his age, but he still BFs about 4 times a night, so he probably doesn't have room for that much yet. We can build it up slowly. Am so relieved - I know it's not ideal (he still completely refused the bottle from her) but the main thing is that he's taking on fluids from a source other than me, like your DS teacher, so I don't need to worry that he'll starve while I'm away from him! There's still quite a way to go, but it's really good to know that he'll be able to hold it himself in a couple of months. Am off to have a celebratory nap 
Thanks, am so relieved. He loves his granny, she was the one who looked after him for first 6 weeks of his life (alongside DH) so maybe that helped. Who knows?! On the downside, he still fed every 2 hours last night, but going to start offering him cooled boiled water before feeding him now when he wakes to see if that'll settle him. x
I found that every time I changed a feed-eg when I stopped feeding before naps, he would wake a bit more for feeds in the night whilst he settled into his new routine, then it would settle down again. I think they have to adjust gradually to things. Last night though he had a massive tantrum when I got home, an hour of whinging interspersed with crying (he has a horrible cold poor thing) but then he went to sleep and didn't wake up till 7-I had 7 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep!!!! 
Hi Madeup, welcome to Bottle Refusers Anonymous :0) I too use the tommee tippee easy flow cup, it's a plastic beaker with a spout with 3 little holes in it. I got it free in my Bookbug Pack at his third set of injections (in Scotland) but I think you can get them in tesco for about a pound (sounds like you have the same one.) how old is your baby? Mine is 4 months and 1 week, and the HV told me that if he's refusing a bottle then it's best to go straight to a sippy cup (better for his (non-existent) teeth, and saves you having to wean them off the bottle when they're 1. Anyway, we've been using it for roughly 3 weeks I think, and he's getting good at drinking from it. I cradle him in my arm, pretty upright, and tip the spout gently into his mouth and he half sucks and half laps it. It is undoubtedly messy, and he probably dribbles about 10-20ml at each feed, but he can take about 70ml now in twenty mins, which is good for a BF baby I think. I let him play with it too when I first introduced it (empty) and he spent a long time just chewing on the spout, getting used to the feel of it. Teacher's DS is 7 months and is using a sippy and he can hold it and drink from it himself now. I think the advice we'd all give you (depending on the age of your little one) is that the sooner you start, the better, because it's a long old process. I'd give it at least two months to wean him from BF to bottle or cup - would others agree?
Teacher and Firsttime, you're right about taking it slowly - felt like I had two big rocks stuck to my chest by the end of today. I was keen to replace a couple of feeds while mum is here because I might cave when he cries and just BF him, but my supply needs more time to adjust.
Firsttime, I'm so glad your little one is starting to warm to the bottle. My playtex one still hasn't arrived, think my DH is still placing all his hopes on that bottle, but I'm sort of resigned to a sippy now.
One thing I'm learning is to be a bit stronger in myself when he cries (mean mummy .) my mum showed me that with a bit of distraction and cuddles he can be happy again in just a few moments, so I need to focus a bit more on the long term goals and not panic when he gets upset. It's hard learning a new skill but seems like we're all getting there bit by bit.
Same age as my DS roughly. He was born 31st July. I think, if you have time before you go back to work, then a sippy cup will work better for you when he's slightly older - 6 or 7 months, because he can hold it then and it might be easier. I'm having to do the transition now because I'm back to work in a month. But I appreciate that you need some time to yourself and I completely understand that - I think part of the reason I was so upset when my DS wouldn't take a bottle was that I was just so desperate for a few hours break. So if you want to start now, here are my (baby-brain-addled) suggestions.
What you put in the cup depends on if you want to transition to formula or expressed bm. I want my DS to take formula, so my HV told me to use it in the cup from the get-go, because he had to get used to it. It was good advice as it took him a few weeks to even swallow the stuff. He likes it now. I think that letting him hold the cup and put it in his mouth etc is a good idea, just be careful it doesn't become an actual plaything, as I guess he needs to see it as food too.
Maybe just set aside half an hour every 2 or 3 days just now, when he's relaxed and nearly hungry but not quite, stick the TV on and introduce the cup to him as a feeding tool, with milk in it. I started by gently tipping a little bit into his mouth, it needs to be a slow and gentle process, and not too intense (hence the TV). Once he has the hang of it then someone else could do it for you, but make sure they understand that a sippy doesn't give a young baby much control over their intake, so it's really important to be gentle with it and not tip in too much at a time at first. My DS lurches forward for it now, he got the hang of it pretty quickly. And now it means I can go to my work Christmas party next week - cue one over-excited new mum getting wellied on two glasses of cava and having to take the early train home :0)
He still BFs every two hours at night though, but that's a whole other challenge that I'll be tackling once the sippy is implemented in the daytime.
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My DS is going to a childminder 3 days a week, my MIL is looking after him 1 day a week and I'll be at home on the Friday (doing full time but 5 days compressed into 4, so 8am-5.30pm). So my situation is much the same as yours Firsttime. CM has got 15 years experience and good references (though not v up to date in new practices, new research etc) and MIL is also very good, but I feel utterly miserable about leaving him. I can't really sleep for worrying about things that might go wrong (they might overheat him, leave him crying, not change his nappy, not cuddle him enough, not feed him enough...etc.) I guess it's normal to feel like this but it's kind of all-consuming. I just love him so much, can't bear the thought that he might get neglected in some way and I wouldn't know. Sorry, I'm starting to sound crazymad, I think it's the lack of sleep. I had no idea it'd be this hard to be honest, keep trying to think of ways I can extend my mat leave but it's financially impossible.
We have the new Avent bottles (they're called Avent Natural or something) with the petal teats, don't know if they're maybe different to the ones you have? The latex teat doesn't fit it that well, we were just using it as emergency back-up before the inserts arrived - typical that he decides he likes that combination the best! :0)
Teacher, DS also likes to be on the move when drinking, usually while being carried. Very odd, I find it hard to drink while walking around, not sure why they like it. The Christmas tree is up now so I walk him round and round that!
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