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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Baby won't take a bottle

22 replies

flutterbynight · 18/01/2013 23:19

My DS is 11 weeks and ebf. Over the past fortnight or so I've been trying to get him to take a bottle of expressed milk (several attempts on 4 separate days in that time). He will happily take the teat into his mouth but doesn't seem to know what to do once he has it there! Does anyone have any tips that might help?

I have tried different teats, different feeding positions, DH offering bottle with me out of the room, milk warmed up, milk at room temp, feeding when v.hungry, feeding when not so hungry... Not sure what else to do! I stop when he seems to be tiring of having the teat in his mouth as I don't want him to develop negative associations with it but perhaps I've just left it too late?

The main reason I'd like to be able to use a bottle from time to time is because I have a lengthy hospital appt coming up and would like to leave him at home with DH for the duration. It would also be good to be able to go out for a meal with DH but that's less pressing than the medical appt!

Any advice gratefully received!

OP posts:

louise3louise3 · 19/01/2013 00:58

Have you tried giving formula milk instead? I breastfed my son for 9 months but had to top him up with formula as I didn't make enough milk. He refused to take breast milk from a bottle (fresh or frozen) but was fine with formula. I used Aptamil as I was told by the health visitor that it was the closest to breast milk. I used it until he was 2 - he's now 12! I have 3 year old twins and they had prescribed cow & gate and thrived on it until they were nearly 3 as they were extremely premature. Or maybe try a different bottle - I used Avent and Dr Browns. Good luck x

TeaandHobnobs · 19/01/2013 22:01

flutter have you tried NUK latex teats? They seem to have worked for several mums I know who are bfing and struggling to get LO to take a bottle. May be worth a try? You can find them in Boots and Tesco (not sure where else) or you can order online from NUK (google NUK baby shop). The wide neck teats fit most wide neck bottles, I think (like Avent, etc).

AbbyCat · 19/01/2013 22:13

I gave up with both mine. (Sorry not helpful!) ds refused one till he was 9m and could hold it himself. Dd (12w) took one for weeks and suddenly decided she wouldn't. I am half considering trying her on a cup (when I have the energy). Good luck though!

Original poster

flutterbynight · 19/01/2013 23:11

Thanks for your replies!

louise thank you for the suggestion but I'm not sure if it's the milk that's the problem as he isn't managing to get anything out of the bottle in the first place!

Tea thanks for the tip, they look pretty good from the website and sound like they might help as hopefully would be less of a stark contrast from feeding at the breast... May just have to invest! They can join my growing collection of teats

OP posts:

Original poster

flutterbynight · 19/01/2013 23:16

Abbycat I'm glad to know I'm not the only one having bottle problems! At what stage did you decide enough was enough? Did you find it quite limiting in getting a but of time away from DS when necessary/desired? It's not that I want to go gallivanting but would just like to be able to leave him with my DH every now and then, or with family so we could have a little time together. He is a frequent feeder so that will be tricky if I don't manage to persuade him with a bottle. Having said that, I'd prefer things this way round than if he would take a bottle not the breast. Of all the hardships to have it's not too bad!

OP posts:

TeaandHobnobs · 19/01/2013 23:24

That's what they used in our SCBU - the shape is supposed to encourage the same feeding mechanism as bf, and the latex feels closest to skin, hence why bf babies seem to be a bit more accepting of them.
DS went through a bottle refusal stage a couple of months ago, but I then switched from the latex to the silicone and he's been a bit better with it - I wonder if he was objecting to the taste of latex maybe.

Good luck in your bottle quest!

ChunkyChicken · 20/01/2013 08:56

Have you seen the Medela Calma teats? They look expensive but offer a similar style of sucking to breastfeeding I believe.

I haven't had to try them myself, I was very relieved to find that my 10wo would take a tommee tippee closer to nature bottle, but he completely rejected the avent one we tried. He did the same - just held it in his mouth, as if he didn't know to suck.

I think maybe making sure its warm milk & a warm teat is helpful too - the cold plastic much feel very alien to them when they're used to Mummy's lovely warm squishy boob! :)

Good luck.

ZuleikaD · 20/01/2013 12:20

If a bottle isn't introduced in the early weeks then they often become solid bottle-refusers. Has your DS ever had one?

Elizadoesdolittle · 20/01/2013 22:14

My DD2 is now 10weeks and is a bottle refuser. Have been trying to get her to take a bottle since she was 3weeks old without much luck. I needed to top her up due to poor weight gain. We had minor success with the Nuk latex teats but she's gone off that too. The HV just suggested I try everyday with a small amount of ebm and take it from there.

DD1 didn't care whether she was fed by breast or bottle and would take the bottle from anyone so it's a bit of a shock to me. There are babies who never take bottles and i fear i may have one of them. Sorry, not much help but you have my sympathies.

Original poster

flutterbynight · 21/01/2013 07:32

Thank you for the bottle/teat advice and the sympathy! I think maybe I haven't been diligent enough in offering the bottle - I'm guessing that trying each day would be best? Or perhaps it wouldn't make a difference!

Think my next step will be to try the Nuk latex teats and see if that's any better for DS. Hopefully they'll be a revelation I really don't want to have to take him to hospital with me unless absolutely necessary.

Zuleika he once managed to take about 1oz when I was out of the room and my husband tried feeding him but we've not had any repeat successes since and that was a few weeks ago. When he tries to suck on the teat it gets pushed back out of his mouth, rather than sitting comfortably in there. Other times he won't suck but will just let it sit in his mouth for a while...

OP posts:

McBaby · 21/01/2013 09:10

Have you tired a doidy cup. We are having more success for our non bottle sucker! It does take a few attempts but the volume she can take is far greater than the small amount that drips out the bottle.

tiktok · 21/01/2013 09:14

Zuleika, it's not true that bottles need to be introduced in the early weeks.

Babies can be happy enough on bottles and then refuse them at any stage, and other babies can take to bottles perfectly well when introduced 'late'. No guarentees :)

OP - Google Bottles for breastfed babies NCT for a pdf factsheet with info and suggestions in it - should help.

BertieBotts · 21/01/2013 09:17

They can become bottle refusers even if they've had a bottle early on.

Also no formula is "closer" to breastmilk than any other, health visitors aren't allowed to recommend one brand over another as it's based on advertising, not anything true. They're all as good as each other.

Definitely try latex teats as breastfed babies seem to like them better. Could you kind of "milk" the teat to squeeze a couple of drops onto his tongue so he knows what it is? Or sometimes cup feeding can work well - use a doidy cup or something else shallow like a bottle lid. Sterilise it first and when in use hold it so that the baby can "lap" the milk rather than pouring it - it's closer to the breastfeeding action so comes more naturally to them.

aamia · 21/01/2013 10:11

Cups are definitely the way to go. My DS bottle refuses but took 60ml from a cup yesterday on only the third go with it ever.

Pizzaexpress2 · 21/01/2013 10:26

I'm afraid some babies will just refuse to take a bottle. I would keep persevering with the things you have tried. Will he take a dream feed?
Have you looked at kellymom site, loads of advice on there.
I am surprised a HV recommended a formula. Formula is nothing like breast milk for heavens sake. Aptamil is cleverly marketed but to be honest thy are all pretty similar and not poison. It is personal preference. Some babies do take better to one particular formula or have less of some symptoms on one rather than another.
Bf babies can become quite adept at taking milk from a cup as previously said. They lap it which is easier for them.
In hospital medicine pots are often used for this purpose but something like a Doidy cup would work. Milk on a spoon can also work. Just sterilise whatever you are using.
Good luck.

ZuleikaD · 21/01/2013 13:01

tiktok I did not say it was infallibly true that a baby who didn't have a bottle in the early weeks would then refuse one later. I said IF they're not used to one they OFTEN refuse.

tiktok · 21/01/2013 13:04

Still don't understand what evidence there is for 'often', Zeleika :)

ZuleikaD · 21/01/2013 13:08

The number of threads about it on here, for a start?

ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 21/01/2013 13:15

When's the hospital app? And how long is it for?

My LO refused a bottle until he was 8mo. On his first day at nursery (the first day I'd left him) he happily sucked down 4oz. Typical! I just wish I'd realised he would take it once I left him as I wouldn't have spent months worrying about it.

What I'm saying is, possibly, if you stop worrying about it then LO will take the milk from DH when they need to anyway

ZuleikaD · 21/01/2013 13:16

Also, tbh I'm passing on what I've been told by various HCPs, admittedly without doing my own research.

tiktok · 21/01/2013 13:36

Zuleika, there are threads showing a h....u....g....e variety of experience, and I don't think any outcome is shown to be more likely than any other. HCPs are no better informed than anyone else on this, I don't think.

Lets take bottle refusing baby X, aged I dunno, 10 weeks. He kicks up a fuss when he sees the bottle and/or turns his head away and/or takes teat into mouth and does nothing.

This can happen with babies who have had a bottle a day every day since the age of a few weeks....so the idea that mothers are best advised to start practising with a bottle so it doesn't happen just does not stand up.

In addition, the pressure to 'make sure he takes a bottle or he never will' can certainly mar the early weeks with a baby.....some mothers keep trying again and again and again, and it's just no good. In fact, the increased insistence makes the baby dig his heels in :)

There is no easy answer to this, except to try the various tips which sometimes do work eventually...or just to accept what's happened and use a cup :)

leedy · 21/01/2013 15:58

I got myself into an awful tizzy with DS1 thinking I'd missed "the window", and then he happily sucked a bottle down at about 13 weeks and any subsequent time he was offered one.

I also think I overemphasised in my head how important it would be for him to "take a bottle" for me to have any time off, based on how often he fed as a tiny baby. As it turned out, by the time I was having the odd night out, he frequently slept for the entire time I was out and/or wasn't particularly hungry if awake - I always left a bottle of EBM "just in case" but half the time it was left undrunk. I can see how it'd be different if you needed to be away overnight, of course.

He did have a bottle of EBM every day when I went back to work at 10 months but to be honest at that stage he could have drunk it from a cup....

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