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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

How to get fully bf dd to accept expressed milk

18 replies

Pernod · 10/05/2006 10:17

My dd is nearly 5 months & has been exclusively bf, however, for sanities sake I really do need her to take milk from some-one else in a bottle. I've tried various shaped teats but with no luck. Any ideas please??

OP posts:

anchovies · 10/05/2006 10:18

Have you tried mam teats? They're the only ones that ds likes. Also have you tried somebody else giving her the bottle?

Original poster

Pernod · 10/05/2006 11:02

Thanks anchovies, not sure if I've got any mam teats - I'll have alook through my collection! Yes, I have tried other people giving her a bottle but it just seems to stress her out even more than when I try

OP posts:

ellenrose · 14/05/2006 18:21

Pernod - did you manage to find any MAM teats - I was having a problem with my dd but several of the MNers recommended MAM and they worked a treat. I also have the NUK ones which were good - hope you find something that works

Tommy · 14/05/2006 20:21

why don't you try a beaker?
My DS2 had this problem and I felt that giving him something completely different from breast feeding (i.e. not cuddly and trying to be like breastfeeding with different teats etc)much less stessful for all concerned!

popsycal · 14/05/2006 20:24

the only thing that worked for my ds2 at exactly the same age as your dd was:

wide necked bottle with MAM ultivent teat
standign up with him facing away from me - holding him upright and singing while feeding!!!

i was desperate and it worked"!!
after a couple of feeds like this he was happy to take the bottle more conventionally :)

good luck

fob · 14/05/2006 20:32

I had the same prob too pernod. he was 5 months, i was going back to work and suddenly he wasn't keen on taking ebm from a bottle.
we tried a beaker, without the limiter flow in it, and he's now just over 7 months and deals with that just fine.
also - i asked my dh and mum to try this on him and it worked. i think you must just smell far too tempting of bm for him to take out out of anything else!

mandymac · 14/05/2006 20:36

We started giving dd water in a boots trainer cup, which has handles and a soft teat (but not as soft as a bottle), at about 5.5 months when we started weaning. She started holding it and drinking from it her self pretty much immediately. Once she was OK taking water from it, I tried her with EBM and she would take a few oz's. But if I wasn't around, she would happily take a full feed of EBM from it.

stripeybumpsmum · 14/05/2006 20:45

Tips my m/w and HV suggested that seemed to work:
Get a teat as close as possible to the shape of your own nipple (sorry to confuse but my DS outright refused MAM but took to the Tommee Tippee teats with nobbly bits on).
Get someone else to take the feed with you out of the room (baby can still smell you and expects to get what they know, ie you).
Get the feed at exactly body temp.
Accept you probably have to persevere a bit - it helped me when someone explained that BF babies are used to quencher, then foremilk then hindmilk...whereas EBM is basically milkshake of all three so it seems a bit rich.
Do you do a dream feed? We found getting him to take the bottle at the point he was most sleepy helped (DH cup fed at night for first few weeks before we got him used to the bottle).
Having said all that...I agree you might be better off getting straight onto beakers if your lo is five months since you'll be doing this soon anyway. If that seems a big step, try cup feeding first with the little medicine cups you get in hospitals. Baby kind of laps milk up like a cat but I warn you it is messy and takes ages to feed them this way so lots of patience and cloths.
Good luck!

JezC · 15/05/2006 16:20

My son (3 months old) wouldn't take ebm or formula from a bottle at all, so I tried Tommee Tippee 'Closer to nature' bottles/teats and he loved it! These teats/bottles are designed to be a close to breast feeding as possible. The soft silicone teat is stretchy like a real nipple with ridges on it and the design is of a similar shape to the breast. The best bit is that they claim that the baby can use the same latch on technique as with breast feeding so avoids 'nipple confusion', so it's excellent to combine this bottle with breastfeeding.

TicTacsMum · 16/05/2006 21:18

Same prob with dd, 5 months. I've tried every teat I could find and eventually decided to go straight for a cup with a 3-holed spout as I figured that there was no point persevering to get her onto a bottle and THEN on to a cup later.

Have been trying this for a week and had a major breakthrough 2 nights ago - yeehah!!

Good luck

NotAnOtter · 16/05/2006 21:20

Another one for MAM teats here...my ds will not entertain any others.

Does anyone know if they fir on avent bottles as we find the bottle a bit leaky?

FrayedKnot · 16/05/2006 21:25

I agree with Tommy, you could start her with a cup. Boots do a good first one.

DS never would either and I gave up trying in the end, but he would always take a bit of milk from a cup at 5-6 months, certainly enough for me to leave him after a good feed & know he wouldn;t be due for another for 3 hours or so but in an emergency a top up from a cup would be there for DH, or whoever was looking after him.

Berrie · 18/05/2006 14:56

This might sound silly but We had the same problem and I tried lots of different teats but always in the first size. It was only when it occurred to me to try one with a faster flow that it worked. Felt stupid for the months I'd been trying! Give it a go!

Broadie · 19/05/2006 11:22

Another MAM teat winner here

Also and I know it sounds obvious - warm the teat - your nipple is warm and the teat should be warm intially - once they get into the swing of it you don't need to warm the teat.

debs

ScotGirl · 19/05/2006 20:08

We are using the MAM no.1 teats (ds is 8 weeks old) - started giving EBM at 6 1/2 weeks) with no problems.

Ds won't take an Avent teat but the MAM teat fits into the Avent bottle - just make sure you pull the teat until you hear a click and it won't leak.

I bought them in John Lewis but had to buy the MAM bottle as well as John Lewis didn't sell the no.1 teats on their own. I agree that the MAM bottle seems a bit leaky - the only time I have used it the milk leaked into the bowl of hot water I was using to warm it - not very sterile!!

Mfer · 22/05/2006 17:39

Agree with Stripey bums mums tips except that the one that worked for us was the Playtex Naturalatch latex teat - breast like and very very soft - also husband wore a t-shirt I had in bed the night before to confuse DS and make him smell like me. From memory we waited until we knew he would be really really hungry and I went and had a bath with my walkman on!! Its sooo frustrating isn't it and sadly no two babies are the same so what works with one might not with another - think its just a case of trial and error soemtimes.

abbevillemum · 24/05/2006 15:03

Thank goodness for Mumsnet. The little un would not accept an Avent bottle for love nor money. After checking this thread, I went out and bought a Mam bottle and she loved it! So I can leave the little one with her Grandma for the evening after all!

sunandmoon · 24/05/2006 15:32

If only I have heard before of the Mam bottle, DD is now 10 months old, I stopped BF when she was 5 months old, she only took the tommy tippee bottle and still does but only drink a small amount and it has to be with me!!!!

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