trying to introduce a night time bottle but baby refusing it

[addictedtocaffeine]

Hello, my DS is 5 months old and is ebf, although due to sleep deprivation i'm keen to try a bottle of formula to see if it helps, but he simply refuses! he will take expressed milk from a bottle but turns his nose up to formula. I've tried sma and aptamil so far. I don't really mind if he doesn't take it just now but I go back to work in 2 months and am a bit worried, what if he still refuses formula then?! my plan was to bf when I'm around and for him to have formula when I'm not.
Any advice?

Would it work to try giving the bottle at another time during the day instead while he gets used to it then he might accept it at night?

Also, maybe try a 50:50 mix at first then gradually reduce the amount of breastmilk in it until it's all formula (I had to do this when moved to Neocate which is absolutely vile! I reduced the breastmilk by 10mls each day so it was so gradual that he didn't really notice by the time it was just formula).

thanks for the reply. today we tried to give him expressed milk from a bottle and he refused that too! it may now be the bottle that's the problem and not the milk. oh no! what to do?

Persevere? My DD (4.5mo) violently refused the bottle when we first introduce it at about 12 weeks - turns out my breastmilk goes off very quickly, so we'd in fact been trying to feed her sour milk, poor thing . We then started trying again at about 15 weeks, but she had no interest in it. Then, last week, we decided we were going to try consistently and at times she wasn't necessarily hungry. Someone suggested to make it fun and playful. So, every morning, DH takes her downstairs once she's woken up and offers the bottle as part of their morning playtime. Usually she'll take it into her mouth, suck a bit, chew a bit, but, this morning she actually drank 15ml! Feels like progress, so we're going to carry on trying...

Another option is to try it in a sippy or doidy cup...

I wouldn't worry too much. Mine never took formula, but when you are back at work, your ds will be seven months old, so starting have other foods too. In face, at five months if he's waking, you/your partner could try feeding him with some baby rice mixed with expressed breast milk during the daytime. With a full tummy, they tend to sleep better, ime.

Maybe try a faster flow teat so he realises before he gets too upset that it's 'nice' milk in it - maybe he's now associating the bottle with milk he doesn't like so isn't giving it time to taste that it's actually nice!

I would try hipp formula- I tasted them all and that is the " nicest" tasting one although they are all quite vile!

Also try the brown latex teats- bf babies often take to them better than the silicone ones.

thanks, he eventually took some expressed milk from a bottle today, I will just persevere!