I have breast fed my baby for 2 months and he will not take expressed milk

[breasttobottle]

Please help.

I have been breastfeeding my baby for nearly 3 months and recently been trying to give him expressed milk in a bottle. He has taken this 2x whilst being out but never again since.

I want to go to work and have more than two hours sleep. I am literally so depressed at never being able to do anything. All the pressure is on breastfeeding that no one warns you about babies not taking bottles.

I have tried all teats and bottle and sippy cups and just about had enough. My baby was 10lbs at birth and now 14lbs I at nearly 3 months I am at my wits end. I just want to be able to go to the dentist not even an enjoyable task. I feel like the bond created with breastfeeding from birth is slowly being ruined as the joy is gone and I have no sense of normality. It doesn't help I had a traumatic birth with emergency csec that made me ill after.

I love my son so much but I miss myself also. Him not taking bottles is also causing problems between me and my partner because he doesn't know how to help and has tried everything also.

The only thing left to do is to completely take away the breast and sit through the hysterical crying. I have also tried giving him formula instead of expressed milk with no effect.

I am going back to work soon and need a solution. Any ideas?

Have you tried going out for a couple of hours and getting your DP to offer the bottle of expressed milk? Sometimes they won't take it from you as they know your boobs are there!

Probably quite obvious but try making sure that you get some milk over the teat so that he can smell it and rub it on his lips so he can taste it.

He will probably be less likely to take a bottle from you so get your partner to keep trying- at least once a day.
Good luck.

Have you tried a Doidy cup? DS2 had no truck with bottles but seemed to get the hang of the Doidy straight away at around 4 months. He will now, as far as I can tell, drink EBM out of anything.

Poor you, it must be v stressful if you're going back to work soon. That aside, the feeding does get a lot less relentless as they get older, both day and night - I was able to go to the dentist, swimming pool, hairdresser etc. long before DS2 was a regular EBM drinker just by going out straight after a feed and/or timing things around naps.

My dd was like this. We just had to have a battle of wills. I remember trying for over a fortnight and she would scream with the bottle teet in her mouth and refuse to drink it I would give in after 5 minutes and let her breast feed. In the end she screamed for about an hour, with me holding her close soothing her whilst she refused to drink the milk. Then she gave one almighty sigh, shut up and drank the lot. I guess she was hungry enough to want it. I felt bad and no doubt someone shall condemn me for doing it, but it was either i forced her or a stranger at nursery did.

thanks everyone I have done the whole works. dd too. iv been out of the house and he still refuses. squeezing the milk everything. I know he can do it because he took a bottle in a restaurant one of the first times I tried. But then never again.

I think I will have to take your method Stepmooster and just let him cry, its not nice but there really is no other option.

I just find it very frustrating that all the emphasis is on breastfeeding and the bond and the health benefits which is all undeniable but surely someone should tell working mothers to express and bottle from birth as well as breastfeed at the least. Otherwise you are in very hot water the closer it gets to your return date.

I am considering going straight to baby rice due to his weight and also because he shouts and whines with jealousy whenever I sit down and eat my meals. Even after a full feed. If I turn him so he cant see he's happy as larry.

I want a 'working mothers' leaflet with advice on expressing given to mothers to be when all the other breastfeeding booklets are forced down our throats.

I also don't want to sound ungrateful as I know some women who cant breastfeed would give their right arm to but not being able to go away from my son for longer than an hour brings you to the point of tears.

Please give me feedback on leaving my baby to cry until he gets so hungry and realises the breast is not available ( I can pump enough milk for England)

OR... introducing some baby foods (babies weight is 14lbs).

Thanks again

All I can say is do not give him s

All I can say is do not give him solids - even if his weight is 14lbs at under 3 months old it is far too young..please do not try that!

Please, please don't introduce solids at 3 months, regardless of weight his gut is too young and you could possibly make him very unwell. Recommendations are 17 weeks minimum and preferably as close to 6 months as possible. Taking an interest in your food is perfectly normal but doesn't mean he's ready to eat it. And again, really, even if you can't be away from your son for more than an hour without him needing to take a bottle now, you will be able to do it soon, though I know that doesn't help with the work sitch. As I said, I was skiving off regularly to swimming etc probably from about 2 months if I timed it right with naps.

When exactly are you going back to work? How long do you have to get him used to Milk Not Direct From The Tap?

(and I do totally agree there should be more support and advice for working mums who want to breastfeed and express, though with both of mine I've gone back sufficiently late that they've been well established on solids and only missing one feed while I've been away)

do you think that your little one is maybe going through a growth spurt? They seem to eat every hour when that happens (or mine did).

My DD is a right stubborn madam mind, not just getting her to bottle feed. But she is very determined to do everything her own way. Brushing her teeth - she will not let me do it, she has to do it (right from the first tooth). So we've always had tears then. When it came to weaning, very early on, she had to do it herself, when my nephew would and still does let my sister spoon feed him. Brushing her hair, the same she has always had to try to do it and I can forget about puttin pretty things in her hair or getting her to wear a sun hat. As soon as she could grab it she'd pull it off.

She certainly knows her own mind and has been that way from birth.

I am not sure if you're supposed to wean before 4 months and you can tell when they are not ready as they usually just spit the food out.

But I reckon that we've got a right pair of little madams and we'll be on mumsnet when they are teenagers trying to get them to wear sensible clothes and getting up to all sorts behind our backs.

Actually, yes, stepmooster may be on to something re the growth spurt thing, there can be a huge one around 3 months, you might find that the feeding calms down tremendously once he gets through it (and he will have outgrown all his vests). I also found that was the age when naps got a lot more predictable and I could put a bit more structure on my day.

Further serial posting to add that you have now done the really difficult bit of breastfeeding, it pretty much gets easier from here and you will not be glued to the baby 24/7 for much longer, even before he gets the hang of expressed milk (and he will, I'm sure!).

It sounds like as well as the work thing you're feeling trapped with a new baby and really just need a break, can you get your partner or someone to take baby even just for an hour (feed him before you leave) and go for a coffee/swim/pootle around the shops?

My baby has been bottle fed alongside being breastfed since birth and still is refusing his bottle! I think its something that happens to most breastfed babies regardless of how early you introduce a bottle unfortunately.

I know you tried lots of bottles- but have you tried the breastflow? They have to latch onto it like a boob. That might work?