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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Is there a way to get a bf baby to take a bottle as well?

21 replies

Madratlady · 13/12/2013 08:26

I keep hearing about bottle refusing babies and I just wondered if there was any way of getting a bf bf baby to take a bottle of expressed milk, other than just hoping they will? Is there a best time to introduce a bottle or anything?

OP posts:

schmalex · 13/12/2013 08:30

I don't know if there is a best time, but we did it at about 5 weeks (because I went out for the day at 6 weeks) and had no problems.

Quinandthem · 13/12/2013 08:37

My dd is 22 wks and until last week was ebf

We had tried giving her a bottle of expressed milk at about 7-8 wks as we had a wedding to go to but she just never got the hang of it - just playing with the nipple, pushing it out or letting the milk flow out her mouth.

Got very annoying wasting the breast milk. Anyway we need up taking her to the wedding and gave up until last week when I thought I should give it another go (when I had Christmas party I wanted to go to).

I'd been recommended to just keep offering her the bottle at different times when she was hungry but not screaming. I had been trying to give it to her in the high chair but struggled to get the angle, then on the 3rd day she was in her reclining chair and I gave it to her and she drank 3oz straight away (all I'd put in the bottle). I think because it was easier to get the 45 degree angle.

My h and I kept giving her a bottle a day and I managed to go to the party and he had quality baby time.

We still feed her in the reclining chair since its a new skill, but will obviously try elsewhere soon.

I also just used formula since I'm not very good at expressing and it took the pressure off from wasting the milk.

If I could do it again I would have tried when she was 3 wks old as that's when my friends did and they've had no hassles mixed feeding.

Good luck and try to keep it stress free

keepitgoing · 13/12/2013 08:42

I did at 3.5 weeks. No probs with bottle or boob. Mw had said to leave till 6 weeks but I think that's too late

SmallBee · 13/12/2013 08:57

I was speaking to my HV about this as I don't like expressing, my DD is 8 weeks & she said we could always give her 2-3oz of cooled boiled water throughout the day so she's still died to a bottle. Just to be careful that it's not when she's too hungry so she doesn't fill up on that & not too much water.

Shesparkles · 13/12/2013 08:59

The earlier the better, was my experience with both of mine, definitely within the first 2 weeks. Just as it takes a wee while for babies to get the hang of breast feeding, it takes a wee while for them to get the hang of bottles

NoComet · 13/12/2013 09:07

Not at 5 months when the baby has fallen of the percentile chart!

DD2 not only wouldn't take a bottle but screamed as if you were trying to kill her if you tried.

In the end she was just fed yoghurt from a spoon and put on weight beautifully. At 7 months she'd tale dilute juice from a cup and happily be put to bed by DH.

suntodayplease · 13/12/2013 10:19

Watching with interest. After 9 weeks of nightmare
bf, poor latch, late tt diagnosis and slow weight gain I'd like to introduce a bottle to top up bf. So far we've managed it once, the other times DS either screams or spits it out. I've tried offering the bottle when I know he's starting to get hungry but not screaming for a feed and he got so worked up we had to abandon and revert to the bf. when he did take it, he guzzled 3oz no problem and wanted more but that's all I had prepared so offered the boob.
I really want to crack this before we fall further and further down the charts. Do I just keep persevering every day with the hope he gets it?

Any tips on position etc, this is the first time I've ever given a baby a bottle so I genuinely may be doing it wrong!
Thanks

littleomar · 13/12/2013 10:44

Watching with interest...

I want to introduce a bottle a day but just one for the moment. Is there a best time of day to do it?

keepitgoing · 13/12/2013 10:57

little the first time we did it about 8pm in case it went badly. Now dh does the midnight feed so I can sleep... I express in the morning.

Sorry can't help for if its going badly. Anecdotally you want to do it at 3-5 weeks. Dh says she does get much windier than with bf, so he needs to burped her for quite a while.

leedy · 13/12/2013 10:58

Re "you have to do it in the first x weeks or it's TOO LATE", I think it really varies from baby to baby. DS1 refused bottles until 12 weeks, after which I think he would have drunk EBM from an old sock if offered to him as long as it was the right temperature - didn't need a regular bottle to "remember how to do it" or anything. DS2 took a couple of bottles early on and then point blank refused from 4 months, but did, however master drinking from a cup very early - first a Doidy then a sippy one with a spout.

Obviously a situation where you need baby to get the hang of it now is different, I was just doing it for my own convenience. FWIW, what worked with DS1 was offering it to him in a position entirely unlike breastfeeding - he liked being in a reclining bouncy chair, making sure the milk was warm enough, and having dad offer it rather than me.

SN82 · 13/12/2013 11:43

We gave the first bottle last weekend (4 weeks) which was a disaster but because the teat was too big and she kept choking on it. A quick trip to Boots later for a different bottle with a smaller teat and we were away. I read that when you start down this road you should give a bottle every 3 days initially so they don't forget how they work. We've had no problems with breastfeeding since.

BertieBowtiesAreCool · 13/12/2013 17:01

It doesn't make a difference. If they are a bottle refuser they will be one whether you give them a bottle early or not!

Definitely don't give water, it's a bad idea whether they are "hungry" or not it will fill up space in their tummies which should be filled with milk. Water after 6 months or weaning only for breastfed babies.

BertieBowtiesAreCool · 13/12/2013 17:09

IME whether you give one regularly or not makes no difference too.

But most babies manage just fine. It's a small but noticeable proportion!

FrumiousBandersnatch · 13/12/2013 21:28

I'm afraid my case is an example where you can do everything 'right' and still end up with a bottle refuser. DD took a bottle of ebm beautifully every couple of days from 2 weeks, then started to refuse them flatly at 7 weeks and hasn't taken one since, regardless of make / material / flow. We're now training her on a cup.

keepitgoing · 13/12/2013 21:36

Uh oh... Mine is just 5 weeks.

SpoonfulOfJam · 14/12/2013 15:29

My 7 week old took a bottle of ebm from his dad this morning. From reading on Mumsnet I was expecting tears and tantrums and had planned to be out of the house- instead I stayed in bed. We used tommy tippee closer to nature- bought months ago because they were cheap. We have been using a dummy since 10 days old, occasionally. I wander if this helped as he was used to sucking something other than my nipple.

Original poster

Madratlady · 14/12/2013 15:48

He's being induced early, or more likely I'll need a C section because he's not in position yet. So he'll be in SCBU for a while when he arrives. I'll be introducing bottles of ebm when he's home and feeding well though. Thanks for the advice!

OP posts:

PurpleDana · 14/12/2013 16:49

My dd took a bottle with no fuss whatsoever at 4wks. But I was completely prepared for it to take a while.

dh and I spoke about it first & got ourselves prepared for tears, squirming, choking, spitting etc and honesty didn't expect it to work so well
I made sure dh and I did it together in the daytime at a time when it didn't matter whether it was a success or not
Only expressed 2oz so it wouldn't feel like a waste if she didn't take it
We stayed calm and relaxed

Don't know if it made a difference or not with nothing to compare it with, but we use mam bottles & teats Good luck :-)

PastaForRudolph · 15/12/2013 08:02

If there is I didn't find it with DD.

I can say with absolute certainty that there isn't a brand of bottle, technique, person etc that can turn a bottle refuser into a taker so just stick with one brand, method etc and keep trying.

callamia · 15/12/2013 08:07

SCBU might offer bottles (this was my experience). They wanted to see how much my boy was taking before discharging him so he was bottle fed with expressed milk and formula.
It then took me a clear week to get him to bf, but that's another thing.

MissRatty · 15/12/2013 08:09

We introduced it at a few days old as advised by the midwife, as little one lost more than 10% of his birthweight so I was asked to express after each feed and get my other half to give him a top up feed at night. He took to it fine, and has no issues switching between boob and bottle, although my little sister has noted that her little one won't take a bottle from her (probably because she knows she could have boob instead!).

It works quite well for me as my other half does a night feed so I get a decent stretch of sleep, plus its great that he gets that bonding time too.

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