Withholding feeds from a bottle refuser...?

[PassTheCremeEggs]

Has anyone ever done this and successfully got an EBF baby onto bottles/cups? If so how long did it take?

I don't really want people to tell me whether I should or shouldn't do it, just interested if you have done it and if it worked? This is for a six month old who is established on solids and won't take a bottle in any form or a cup. Pretty sure I'm going to get flamed now, please try and be nice!

I haven't deliberately withheld feeds but both my 9mo and 6mo who were bottle refusers went from 8-6 at nursery without breastmilk and never took a bottle. Ever. The nursery persevered for months offering expressed milk and formula but both children just refused and drunk water from a sippy cup. So for my two, I don't think they would ever have been interested in bottles - sorry. They have always both drunk water from cups happily though.

Over 6 months, I was able to leave my bottle refuser for several hours with a sippy cup of water and a couple of pots of yogurt. It's not worth the faff trying to introduce a bottle when there are work arounds.

I stressed at the time, in hindsight, there was no need.

Thanks both of you. But he won't do a cup either, me or nothing. And he's feeding every two hours! I happened to read the awful Clare Byam Cook's book about breastfeeding and she says just withhold all breast feeds for as long as it takes but says she hasn't seen any baby refuse for longer than 24 hours. It seems so drastic to me but I'm going back to work and will be away overnight fairly regularly so he has to take something!

Ok

my advice would be to use a sippy cup for water and offer it at every meal. Then you will know that fluid intake is established.

Baby might reverse cycle for a while at first, don't panic if that happens

Lots of babies refuse milk right up until they start childcare, lots of nurseries and childminders will have experience in helping baby to transit

(CBC likened BF babies to alligators or crocodiles at a baby show once, just so ye know the level she is coming at BF advice from.)

Haha! Yes I do think she is a bit suspect...

Ok will try that. He's my second bottle refuser but my eldest took one suddenly at 5.5 months after refusing since 8 weeks.

Actually, I do know of one baby who held out for 48 hours before taking the bottle. His mum was in hospital with a back injury so absolutely could not feed. After 48 hours he was happily knocking back the formula, but it must have been heart wrenching for his grandparents having to deal with a hungry baby missing his mummy.

No healthy child will starve his or herself, but few mums could put up with that level of refusal!

Wow, 48 hours.. You're right, even if I wanted to go that long I couldn't. I might try a day though, go out for the day and let DH try with me nowhere near

Have you tried a doidy cup? It's very messy, but it was the first thing my dd2 drank from that wasn't me. Only small amounts, though, and mostly water or soup rather than milk.

Doidy worked with my bottle refusenik DS2 as well, he then happily took EBM from a soft spout sippy once he got the hang of it.

I had to go to work for a week and a half when my bottle refused was six months old. Big breastfeed in the morning, ebm in porridge for his breakfast, ebm mixed with stewed fruit at lunchtime, plenty of feeds through the evening. He was fine. Went back to work permanently at 8 months, he just refused to drink anything more than the occasional sip of water at cm's but managed ok. I was away from him for about ten hours at a time.

Really obvious question, but have you tried getting someone else to try giving him a bottle while you are out of the room, preferably out of he house? My DD would refuse a bottle from me, and I could only get her to take one from someone else if she could neither see nor smell me. She has settled down now and will take a bottle from me - I'm in the process of weaning her off bf at 9 months.

I haven't tried while out of house only while upstairs in shower (surely he can't smell me that far away!) and no joy. I am tempted to try a good few hours out of house and leave with DH to see if that works

The longest I've tried is about 8hrs. (I went out)

They still wouldn't take a bottle.

They do know when you're there, even if upstairs. Either that or they are holding out for your return.

DS is a bottle refuser. He refused huis first bottle at 3 weeks, then took one a few times and the refused again point blank and I can't be bothered to keep trying. He loves solids and he will sip water from an open cup, (messily) so I feel quite confident to leave him with DH.

Is it a open cup you've tried or a sippy/lidded cup?

My refusiest bottle refuser was verrry particular. We got on well with the medela soft cup, it was a good transition to a proper cup (which he refused to use initially) while at the same time good in its own right for whole feeds. There was not a single style of teat shape he would take, at all, ever, frustratingly.
It was my personal preference not to withhold feeds as it wasn't something I was comfortable with while I still had the option of a work around. Luckily the soft cup solved the problem so I didn't need to decide to go ahead.
He wouldn't take a bottle or cup from anyone and I did try being away for those experiments but once we got the soft cup he would take a feed from pretty much anyone so our experience is it was method not person and he wasn't only holding out for me he just was not having a bottle/cup/spoon etc.
I think doidy cups are much cheaper though!