Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Bottle battle. Help!

14 replies

Jez74 · 06/10/2006 15:10

I am having a nightmare going from breast feeding to mixed feeding. My daughter is now 14 weeks old and we have been trying her with a bottle from 8 weeks. She cries and gulps air and ends up having lots of wind. I've tried Avent, Nuk & MAM teats but it makes no difference and I have tried using expressed milk, formula milk and a expressed/formula mix. Been out the room/in the room and other people have also tried without much success. Most times she only takes a couple of ounces. Any tips?

OP posts:
loubeth · 06/10/2006 15:22

Hi there, you could try the tommee tippee Closer to Nature bottles and teats. They are supposed to mimic the breast in shape and texture. Also Dr Brown bottles help the wind. Hopes this helps and good luck.

Original poster
Jez74 · 06/10/2006 18:19

thanks, will check those out - will give anything a try!

OP posts:
Mummyjoon · 22/10/2006 15:07

Hi
We have just begun to introduce a bottle with expressed milk to our 18 week old dd. She gets really cross, legs push out to escape! when/if she tries it only a small amount drunk and more windy than normal- am trying different bottles at mo and it's a mixture of me and DH feeding her this way. Don't want to stop bf but would like freedom to get hair cut without worry of rushing back to feed her!
No magic advice but in similar situation to you- hope we can share some ideas to resolve rthis for both of us
Alex

alibobble · 22/10/2006 16:52

Use tommee tippe bottles myself. Seem to work for dd but not for everyone. Have a friend who couldonly use Nuk ones. I think it's a case of finding the bottle that will suit baby and I often wonder if it's what feels closest to you? Who knows. AM convinced there should be a lending library of teats till people get the ones that work as it's so expensive trying all the different ones!

freddiemed · 25/10/2006 10:39

We had exactly the same problem and all I can say is persevere, persevere, persevere! We tried to get ds to take one bottle a day from 5 weeks and it was a nightmare. dh has always done the bedtime routine and he basically used to have an hour of hell every night, until eventually ds started to take some of the bottle and then finally a full bottle. I would always stay out of the way and it did take almost 3 months but don't give up. It then took a bit longer for him to take a bottle from me but we did get there. He would only take Nuk latex teats and we did try the whole lot...ds was exceptionally stubborn I think...he is now 9 months and gets excited when he sees his bottle! good luck.

CastsSpellsWitchySpells · 25/10/2006 10:54

If she's taking a couple of ounces than that's already better than I've ever managed with my 8 1/2 month old!

I totally understand why you have tried so many methods of getting her to take it, but you have probably managed to confuse her a little. I would suggest (and this was recommended to me by nursery nurse) that you pick one method and try it consistently at the same time every day. It will probably take a while before she accepts it fully, but she will at least know what to expect.

If she plays up and only takes a little then don't give in and bf her, or she will learn that by playing up and refusing the bottle she will get what she wants. If it worries you that she won't get enough milk then give her a little bf first, to take the edge off her hunger and satisfy her cuddle need.

Mumpbump · 25/10/2006 10:57

What size teat are you using? I started with no. 3 because by ds was 5 months and it was too much for him. Still is at almost 9 months - ds has a very strong suck! One of my antenatal class said that you should only use a no. 2 when you are changing from b/f.

alibobble · 25/10/2006 12:41

On the other hand dd flatly refused avent bottles because htey weren't fast flowing enough but mumnbump is right. LO might not be used to the flow from a bottle and it may be too fast/slow

melrose · 25/10/2006 12:44

Try the funny flat teats that you can get (think they are called othodontic teats) worked for my friend whos DS flatly refused to take anything else) The baby can control the flow of milk with their tongue, so more like breast feeding

fluffyanimal · 25/10/2006 12:51

Sympathy - I had this problem too. Like CSWSpells says, I think it is best to pick one thing and stick at it, this is what we had to do. We found success with the TT Closer to Nature bottles, and I started off with ebm, then gradually mixed in some formula. It took a couple of weeks for it to really sink in but we got there in the end. If all else fails, you could try a cup instead.

alibobble · 27/10/2006 20:55

That's true. friend of ours had to usea doidy cup in the end.

shish · 29/10/2006 11:13

I'm having exaclty the same battle. Baby was mixed fed, but rejected bottle at about 10 days. Have tried so many bottle, teats and methods. Have tried frocing and in between feeds. The back to frocing and now tryong to top up in between again. It's so hard. And now he's getting hungrier and feeding a lot more through the night And he's 19 weeks old now..

jennymac · 29/10/2006 17:55

Hi - am having same prob myself. DD was introduced to a bottle of expressed milk at 2 and a half weeks and took it fine at the start. However, about 3 wks ago started fighting it and was taking 20 mins or so to get her to take it. Has got gradually worse over the weeks and now won't take it at all. Meant to be going to brothers wedding in 12 days and was hoping to leave dd with mother in law but won't be able to unless she is taking bottle. Am desperate for any hints. Have tried loads of different bottles and teats etc.

jennymac · 29/10/2006 17:56

PS - dd is 8 wks now and very stubborn!

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread