HELP! Breast to bottle

[mishw]

I need some help! I want to getting my 2nd DD onto 1 bottle a day of expressed milk.

After a month long nightmare of getting my 1st DD onto a bottle at 5 months, I decided that with my 2nd DD I would introduce the bottle at 3 weeks (following advice from several people), however she just isn't interested. It's expressed milk she's getting and its not that I want to give up breastfeeding, I would just like DH to be able to give her the 10.30pm feed so I can get to bed a little earlier and you never know, maybe even have the odd night out!

We have tried DH giving the bottle (he's getting rather frustrated and is beginning to feel rejected!), she does tend to accept the milk on the warmer side (cooler milk she totally refuses and her sister was just the same). We're using the NUK bottles (again the only ones her sister would take). Have also tried the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottle with no sucess.

Any advice please!

are you there when he is giving the bottle?

Not usually no, I try and stay away as I know that if she can hear/see/smell me, she'll want me!

He tried giving her her morning bottle this today, the idea being that she'll be more hungry (luckily she goes from her 10.30pm feed - about 1 oz if we're lucky through to around 6am), but she only took about 1oz, so after she calmed down I did top her up with breast, however I had expressed about 10oz so there wasn't really much left! She's awake again now and we're about to try again, and again I will keep out of the room.

Wish is luck!

DH suggested we try and give all her feeds on the bottle for the next couple of day. the trouble is I'm worried then that she'll start refusing the breast - I don;t want to give up breast feeding, I just want to combine breast and bottle.

We're going thorugh the same thing at 7 weeks - night 1, DS took bottle fine, night 2 screamed after taking § oz, night 3 screamed when saw bottle ... have got the NUK bottle to try tonight. No advice, but let me know how you get on Trying him in the morning sounds like a good plan.

Swizzler - DH laughed when he saw your message and said "At least I'm not the only one!"

This morning she took about 0.5oz from DH then about 1.5oz from me! (Tommee Tippee bottle). She then fell asleep - I think all the crying tired her out, we didn't have the heart to try again all day.

Anyway, DH is trying again now - NUK but this time with a latex teat instead of the silicone>

Good luck Swizzler, let me know how you get on.

Swizzler, I was looking through the other posts and someone mentioned they were having trouble storing their milk. After the advice given she discovered that the problem was an enzyme in her milk, I heard the same thing from a breeast feeding counsellor a couple of weeks ago.

She suggested putting the expressed milk into a saucepan, heat it until the small bubbles appear at the edge of the milk as it kills this enzyme. You can then store this milk and use it as and when needed.

Have just made DH taste the milk he's giving DD now and compare it to milk I've just expressed and although the reheated expressed milk isn't sour, there was a bitterness to it, so maybe that's why we're having problems.

Anyway good luck, try contacting a breast feeding counsellor at your hospital as maybe they'll be able to tell you a little more.

Well, DS took a feed from the NUK bottle last night - will see if he develops an aversion to this one as well.

How are you getting on Swizzler? I've been scolding the milk or geting DH to give her the recently expressed stuff and it does seem to be a bit better (ie not pulling a face at the taste of the milk or spitting it straight out), however she is still only taking 1oz at a feed.

Everyone I've spoken to says that we just have to keep on with it and not give up and that there is no magic solution - damn them!