Bottle refuser - whits' end

[SilverHoney]

Not sure if I want help, a rant or a magic answer

DD was breast fed, took a dummy, occasional bottle, no problem.

DS is 3 months old. Dummy refuser, bought and tried loads. I've left him 3x and he took a bottle of formula, not great but drank it eventually.

However while out for a meal on Saturday DH had to ring me to come home as he wouldn't take a bottle or stop screaming.

All week I've tried expressed breast milk, different formulas, me feeding him, DH feeding him. We have the Avent natural bottles with all different flow teats, and I've bought a mimijumi bottle and doidy cup. No luck.

Today I was determined to crack it and went on nursing strike. DS still refused the bottle after 8 hours without milk so I gave in and fed him myself.

The next few months are looking very bleak if I can't attend one meal, cinema trip, gym class. Help please mumnetters.

Have you tried heating it right up? Heard from a friend with a bottle refuser that that worked for her recently.

You denied your 3 month old baby food for 8 hours? Is your social life that important to you?

Why do you need him to take a bottle?

Thanks to Hedge for trying to help. However I won't be returning to this threat again.

In case you do come back...

I had 2 bottle refusers. My only solution was to get them going to bed early enough that I could go out and be back before night feeds. Think DD2 was on 7pm bedtime and not generally waking before 12 at 5 months - though we had horrendous nights in the month running up to that!

Do you know if your local cinema does a baby cinema showing? Lots of them do a daytime screening where you can take your baby along. Similarly you might be able to find exercise classes where you take your baby along, there are several in my town. I've also taken my young baby along to meals out, depending on how posh the restaurant is.

OP I for one am with you here. DS1 didn't take a bottle until he was 12 weeks and yes, I wanted him to take one so I could have a break and (gasp!) have a social life. I tried every bottle on the market (Amazon Prime sell individual ones FYI) and eventually he happily took a Dr Browns. Like previous poster said, it was the heating up that did it. I warmed it in the microwave and it was a bit warmer than usual (but obviously safe) and he gulped it down. For the record, I've always microwaved bottles against NHS advice. As long as you shake well and taste it yourself it's fine. Good luck!

We had a bottle refuser, the feeling of trappedness when you can't go anywhere without baby was so frustrating! Here's some things to try if you haven't already
Warm bottle - about the same temperature as your boob! It's surprisingly warm.
Try different brands of bottles - is there a bottle bank near you that loans them out to try?
Get someone else to give the bottle - a hungry baby near boobs can't concentrate on anything other than boob
Try before baby gets hungry - give a bottle to chew on and play with - eventually they figure out how to get the milk out, but it's a skill they need to learn
Try expressed milk if you can express some. Some expressed milk tastes odd after freezing, so don't freeze at first
After trying all sorts for a couple of weeks, I had DD in her bouncy chair, hid behind her, and waggled the bottle gently into her mouth. She chewed on it, milk came out, and we had cracked it!
Good luck!

Please try the minbie bottle! Expensive but my goodness it's worth it!

It amazes me that a support network for mums seems to invite such judgemental posters. Anyway, watching thread with interest as I have the same issue...

You could try cup feeding? I used a doidy cup for DD2.

DS was a bottle refuser. Nothing helped, but...
I managed to get him to go 4 hours between feeds so that I could pop out for various things like cinema.

I'm having the same problems. I love breastfeeding but it feels SO depressing that I'm so restricted so I can completely relate and I don't judge at all! I'm at the point where I'll try anything. I really just want to go out for a few hours & not worry about my DD and watch the clock for when I need to rush back for her next feed. Sometimes u just need the break!

Hi, just wanted to add.my support and commiseration. My baby is 6 months and still won't take a bottle. I manage to go for a swim on Sunday morning and am back on time.or thereabouts for next feed and an evening class one evening, which generally involves a.lot of.screaming, but she won't be starving. We've started weaning and she loves drinking from doidy cup but it's very messy.

I too am very fed up by it. I can't go out in the evening, or have a social life or plan anything. All nights are down to me. I am not sure I would have breast fed if id have known it would be like this, although I like the other aspects of it.

Just to say, many women have to go to work with the same problem. Baby doesn't starve, though the transition isn't fun. How you have better luck than me.

I have a bottle refuser. He took one nicely until 4 months then did the meltdown screaming thing you describe. It's not fun but he started taking a sippy cup at 6 months, by 8 months he was drinking significant amounts of milk from it. So hang in there it will only be a temporary situation

Just wanted to add that when DC2 refused a bottle it was when she was about three/four months old that I had a bit of a wobble as, based on DC1, I thought I would be able to have the odd evening out by then and the eight months or so ahead felt very long! However, for us trying to get her to take a bottle was so stressful it just wasn't worth it-and as it turned out once we started weaning her she fed much less often in the day, so I did have more flexibility.

Evenings (except for going out very near our house in case she woke) took longer but once she started having cows milk at a year that was fine too. And without meaning to be flippant, at least we never had to worry about getting her to go from a bottle to a cup...although I may have lost my sense of humour when she started merrily sucking on a baby doll's toy bottle! So commiserations from me too, but hopefully also a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

Total with you on this OP!!!

DD1 took a bottle until 4 months no problem then said no way - I think wr had an 11 hour stand off once where it was a battle of wills and she won in the end!! (Goodness knows what the judgmental poster will think about that.....) everyone says they won't starve - I think she would have!!!! I tried absolutely everything for months and months and months and she never ever took a bottle or drank milk for that matter!! I eventually stopped bf at 15 months. I do overnight on calls at work which was why I so desperately needed her to take a bottle (I also like a good social life and wanted to be able to go out!!!).

So with DD2 I was determined to crack it early on.... She took a bottle until about 8 weeks then refused - again tried everyday, many different bottles, until she eventually took the amazing minbie! I was so happy! Then..... She started to refuse that!! She will not take anything now and screams at the sight of a bottle or cup - I am also at my wits end!!!

If anyone does have any ideas or if you are successful please let me know!!! Private message me if you don't want to return to this thread thanks to someone and their flippant comments