Refusing bottle

[agrimum]

Has anyone got any advice for mum returning to work but LO won't take expressed milk from bottle?
I have been very lucky and been able to mix breast and formula feeding, however a friend is due to go back to work soon and she cannot get her daughter to take a bottle, she has tried having other people give her a bottle when she is not around, and she still refuses.
Any suggestions??

How old? May be better with a cup. My LO is five months and she looks at me like I'm the devil if I approach with a bottle but will happily slurp from a sippy cup!

she is 20 weeks

Go for a cup, it takes longer to start with but much easier (esp. as they feed themselves after a week!)

Has she tried the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottles? Thet are supposed to be good for expressed milk as they are closer to breast feeding sucking technique. My 11 week old DD takes expressed milk from these.

Try a doidy cup ( you can buy from the NCT or Blooming Marvelous etc on line) I have witnessed a friends lo who is a similar age master her cup in a matter of days. She hated bottles too but the open and slanted design of these cups makes it much easier to drink from. Apparently once they get the hang of them you can throw the bottles and sippy cups away! Oh and no bottle teats to clean out and Sterilise!

MAM bottles and teats are excellent. I think I tried every bottle/teat on the market and this was the only one that worked. The anti-colic holes in the bottom let out air and stop the teat being sucked flat (my breastfed baby didn't know how to let the air out by herself).

this is really helpful, i was about to post about this issue myself. my bf baby is almost 16 weeks and since about 5 weeks ive been trying her off and on with a variety of bottles, cups and soft feeders (with expressed milk) to no avail. she takes the teat in her mouth but wont suck it and, after about a minute, starts screaming. im a single mum so there is a limited number of other people around to ask to help and understandably my baby cant see the sense in taking a bottle from me when she knows the real source is close at hand! i just end up giving in any offering her my breast which entirely defeats the whole objective! i need to return to work in 10 weeks and want to continue to bf in the mornings and evenings and use expressed milk during the day. im starting to panic slightly about her refusal to take a bottle but ill check out the suggestions made here. if anyone has anything else to add id be grateful to hear it!

hi

both of my daughters fed from a bottle once a day until they were three months then suddently stopped and refused point blank from there. The first time this happened I did not persevere and my first daughter did not take a bottle until she was 9 months old.

When my second daughter did the same thing recently she again would not let anyone feed her and would at most take one ounce over an hour of protesting.

What worked in the end was to make the bottle feed completely different from the breast feed. I bought a NUK bottle with a latex teat which friends have found often seem to be liked babies that wont take a bottle. I then popped the bottle in her mouth when she was coming round from a sleep in her pram. I sat to one side of the pram so she could not see me. Sounds odd, but the little monkey drank the whole thing! Over a few days I prgressed to her seeing me, then my holding her facing outwards whilst feeding and after only 5 days she took it being held without a problem. I still dont hold her in the same position as for a breast feed though in case that is a bit like teasing her. Anyway I hope this helps, give it a try.