Helping bf baby drink from bottle

[userabcname]

My 6.5 month old has refused a bottle from about 6 weeks. Yesterday, he finally accepted some formula from a bottle - hooray! I offered him a bottle twice and both times he drank 2 oz. The thing is, he doesn't suck the teat, he kind of bites / plays with it in his mouth. Milk does come out this way and he happily drinks it when that happens but he doesn't seem to realise he can suck! So it was a very long process to even get him to take 2 oz and after that he was bored / fussy so we stopped. I'd like to get him taking a full feed so that I can confidently leave him with DH / DM at times and also so that DH can help with night feeds. He is also a very distracted and fussy feeder at the boob currently so I'd also like to be able to bottle feed him on days out as currently he will not feed in public as he wants to look around but then has a meltdown as he gets hungry! Is there any way of helping him to drink properly from the bottle or is it just a case of keeping offering until he figures it out?

Just keep tryouts g us all you can do really. My second as a bottle refuser and never took to it. In fact getting her to drink anything was hard but you can try cups and beakers at this age too.

The good news is in a few weeks he'll be having lots more solids and will naturally be able to go longer between feeds so don't worry if you have no joy.

Thanks! I have tried a few cups but he's not really got the hang of them either, bless him. I shall persevere!

Have you tried different teats? Ds would only use the MAM ones .

Just keep trying. It went better for us at first if DH did it. Ideal time we found was when the baby is not too tired or cranky. Re distractable feeders when out, I used sometimes go into a clothes shop with lots of changing rooms, pick a random item to try on and bf in the changing room. V boring for baby (unless he can see himself in the mirror!)

I have tried a few different teats - the one he is currently accepting is a Nuk one. I do have a Mam bottle somewhere though- might dig it out and try again as that was one of the earlier ones I bought.
Great tip about the changing room! Thanks!

He’s 6.5m? So full in into weaning?

Mine would never take a bottle. But she went into nursery at 6m and at mid morning and mid afternoon bottle time she got a yogurt, cheese, rice cakes, cereal etc.

So leaving him will be fine. Same when out and about, just factor in a coffe and snack stop. Not much help with the night feeds though. Although i had a friend who worked nights in a similar position and her partner just made cereal at 3am!

Yeah good point with the solids. He's not taking to them hugely well so maybe I should be more focussed on that.

He's just at the beginning of solids so there's not rush to push them too much, best to be led by him.

Guidelines are three meals a day by 8/9 months. In a month or so his appetite will pick up. For now it's just about taste and learning to move food around his mouth.

Maybe try the free flow basic tommee tippee beakers - the milk will just run into his mouth. Better for teeth too.

I put a bit of sugar in to start with, then phased it out.

Thanks everyone.

mine does this when the milk isn't warm enough for his liking