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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Bottlefeeding a breastfed baby

13 replies

tangerinecath · 15/08/2004 23:03

Help! DD (6 weeks) is breastfeeding well but won't take feeds from a bottle - I have no problem expressing but it's all going to waste as she won't suck on an artificial teat. After initial success she's refused the bottle every time we've tried. I'm desperate to have some success with this as I need to get some of my old life back for my own sanity and DH would like to help with feeds - I think he feels he's missing out on a big part of DD's care. Any ideas? I've tried waiting until she's really hungry, feeds when she's nice and settled and relaxed and feeding from the breast first and then DH tries the bottle. Our HV suggested giving her a dummy so that she gets used to sucking latex, but she just spits them out as well!

OP posts:
Yorkiegirl · 15/08/2004 23:06

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Twiglett · 15/08/2004 23:12

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GeorginaA · 16/08/2004 09:48

Bumping this for you so that tiktok sees it (our resident breast feeding expert!)

Agree with what Twiglett says. You can experiment with different types of bottle too. The one we use is called a Habermann feeder - it kind of drips through slowly as they suck, which makes it more like breastfeeding than a normal bottle, however, it's not cheap - so it makes it a bit of an expensive experiment

Other things to try is different feeds to substitute. You might have more success with the first feed of the day when she's a bit more hungry and more inclined to take the milk from anything, or you might find one of the night feeds, when she's quite sleepy and less likely to push it away... once she's used to taking the bottle you can then introduce to the feed you wanted to replace.

I do think the key is (once she accepts it) to give a bottle of EBM quite regularly after that so she's used to it for when you do decide to go out and want someone else to feed.

Twiglett · 16/08/2004 09:52

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GeorginaA · 16/08/2004 12:04

If it doesn't bother you, Twiglett, then I wouldn't worry about it! As you say, at 6 months they can get used to a cup with a spout at mealtimes, and chances are they're more likely to be sleeping 7pm-7am ish by then, so it's easier to go out in the evenings anyway.

It also occurs to me that there's LOTS of other things partners can do to bond/feel part of baby's care, feeding is just a small part of that. My dh is solely responsible for bathtime and he loves doing that. Ds2 is now 14 weeks and he's having approximately 5-6 feeds a day varying between 20mins - 1hr long. That still leaves lots of time in the day to fill, so can get lots of daddy time

kbaby · 16/08/2004 12:11

My dp is responsible for baths and bedtime. We initially decided that he would do the last feed at night but since her birth I have prefered to breast feed her at night. Dp loves doing the baths and thinks its more fun than feeding anyway and likes putting her to bed as he gets lots of cuddles.
My mum has 11 weeks old dd on a friday and so I had to get her used to bottles. I started at 4 weeks old and just tried one evening and she took to it. We have had one day where she wouldnt except it so I gave her my finger to suck on and once she got the sucking action going i popped the bottle in. Try with different teats a good one is the tommee tippee breast feeding teat. We use those and also avent. Ypu could also try different dummies. DD spits out all of them apart from the angled othodontic ones
Good luck

Original poster
tangerinecath · 16/08/2004 13:16

Thanks for all the advice - I'll let you know how it goes! DH does get involved with all other aspects of DD's care, even nappy changing , he's a very hands on daddy. The problem is that she's fairly demanding through the day as she seeems to prefer lots of short feeds that aren't always very far apart, which means that I get nothing else done, including getting dressed on some days! I think this is because she's already sleeping through the night (she's 6 weeks old) so I'm not complaining!! I didn't know you could get breastfeeding teats so I'll try those.

OP posts:
motherinferior · 16/08/2004 13:22

Also try the cheap brown soft silicon teats, and orthodontic ones - that's how we got dd2 onto the the bottle.

In the meantime, freeze that milk!

GeorginaA · 16/08/2004 20:28

Not sure if you've seen the other thread, tangerinecath, but hercules has recommended the Playtex System for persuading a bf baby to take the occasional bottle. Thought I'd copy it over here in case you hadn't been reading it...

edam · 16/08/2004 20:35

Dh persuaded breast-fed ds to take a bottle, by wrapping a worn bra of mine round the bottle so it smelt of the place that milk came from... (obviously a fairly clean bra, not talking raiding the linen bin here!). It worked! And I was very impressed with his lateral thinking. As Twiglett said, helps if you aren't around... at the time I was so exhausted I was asleep and dh managed to get to ds before I woke up, bless him.

Original poster
tangerinecath · 16/08/2004 21:23

Today DH fed DD on around 3oz of ebm and she took it with no fuss at all!! I hadn't expressed any more as I don't like to see the ebm go to waste, but I had to top her up from the breast as she took the lot and wanted more. We'll try again tomorrow with 4-5 oz. I think DD just wanted to make a liar of me ! The playtex system looks great though, and I will bear it in mind if we have any problems in the future. Fingers crossed, we'll be fine as we are.

OP posts:
meysey · 19/08/2004 09:46

glad things are going ok. I would definitely recommend playtex too, both mine took to it v easily as an occasional bottle instead of bf and my friend who never managed to get ds2 onto a bottle at all, had great success with ds3 and playtex (and no they don't pay me!)

lulupop · 19/08/2004 21:51

Glad things have picked up for you, tangerinecath, but just wanted to add here that I've had success with the Dr Brown's bottles (available from Mothercare). DS took to bottlefeeding EBM with ordinary Avent bottles, so I didn;t know what to do when DD rejected them, but a friend recommended the Dr Brown's ones and they're great. The "thing" is their anti-colic system, which really does seem to work (DS was colicky, DD isn't), but I think the best thing is that the teats are a much softer latex, so easier for tiny mouths to manipulate. Worth a try if you have any more probs, anyway

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