Help - How do I get my baby to use a bottle

[cari19]

My 5-month old has been exclusivley breastfed apart from a few expressed bottles in the early days. I now need to prepare him for my return to work and have tried getting him to take some expressed milk but with no luck. He has cleverly learned to close his mouth tight or pretend to be asleep! I have waited til he is very hungry and husband has also tried with me not in the vicinity.
Anyone got any useful tips or tricks??

There are several diferent shaped teats some babys take to one sort better than another some are ment to be more "breast like" Think about the way you hold your baby for a brest feed and try to keep baby close with bottle to. Try getting someone more detached to have a go as baby may be picking up on your worrys and husbands. Ask health visitor!
sorry thats all i can think of try not to worry tooooo much it will come some babys skip the bottle bit and use a early cup

My sister and a good friend used the mothercare bottles that have special teats that mean the baby can take milk in the same way as from the breast.

See here www.mothercare.com/gp/product/B000MMC23O/sr=1-20/qid= 1181762713/ref=sr120/203-1891255-6300736?ie=UTF8&m=A2L BKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=44555031&mcb=core

It's taken us five weeks to get our 7-month-old settled in nursery and feeding because of her bottle aversion! She finally took some milk on Friday from her doidy cup. Perhaps a cup would work better for your DS (an laughing at the pretending to snooze aproach - resourceful kid)?

We got DD onto cups when she was 4-months old in preparation for my return to work, but once she started nursery she was unsettled so refused milk. She soon started screaming every time the staff approached with a cup even though she took milk in it from me and my husband. In the end, I went against my instinct and with their suggestion to try a bottle. We didn't have much luck with that, beyond the odd slurp. So we went back to the doidy last thursday and bingo.

Are you planning to carry on expressing when you go back to work? That's what I'm doing and I'm finding it much easier than I expected. If you need any tips, I'd be happy to help.

What I found with Ds2 (and need to work on with DS3!) is actually not making it like having a breast feed - i.e. not cuddling him close and getting a teat like a nipple but making it completely different - use a beaker or cup like others have suggested and sitting him up a bit to feed him. Someone (maybe on here? or in RL? can't remember!) the other day suggested that I sit DS3 on my lap facing me and feed him that way. Haven't ryied that yet myself but it may be worth a go.