Crying/Screaming whilst attempting to Bottle Feed

[DaddyP]

Mums of the world I need some help! . My DD is now 10 weeks old and is generally a happy contented child. My DW breast feeds during the day and I try to bottle feed her expressed milk when I get in around 6:30 to give my DW a break. This was all going quite well until about two weeks ago when my DD decided that the bottle was her worst enemy. We now endure an hour of crying which escalated to screaming last night (picture a distraught baby, crying mother and daddy covered in vomit!) and also can regularly include vomiting. I am keen to try to persevere with the bottle feeding to give my wife a break but it is almost too heart-breaking to continue. We have tried different teats and bottles, putting my DW's t-shirt near me so I smell of her, classical music in the background all which have not helped. Looking forward to any advice you may be able to pass on. Thx

sounds familiar

my poor dh had to endure this when i went back to work on nightshift - he had to give the last feed of the day cos by that time i was at work. he just had to persevere im afraid. get some of the milk on your finger and let baby suck it. put some drops of milk in her mouth, let her get a taste so she knows that there is milk in the bottle.

make sure your dws t shirt has the smell of milk on it

we used Avent teats and bottles

it only took my dh about 4 or 5 nights then thereafter dd1 was fine. then they both really enjoyed it. there is nothing wrong, your dd just prefers her mother to a bottle.

sorry if not much help. Good luck

I know how you feel! DS is now 8 mths, would happily take 1 bottle a day until 2 mths old then flat refused to take it from anyone. I've tried putting milk on the teat but he still clamps his mouth firmly shut - tried different teats and bottles but he's having none of it. I'm desperate for a night off so will watch this thread for any suggestions - Good Luck

Not sure if this will help or not, but try resting your little and ring finger gently on her cheek whist giving her bottle. She is used to feeling something on her face whilst feeding. It's just a small thing, but it worked for us with DS1. Good luck!

Sorry, Ihave no magic solution, but just wanted to say that this happened to us...and it DID pass! DD was 12 weeks old when literally overnight she decided that the 7pm bottle of expressed milk WAS NOT happening, having taken it quite happily since she was 3 weeks old. She screamed and screamed, and both of us ended up in tears. DH felt like DD hated him, and he was desperate to be a good dad, and I was upset because DD was so outraged. It lasted about a week, but the key is to stick at it. You are doing a fantastic thing by giving DW a break, and although dd hates it, it is doing her no lasting harm, and in the long run is allowing you to bond with her whilst still giving her the best possible food.

We found it helpful for me to go out for an hour once and twice during the week during screaming/feeding time and just let DH get on with it. It stopped me getting upset...frankly it was bad enough just to have one of us in tears, and it stopped DH thinking that I didn't trust him to do the job. I had been going our anyway at this time to the gym/for a run if I felt up to it, but had stopped when DD got so upset. Remember, you are not doing anything wrong and can look after dd wonderfully. DW should go somewhere where she can't hear the screams and let you soldier on. My DH sends you supportive Dad vibes....he found it really hard (I found him one night in flood of tears sitting their with dd and the bottle, mumbling 'she hates me, and I love her so much.') Sob!, just thinking about it makes me fill up for him....but all was well and we did this successfully for 7 months, including for a couple of full days/one overnight when I went to the works Xmas do!

Good luck.

Have you tried holding dd really close to you whilst feeding and sort of trapping her arms next to you?

We have just switched ds2 to bottles from breast feeding and at first he was similar. We then discovered that if we hold him really firmly so he was as tight as a swaddle then he is alot better. I guess when I BF him he was held really tightly then so maybe feels more secure if I bottle feed him in a similar way.

Hope this makes sense but it did work for us.