Sudden bottle refusal at 9 weeks

[1Wanda1]

DD is BF but has always taken a bottle, as due to excessive weight loss after birth we had to do top-ups (formula or EBM) after every BF feed.

By 3 weeks her weight had stabilised, BF was well established and I was pumping well, so we reduced to 1-2 bottle top-ups a day, at night time, always EBM. DW (we are a same-sex couple) gives her the bedtime bottle and she normally goes straight down to sleep after. We also see grandparents once a week and they have her for an afternoon and give her a bottle then. So there has been no problem with bottle-feeding until now. We use the MAM bottles.

Suddenly this week she has started refusing bottle. Cries as soon as the teat touches lip, and then if any milk goes in her mouth, she chokes on it. We are still using the same MAM bottles we've always used. She responds in the same way whether it's me or DW giving her the bottle. She took a bottle from Granny on Thursday but then refused one from her yesterday.

We do need her to take a bottle, so need to fix this problem. Things we have tried:

• DW offering bottle with me upstairs while she is downstairs;
• warming the milk really warm;
• offering bottle before BF (so she's really hungry for it);
• offering bottle after BF (so she's not starving and too upset to try);
• different positioning, with baby facing away on lap.

None of the above have worked. We can go and buy some different bottles today but as she has been taking MAM bottles for 8 weeks, I don't expect a change of bottle to be the answer.

Any thoughts on how we might solve this?

Sorry about no paragraphs- my post had paragraphs in it when I wrote it!

Cold EBM worked for my son. Bottle straight from the fridge. He also takes MAM bottles but refuses them warm.
Nothing worked for my daughter, she refused bottles from around 3 months. We eventually started her on a cup at around 4 months after trying everything we could think of to encourage bottles. We used the Munchkin Miracle 360 cup.
Hope that's of some help.

mylittlepony374 thanks. Will look at that cup, though 9 weeks is probably too small for a cup?

We tried giving her cold milk once or twice before the bottle-refusing started (e.g. when out in a restaurant and the hot water we had asked for to heat bottle took ages to come), and she didn't go for it.

I'm not sure how young is too young for a cup. Hopefully someone with more experience/expertise may be able to advise. I know some babies with clefts limiting successful breast/bottle feeding are fed from a cup very early on so it may be possible?

What is the flow of the teat?
I'm asking due to you saying DD chokes on the milk, my DS did this when he was baby and I had to use the slowest teat flow.
I'm not saying this is the case, so please don't think I'm trying to scare you or DW; when DS went onto solids he constantly choked! It turned out to be he had a rare syndrome, which explained why I had to use the slowest flowing teats.
(I'm not saying your DD may have this )

Not able to give much advice, we're having the exact same problem (although DD a little older, 12 weeks). My health visitor advised trying a doidy cup, an open, slanted cup - they're recommended for 3+ months, but since prem babies are cup fed in hospital, I guess there's no harm in trying on a younger baby?

Bought the doidy on Amazon for about a fiver. We're going to have a go with it today - wish me luck!

cheaperthebetter it's a slow flow teat (MAM no.1) so don't think the milk is coming out too fast.

mybobowler I looked at Doidy cup this morning and thought they look good for older baby / toddler but I can't imagine DD drinking from one. We tried feeding from a little cup given to us by lactation consultant in the first 2 weeks to avoid nipple/bottle confusion - it was a messy affair with most of the milk going on the floor or onto our laps!