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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

8 week old GF baby doesn't want to take a bottle

38 replies

melaniespeaking · 01/09/2002 12:59

Any ideas?? At about 4 weeks dd took bottle of expressed milk at 10pm feed from husband. This lasted 3 days, then he was away for a week and a half, and I couldn't face expressing milk and then sitting feeding it to her, and I was also worried she wouldn't take it from me. When husbad came back he tried again and she took bottle for another 3/4 days, but then protested.

He treid for another 2 but she just wouldn't take it. So for the last 9 days i have been breast feeding dd at 10pm feed.

DH husband tried this morning agai at the 11am feed, when she is normally very hungry, but to no avail.

I am happy to b/feed, but would like the chance to go to bed a little earlier. Also Gina suggests a bottle of colled boiled water in pm and if she continues to wake in night to give her boiled water then, none of which I can do in present situation.

Hey pals out there, any one got any bright ideas, or dull, I'll except them all!!

OP posts:

pena · 05/11/2002 13:50

DS is almost one (yikes!) and is a GF baby. Content, happy, a light sleeper but goes down easily at night and slept thru' 7.30pm to 6.30-7am from about 12 weeks onwards.

Do experiment with softer/rubber teats - the Avent silicon ones caused me much aggro even tho' everyone seems to swear by them. Silicon teats were an ordeal, he never finished as fell asleep/exhausted halfway thru' the bottle. He fed quickly with the rubber.

I was neurotic GF mum too in the first 3 months. Kept panicking if ds slept at wrong times or didn't meet her milestones. But with help from other mumsnetters (thanks to Pupuce) I relaxed and learned to adapt the routines sensibly.

susanmt · 09/11/2002 02:51

jessb - good for you! If it's not for you, then give it up, go with the flow and enjoy your lovely spirited son. It fits some but not others, so don't be afraid to ditch it if it doesn't fit, all babies are individuals after all.

Enid · 09/11/2002 08:31

honeybunny, starve him. It worked for dd1 when nothing else had. Sure I'll get shot down in flames for saying it but if you really want him to take a bottle its worth it...

Enid · 09/11/2002 08:43

Why do these GF threads always mainly consist of people who don't agree with GF? Sorry, but its the same old people who we know don't agree, can't we just answer the original question? I'm all for free speech but come on, give it a rest, some of you are like a broken record.

melaniespeaking, perserve, you may find she'll take it one night - keep offering. Or try formula? some babies are happier to take formula from a bottle than breastmilk, then you could slowly 'water' it down with breast until she's only taking breast.

SoupDragon · 09/11/2002 09:53

Enid, that's why I set up the "GF debate" thread to move the debate away from threads where GF mums wanted help.

Jessb - from what I can gather, you don't have to do GF completely by the book to make it work. Adapt it to fit your free spirited son. Find the nap and feed times which suit your son (and you) and take it from there - you won't squash his spirit! You're right, you should enjoy your baby but I guess some babies are easier to enjoy than others, which is where GF and her like come in...

Original poster

melaniespeaking · 13/11/2002 14:00

Just come back to this thread after a while, and someone had suggested trying a Nuk and a time when dd was not desperate for a feed and it worked so thanks. I have since recommended a Nuk to two other mums and both their babies have taken it, whereas wouldn't have taken Avent. Also have to share this news dd has slept through the last four nights, hurrah, she is now 18 weeks and I needed a sleep!!!!!

OP posts:

susanmt · 15/11/2002 13:22

Enid, I presume that was aimed at me! Well, in case you forgot, I suffered from using GF in a very similar situation to jessb - with a 'spirited active baby' who didn't accept these routines at all. When I tried to force her into it it made us both unhappy. It was jessb who said of herself she should give it up - I was only giving her some support in this as very often GF mums encourage women to keep on with the routines when they are long overdue to be dumped.
Sorry if I sound like a broken record to you, but I am very aware of the severe probelms that this can cause if it is not right for Mum and baby. I wasn't debating the relative merits of GF, just giving some support to someone who thought the same way as me.

Rhubarb · 15/11/2002 20:47

You know, I didn't start using GF until my dd was 3 months old, as I hadn't heard of it before then. She would take cat naps during the day and would go to bed with us at 10-11pm. When I started the routines and found that they worked I could have kissed her! I had 2 hours a day to myself! I could just relax, or catch up on things I couldn't do whilst she was awake. And me and dh had the evenings to ourselves!

But if it doesn't work for you Jessb or Melainespeaking, then it doesn't work. However to some other mum, GF might well work. I hated those non-disposable nappies, they were a nightmare for me, but it doesn't mean to say that I would never try them again or suggest them to a friend.

I hope your problems are sorted soon. Babies come in all shapes and sizes, and it may take a while to find out what suits your baby. Next week might be a totally different ball game altogether!

Clarinet60 · 15/11/2002 23:31

This cat-napping during the day and going to bed late sounds just like DS2. I wonder ........ should I get out the book? (Duck!)
Seriously though, is 6 months too late? I couldn't be doing with that waking them up at 7 am though. Does it work if you omit bits?
(genuine question, I'm not being faceatious (can't even spell it) honest!)

Rhubarb · 18/11/2002 14:33

Droile, I only used the bits of the book I thought would work for us. So the 7pm - 7am routine I changed to 8pm - 8am as I'm a lazy arse! It also gave dh chance to spend some time with her in the evenings. The 2 hour nap in the afternoon stopped dd cat-napping, so when we was awake she was much more active and could concentrate on things for longer, without dropping off. The same could also be said for me! I think it probably would work for a 6 month old, but as GF is so controversial (apparently) you might want to just chop and change her routines to suit you and your ds. However the basic principle of a good nights sleep and an afternoon nap remain the same, and as far as that goes, it's nothing different to the routines mothers have been following for decades - as my m-i-l tells me.

Clarinet60 · 18/11/2002 16:09

Thanks Rhubarb.

Original poster

melaniespeaking · 19/11/2002 20:11

Just come back to this thread again, and realise I have been outed as a non Gina believer, whereas I am slightly obsessed with her, and have just gone and bought her weaning book. DD is my third chikld and I have found Gina to be brillant. The book was not arounf for my first two!! Whatever works go for it, but I have found Gina invalueable!!!

OP posts:

kazzalou · 14/12/2002 21:09

I have used GF since day one and she has slept through from 10/11 - 7am since 8 weeks old but I have to admit to having neurotic spells when she did not fit the routine!
She also will not take a bottle after we moved house at four weeks and I was too tired to express for a week and all the frozen EBM defrosted (nightmare. Where can I buy rubber teats and Nuk bottles as everywhere you go seems to be controlled by AVENT.

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