BF 4mo indignant about ebm from bottle - should I give up trying?

[twelveyeargap]

I've read some threads which suggest trying dream feeds from a bottle - yet to try that.

I've tried bottles mid feed, bottles instead of breast. Nnngh. Admittedly, I get spooked by her carrying on when I try to give a bottle and generally give up after a few feeds of trying because I am distressed by the amount of EBM being thrown down the sink.

Want to carry on breast-feeding. Would just REALLY like to be able to leave her with DH for more than a couple of hours.

Anyway, my question is this. Is it worth trying to get her to take ebm from a sippy cup instead of a bottle and just pack the bottle effort in altogether? Any words of wisdom for me?

Have tried Tommy Tippee, Avent, Nuk and Breastflow bottles all with various flow rates on the teats over the last couple of months; all to no avail. I have a cupboard full of bottles for a breastfed baby. It's all wearing thin and getting v expensive.

Ta muchly.

I've got a 6 month upstairs napping at the mo who is point blank refusing to take milk from a bottle - happiest with his face up my jumper. At lunchtime today I tried a small beaker with some milk in it (not a sippy cup, a proper plastic beaker), and he managed that fine, once he got used to it. It might be worth a try?

thanks for asking this 12, am just about to try my 6m old on a sippy cup (I think, not sure if I've got the right item) as he was so disinterested in a bottle. Fed him EBM out of a syringe once (stuck in 3hr traffic jam) and he liked that!

I had exactly the same problem with my ds when he was about the same age. i kept trying him with the bottle of ebm when he was not too desperate for a feed. I also gave him a bottle with just water in to try to get him used to the feel of the bottle teat in his mouth in between feeds. I also managed to get him used to a tommee tipee cup (which he did not take much from!). Basically, I did everything that you did, but just kept persevering!!
He is now 7 months old and will take milk from a bottle happily and will also 'chew' on the cup!

Hmmm. Not at all sure about the "she'll take it if she's hungry" theory - it certanly didn't work for DS, and i wouldn't risk it.
The problem is that they just don't realise that a bottle will satisfy their hunger - they feel hungry, they want your breast - and not some other damn thing that they have no idea what it is, thrust in their mouths.

DS was never into a dummy, and i wonder if there is a correlation - maybe babies that suck dummies will also suck teats and thereby relaise that teats release milk.

I think the advice is to offere a bottle when the baby is NOT hungry as being upset that they want milk / breast makes them even less likely to accept a bottle...but you've done that...so apart form just trying, I don't know what you can do!

She seems quite taken with the soft spout on a Tommee Tippee cup I got yesterday. Liked chewing it and sucking it. (Water in the cup.) Seems hard to get the liquid out though, so will buy the soft Avent cup (which I remember DD1 using at 4 mo, years ago) and try that.

Will try a bottle again today and for the rest of the week at at least one feed and see how we get on.

Oh and I meant to add - she would almost never take a dummy either. Before about 2 months, she would take it in desperation some nights (when I had to stop her gnawing my boob for comfort), but otherwise just spits them out.

after several attempts with bottles dd (9 weeks) will take a couple of ounces from closer to nature bottle. i guess it would be enough to tide her over until i got back but not a whole feed. every baby seems to be different though. She took it best when really sleeply just before her normal tea time feed. i personally wouldn't risk it as a dream feed as if she gets really upset she may be hard to settle at that time! maybe once established it works well? I second the waste though - it is really gutting. I tried only putting 2 oz in bottle and one day she guzzled it - when i went to put more in, by the time it was heated, she refused it!

Thanks all. I have been trying her mid feed for the last few days just to introduce the teat with little success. She just took 50mls of ebm! Yay! I tried Nuk wide-necked bottles with latex, rather than silicone teats as they're so much softer. She protested a bit, but eventually got stuck in.

She would have taken more but I'd frozen the rest of the ebm so it didn't go to waste. Am going to try her again later or tomorrow latest, to make sure she doesn't forget.

Incidentally, she'd recently woken, been changed and was 4 hours from previous feed, so ravenous. I warmed the milk to "quite warm", too.

this thread title makes me really broody

is she also doing that thing where she holds her open mouth over your nipple and kind of goes aaaaaaaaaaaaa shaking her head from side to side so your nipple touches the sides of her open mouth

that would be the clincher for me

That is SO funny, when they do that. And the excited heavy breathing thing while they arch their back to try to get to the boob faster. Awww.