baby won't take a bottle

[nappynovice]

My 11 wk old seems really hungry in the evenings so I was advised to try to top her up with a bottle of either expressed milk or formula. Trouble is, she has refused point blank to touch the bottle and screams and screams. I tried her on a bottle with no problems weeks ago as I had mastitis but now she won't touch it- I can't understand why she's suddenly changed her mind! Any ideas?!!!

It's about the standard time for a growth spurt and cluster feeding in the evenings is quite normal. My advice would be just to settle down with drinks, snacks and TV remote within reach and feed feed feed. It's a phase that will pass.

Don't be surprised if your dd has stopped taking from a bottle, she has just got firmly used to your breast! The same happened with my ds. However, if you really want to use a bottle, the trick is to pick one type of bottle and teat and stick to it, don't keep changing hoping to find a brand she is happy with, and try the bottle at a time when she isn't too hungry, e.g. mid-morning. Don't try it in the evenings if she's really hungry then. Just keep trying and she'll get there, although it may take a few days of perseverence. It may also be easier for your partner to offer the bottle as she'll be able to smell your milk. Once she's got the hang of the bottle, then you can offer it in the evening. Mind you, the growth spurt may have passed by the time she gets used to the bottle...

Don't worry. You'll get through this tricky patch.

nappynovice, it's normally poor advice to tell mothers to use a bottle in the evenings - it's normal for a baby to fed a lot/need a lot of cuddles in the evening, and the use of a bottle i) means you have to find time to express or ii) give formula and neither option helps with your supply (quite the opposite).

Just going with the flow sounds a lot easier than fighting her to take a bottle