breast fed baby won't take bottle - any tips?

[hereandthere]

ds is 5 months - exclusivly b/f - am returning to work soon so need him to take bottles of ebm but he is point blank refusing - have tried getting partner to offer him bottles but no joy - any other tips?

Ds went through a phase of this after being ok. I started to breastfeed him and then whipped the bottle in. I know it's not the answer but could be a start just to get him used to it?

what does he drink his water/juice from. Maybe use a cup for milk instead of bottle?
Is he maybe too hungry to start with. Maybe give him some breast then finish off with bottle?

Make sure the milk's hot (body temperature, not just warm), try offering it yourself (DS wouldn't take a bottle from DH initially - looked at him like he was mad - you could almost hear him thinking "Daddies don't give me milk!").

And perservere. I used to give DS a couple of ounces of EBM in the morning - he'd have one boob so he wasn't starving, then a bit of EBM, then the other boob. It seemed like it took forever, but when I read my diary the other day, it was about three days.

BS, I did that too - talk about nipple confusion!

I had to keep on trying for ages - offered bottle first at every daytime feed for a while.

Don't worry too much - I've learnt that these things resolve themselves eventually if you just keep calmly offering what every other baby accepts just fine. When you aren't there during the day he can choose to have the bottle or nothing... as long as you give him a good bf morning and evening and on your non-working days he won't fade away!

thanks for suggestions - will keep trying!

Same thing happened to me. She just wouldn't . Went back to work when she was 6 months. Kept trying but no joy.

When I went back to work baby just weaning, eating some pureed fruit and veg. Anyway baby just had food in day time and waited till I got home for milk

I thought she would cry with hunger but she didn't at all.

Then she just gradually started to drink a little bit then a bit more.

Now is 13 months and has 3 cups of milk a day. Loves it and I stopped breastfeeding completely at 10 months

it is scary but don;t worry ds will be fine.

You could also think about changing teats! I had a problem giving dd a bottle initially - wouldn't take it off dh either. Changed from using Avent teats - which I think are quite hard, to Tommy Tippie Nuby ones which are a lot softer and have bumps on them. Complete success after that. Obviously I must just have softer / squidgy nipples !!

Also had some latex ones lined up just in case the TT ones didn't work but didn't need them in the end.

hadn't thought of that - will try tt - also using advent at moment - thanks.

I have same problem with daughter (14 weeks & I'm due back at work in 7 wks). My health visitor suggested completely giving up on bottle (as might intefere with breast feeding) and to try beaker (simple spout - not a non-spill). Can't say it's worked yet although we haven't really persisted. She seems to get some milk down but alot more dribbled back out. She really has no idea what to do with bottle or beaker - just pushes them around her mouth with her tongue. Do they really just 'figure it out' for themselves at some point or is there a technique for teaching them?

my dd (now 6 months) although bf, was given one bottle every day from she was 2 weeks old - i just wanted her to get used to it so when the day came to stop bf she would be fine. she took the bottle no problem for 4months and then point blank refused - either formula or ebm. i tried every teat/bottle on the market. eventually the thing that worked was giving her a dummy (which she loved) and then using a teat shaped exactly like the dummy - in our case it was an orthodontic shaped one a(mothercare's own brand). it seemed that she got used to the teat on the dummy first and then slowly came around to the bottle. slightly peeved as i really didn;t want to use a dummy at all and survibed 4 months without one, but it did do the trick.

I was in your position few months ago, my 5 month old DD just refused a bottle from anyone. When I returned to work, I breast fed her in the morning and again at night time. During the day she had baby rice etc and just drank water from a cup. I felt awful for the first couple of days but she was fine. Try not to worry!

Hi
aaarrh this sounds so familiar. My ds was on a bottle a day from 2 weeks to 3 months, then exclusively breastfed for a month or so then as he was still waking twice a night we decided to get him onto bottles again and he point blank refused. In the end I had to leave the house for 3 hours and my husband persevered with every brand of bottle and teat under the sun with the telly on and toys being dangled for distraction. In the end it was tall thin mothercare bottles with latex teats that did the trick, and it was a cold turkey case, we knew he knew how to suck and wouldn't starve. I tried nuby teats, nuk ones, latex and silicon, slow, medium and fast flow. It was a nightmare. I really feel for you.
Jill

im getting back to work next week,still no sign of ds-8 mnths taking to the bottle..ill be there for 11 hrs on fri and 5 hrs thurs-jobshare.
im worried abt the whole day friday-i will leave his bottle with the nursery so they can keep trying.and his feeder for water/juice.
wat i was wondering abt his milk feeds is,shall i just bf him when i leave in the morn & again as soon as im back at night or shd i nip out to the nursery in the middle?
he's a fussy eater,but hopefully when he's eating well-will that suffice?

my 8 month only has a feed in a morning and before bed. I try to feed him water or milk from a cup he has a bit but not much. my last baby was the same but now drinks loads!! Try to encourage his eating habits and worry less about the drinking!!!they alter their habbits regularly at this stage.its only a couple of weeks since he had about 4 feeds a day from me!!
good luck