Bottle Rejection

[Pancake]

Help!!

I'm sorry if this topic has been covered before but I'm new to Mumsnet and I'm not too sure how it all works.

Anyway, I have a 6 month old ds who is rejecting the bottle and I am at my wits end. I go back to work in 3 weeks and am hoping to have stopped breastfeeding by then. My husband and I seem to have tried everything but none of the following have worked: expressed milk, expressed + formula; different teats (slow, medium, fast); NUK bottle and teats; getting someone else to give him the bottle; trying to get him to drink the milk from the cup (we're using Aptamil); hot milk, cool milk; the only thing we haven't tried is changing the milk and I'm loathe to do this although I have been told that apparently Boots do banana flavoured milk!

DS just doesn't seem to know how to suck which is surprising given he had a dummy for the first 12 weeks but was weaned off this at Christmas.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

I know this may not be much help, but, dd1 stopped milk altogether at 5 months and dd2 at 3 months, they have NEVER had a bottle or cup of milk since. DD2 very ill and had to see the consultant who told me that as long as they get some dairy products, ie, cheese, yogurts & milk on cereal. My dd2 is now the size (both weight and length) of a 2year old

Oh I remember it well...

What worked for us (at the same age) was:

• disposable bottles (which are really soft) then as dd got the hang of bottles

• latex variflow orthodontic teats (latex is softer than silicon, orthodontic is much more like the shape my nipple came out of dd's mouth so I figured it was right! and variflow is DEFINITELY the way a breastfed baby sucks) from mothercare - these only work with narrow bottles not avent

• a fantastic bottle that Asda sell called an anticolic bottle which has a removable bottom which lets air in as the baby sucks - this means they don't have to let back air into the teat between swallows which a breastfed baby doesn't understand. Ruinously expensive but a godsend.

• taste testing formula. They do not all taste the same, trust me. If you can find one you like, your baby is more likely to like it too. You can taste your breastmilk too to compare.

• not setting yourself too high a target. Just put 1oz in the bottle and be pleased if he manages that, then gradually work up.

At 6 months, he may well cope with a big feed in the morning, one when you get home and one at bedtime (or shortly into the night). He won't starve - I'm sorry to say he'll probably wake you at night instead if he needs the milk. It's a good idea to start increasing the solids in the day so he relies on the milk less.

Everyone says they get used to it, and they do, but I found dd was never 100% happy with a bottle until she was totally off the breast. Others say they managed mixed feeding extremely well.

Good luck!

Message withdrawn

Many thanks for all your advice and encouragement - I will work through list of suggestions so fingers crossed!

We are currently having the same problem as Pancake had. My wife has been breastfeeding our 5½ month old daughter, and is planning to return to work in about 5 weeks. Our daughter has no interest in taking milk from anything other than a breast. We have tried a couple of cups (with and without valved spouts, and just from the rim of the cup, without spout) and a couple of different teats, but with no luck (not yet tried variflow). She has once or twice taken fruit juice from a cup, but it is very difficult to get her to do so. Milk is impossible. (we have tried with both expressed milk and formula). The fact that she has a couple of times taken fruit juice (she loves fruit) proves that she can suck from a spout. The problem is getting her to do it with milk. Generally, she turns her head, not allowing the teat/spout anywhere near her mouth, and she SCREAMS!!

One of the things we are planning to try is adding some of the juice to some milk to flavour it in the hope of tricking her into drinking the milk that way.

We shall certainly try some of the suggestions below, and I'd love to hear how Pancake got on. Meanwhile, our childminder is not looking forward to a baby that cries with hunger, but screams and refuses food when she tries to feed her.

I hate to say it, but there are babies who never manage (both of mine, for example). I tried nearly all the things Phillipat sensibly suggested- latex teats, variflow, disposable bottles, anticolic etc to no avail. I tried two different sorts of formula, expressed milk, juice and water. I was lucky because I was only going back to work in the mornings, but in the end they would both drink a tiny bit (1 fl oz at most) from a soft spout, and got by with this and solids, and then I breastfed like mad when we got home at 2pm. However, having said this, if your dd can manage to drink from a teat as you say then I would bet money that she will when she's with the childminder and there's no alternative. I'm sure if she at least drinks juice and has dairy products and a feed in the evening she'll manage fine. It's really worrying though, and a horrible start to going back to work. Good luck to you all!

You have no idea how many times I have heard that a baby will not take milk out of anything and the worry it causes.

Forget bottles, let them sip out if an ordinary cup if that is what it is going to take. If they are thirsy/hungry they will take it. Childminders are used to babies and will probably manage to get something into them when frought parents ca't. If you stop feeding then the baby will eventually take an alternative. If breastfeeding continues when you are not at work, a 6 month old baby will get all the milk he/she needs at those times.
Please be reassured that no baby has ever starved rom lack of milk when a mother stops breastfeeding. I have never had a baby that I cannot get to take milk if needed. Half the problem starts when parents try to force babies to take milk when they are not hungry for it to make sure they take it when they do resume work. I just went to work and my baby took milk from a bottle because I didn't cause upset over it in the weeks before going back.

Pancake - definately forget banana flavoured milk. Your baby will take something eventually. How often are you feeding? Could you consider feeding just morning and night for a bit longer than you planned? That way your baby will get enough milk and you can concentrate on them taking solids which inevitably makes them thirsty and he will look for something to drink, be it water or juice. Once they are used to taing fluids happily you can introduce milk and stop feeding. Just a thought so that you will be less anxious about it all.

Well here I am 26 days after my first posting and I am pleased to say that ds is now drinking 20oz of milk a day from an Avent bottle with a variable teat! We have been throw hell and back though!

We booked a consultation with Gina Ford who was absolutely fantastic and she gave me the confidence to give up b/f. We were in conversation with her every day for 2 weeks and now I talk to her once a week with an update. It was awful though as in the early days ds would only suck about 1oz at each bottle feed and we would literally have to squeeze the rest of it in or get him to drink it from the bottle without the teat on at all. Then one day last week he just sucked and hasn't looked back since! He's now on four bottles and takes 6oz at morning and evening and then 4oz mid-morning and mid-afternoon.

So all I can say is that perserverance worked for us! Good luck to anyone trying, and RKandF, you may well find that your baby will take the bottle from the childminder (ds starting sucking at nursery)!

I'm very late to this thread, so apologise for adding my bit now, but I started up a similar thread a couple of months ago as I was also tearing my hair out - how common this problem must be!

The advice that worked for me was to use the Avent soft spouts, but without the valve in to start with. It's very messy, but gets the baby used to the spout. After a while like this, when he seemed to be starting to suck, I then put the valve back in.

It took a lot of battles, perseverence & tears (from child & me!) but we got there & I stopped breastfeeding completely about 4 weeks ago now.