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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Bottle refuser - help needed!!

14 replies

CathW99 · 27/03/2009 18:38

My DS is 16 weeks and has never taken a bottle of EBM. We've tried various types of bottle all to no avail. Tried him on a cup the other day which was slightly more succesful but still not great - only about half an ounce. He is Bf really well but I could really just do with a break from time to time as I'm knackered. Ideally would prefer to use a bottle as less milk lost (although it all goes down the sink at the moment - heartbreaking!). Has anyone used a Doidy cup? Any advice for getting him to take a bottle? Thanks.

OP posts:

tiredexplorer · 27/03/2009 18:52

Unfortunately, I've got no useful advice. DD2 is exactly the same. I tired every bottle and sippy cup I could get my hands on and no success. She's nearly 9 months old now and I'm only just getting her to take juice out of a cup. Hang in there. I'm sure someone will be along with some good advice soon.

feralgirl · 27/03/2009 19:44

Search the forums (try "refusing bottle" as your key words); there are loads of people with the same problem.
I had it with DS. At 10 weeks he just suddenly wasn't having it. I was almost at the point where I was going to give my EBM to the cats as I was wasting so much!
I know you said you tried various bottles but did you try a Mam teat (they'll fit on Avent bottles)? I tried one after reading a lots of different threads and it worked a treat, dunno why, DS just seemed to like the flatness of them iyswim. The other thing that works for us is sitting him in his bouncy chair rather than trying to do it while he's in my arms. I thinkhe sees the bottle as a tasty toy rather than a means to get fed.
Also the only time DS will take a bottle is when he's just woken up from a nap and is therefore all chilled and rested.
The advice I was given by a BF counsellor was to try it every day, at a positive time of the day, with a little bit (an ounce or so at a time) so as not to affect your supply. And be patient.

MrsHD · 27/03/2009 20:29

Hi. I had this problem with DD. Delayed introducing a bottle as we had probs establishing feeding, and simply left it too late. Eventually she took an Avent toddler spout the first time I tried her with it, having bought every bottle and teat on the market - she obviously just didn't like teats. Have you tried a toddler-type spout? Not sure if that's what you mean by 'cup'.

This time, with DS, esp as he was such a champion BFer, we introduced a bottle quite early on. Haven't used one for a while, having said that, just out of the habit of expressing, but he seems fine with it. We use the Tommee Tippee breastflow bottles.

Original poster

CathW99 · 27/03/2009 22:45

Thanks for the advice. I hadn't thought about using a toddler spout - just an open beaker/cup. We've tried avent, tommee tippe, mothercare breastfeeding teat and Nuk so maybe I'll try the Mam/spout options and trying him in his chair instead of our arms - although he can't hold anything yet. DS1 had bottles from about 6 weeks so this has a bit of a shock to the system!

OP posts:

wideratthehips · 28/03/2009 12:25

my dd who is 13 days today has started having a bottle of ebm in the evening as i too am shattered.

we have tried something new each day and last night seemed to crack it.

it was using the medela bottle and slow flow teat whixh is really quite small.

previously she was choking a lot and we had tried different shapes of teat and a variflow.

i think she has also got a bit more used to a faster flow than the breast?!

Jojay · 28/03/2009 12:32

Sympathies, my Ds2 took a bottle of EBM every night from 2 wks to 3 months, then point blank refused it. i tried for a couple of days then left it for a month or so.

When I tried again he took it the first time but refused it the next 2 days, so I've given up now - I can't be bothered to express to chuck it all away.

Moral of the story - just 'cos they've taken it in the past, don't assume they always will.

Sorry OP, that's no help at all is it

feralgirl · 28/03/2009 20:20

It's weird; loads of people say the same as Jojay and me about babies going to approx 3 months and then refusing. Maybe they just hit some phase in their development where they're a bit more aware of their surroundings and realise that boobs are better than bottles!

Althought that's a bit off track from the OP, soz!

smurfette15 · 28/03/2009 20:31

I tried everything with DD but eventually hit the jackpot with cup training teats from Boots. They're quite flat and she took to them well. Also had success with Mam bottles.

nicnic01 · 28/03/2009 21:02

Hi, We had same problem with dd. She had had the odd bottle at around 8 weeks but then when we tried at 12 weeks she flatly refused. We tried all the usual advice, different bottles, different people, Expressed milk, formula... but in the end we just decided consistency would be the best. we decided to stick with the avent bottle and try once evry day at around the same time. tried for few mins each time but stopped before she got upset and then breast fed. It took a good few weeks but we did get there. One day she just took it fine. Then we had a few days of one bottle a day, few days 2 bottles a day etc etc.
I think the biggest thing that helped me was that I had almost accepted it wasnt going to work so we were really relaxed about trying the bottle and never forced it on her. I thought I would still be breast feeding on her graduation day!
Hope this helps, good luck.

nicnic01 · 28/03/2009 21:08

btw, I forgot to mention that we were wasting so much milk to begin with that I was just expressing an ounce at a time for our daily attempt. When she did have a tiny bit of the bottle then I topped her up with a breast feed and I think it helped her realise that she wasnt going to be cut off completely and we gradually gave her more bottle less breast.

expatmommy · 05/07/2009 10:41

Hi, I am having the same problem. My daughter is 16 weeks tomorrow - exclusively breastfed and I am expressing milk for the attempts at bottle feeding. and Despite 3 different bottles and teats (dr brown, breastflow, playtex) - and we have tried slow and medium flow and her daddy is perfectionist at getting the temperature just right -- she is still refusing. She screams and screams and it is a traumatizing process for me and her daddy. I have left the house and nothing seems to help. We sometimes try every day and sometimes only once a week. We have tried night feeds, sleepy feeds, morning feeds, afternoon ... this also does not seem to make any difference. I am thinking about giving up completely on bottles. Should we keep trying? keep trying different bottles? should I buy Mam or Nuk? Or should we keep trying using the ones we have? Or should we try a beaker, spout, cup? All three of us are sooooooo tired and sad and frustrated.

drivingmisscrazy · 05/07/2009 18:20

another vote for the mam teats here (no. 2), DD (24 weeks) would not take a bottle come hell or high water. We fiddled about with teats and the flat ones work well, temp is (I think) important (given that breast milk delivered at body temp). Different feeding location, we also got it to work when we fed her on her back (at slight angle). So maybe mess about with positions - your DS is used to feeding on his back/side, and at first this feels counter-intuitive when bottle feeding. Also try (it's hard, I know, having lost the rag several times) not to surround the bottle feed with stress. Eventually she took it, but won't take massive feeds as she's used to the breast - teething will mess it up totally. But now she grabs the bottle and puts it in her own mouth. Usually we finish off the feed from the doidy cup - she enjoys messing with it and is pretty good at swallowing from it - though of course a good bit goes on the floor and down her front.

As our baby is a bit older we practiced on the doidy cup with small amounts of cooled boiled water to avoid pouring precious milk all over the place. But we can usually get about 160ml into her this way.

HTH - and good luck

K8Cocker · 05/07/2009 20:35

I am in similar nightmare with 11 week old.

I am trying a more softly softly approach. She just won't go for the bottle.

I have been using nipple shields 2-3 times a day to get her used to having plastic in her mouth. Tried to introduce a bottle of freshly expressed milk the other night and she sort of wasn't up for it - so while she was breast feeding I held it up so she could see the bottle and start to associate it with feeding.

It's a slow process and I have to admit slacking off for the last 24 hours - I am sure eventually it will work!

Kate xx

dairycow · 05/07/2009 22:23

Don't want to jinx myself, but have been having the same problem since DD1's birth, and have had success a good four or five times over the last few days using a doidy cup! Again, some does get spilt, however, I think she does take a good 100-150ml of EBM/FM each time. This is real progress for us, as we have tried just about everything else on the market, and differnt milks/temperatures etc. Hope this works for you - just persevere! Let us know how you get on!

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