back to work in less than 4 weeks...what can i do if he still wont take a bottle

[popsycal]

ds2 is still resisting the bottle. trying all sorts of teats but he doesnt do anything

i am going back for 4 days then summer hols
i am building up a freezer of expressed milk for those 4 days and want to resume bf as normal over the hols and start him on solids so that when i return prpoerly 4 days a week in september(when he willbe 6 months) he can have solids and expressed milk...

gettng very anxiuos

has anyone been on the situation where they are due back and work and baby wont take a bottle?

yes, popsycal, we've had success but we had to starve him onto it. I did what fletchie here suggested. He was due a feed at about 11 so I offered the bottle. Point blank refused. Kept trying over the next few hours and at 3pm he took it. We used MAM teats but I really don't think the teats were an issue. (This is after purchasing every weird-looking bottle and teat on the market, btw!) After that I have given him a bottle every day at 11. At first he didn't take much, no more than 60ml and I would finish off with a breastfeed. Now we are up to 90ml. I just keep increasing it a little more every day. I put him on solid at 5.5 months as well just in case but he is more enthusiastic about the solids some days than others. I also found that walking up and down while singing helped and feeding him in a different room from where I usually bf. hth

My dd wouldn't take a bottle when i went back to work when she ws about 6 months. In fact she never took a bottle apart from when she was newborn and slow to feed and had ebm. She was already on solids when I went back (advice was to begin weaning at 4 months in those days) and would take a small amount of milk from a beaker with a soft spout (the old style Avent ones). She would be ravenous for me when we got in in the evening - I often fed her before I even took off my coat! Is there any way you can get out of going back for those initial 4 days? It will be a lot easier if you can wait until september. Have you tried the Playtex system - my ds2 eventually took to that after refusing other bottles.

have you tried playtex?

currently try chicco and tommee tippee nuby

he just doesnt know what to do with it
how do i make him suck!!!

Have you tried a lidded beaker cup or an open cup? He doesn't have to use a teat that way.

popsycal, I think someone on MN said that they gave their baby a dummy first and he then took the bottle. Worth a try?

have tried 5 different types of dummy......
he just chews it

like Zoe - I juts went onto a beaker (Tommee Tippee I think) so he didn't have to suck - then it just becomes a drink and not a sucky, snuggly experience!
BTW, when I stopped breastfeeding, he was never particularly interested in milk - now he's 22m and only has one at breakfast time and one in the afternoon.

do you mean the ones with the flip lid?
like a normal sippy cup?
have some of those that ds1 used to use though i am guessing i ought to get a new one and sterilise it!!!

Is it you trying to bottle feed? Babies will often refuse a bottle from mum as they know it is much nicer to get it from source! Has your partner, another relative or friends tried to give a bottle? They may have more success than you. You may even have to go into another room or out altogether as babies sometimes refuse a bottle if they know mum is nearby.

oh popsycal, i do feel for you - been there, done the time, got the tshirt.

dd2 was exactly like this. we went through 3 months of pure hell - her in tears, me in tears, alot of screaming and tearing of hair out on both parts.

all i can say is that i tried everything - different locations, ebm, every formula on the market, water, diluted juice, different people feeding her, breast & bottle feeding at the same time (don't ask!), starvation (which i could only hold out for 12 hours for), we had every teat/bottle/cup available at home (could do demonstrations on feeding systems as we now have all the kit!), etc. nothing worked.

eventually she went to nursery and slowly started taking a bottle from her carer. it wasn't alot at first and it was slow but we got there. i continued to bf in the morning and evening and wasn't keen on stopping bf as i at least then knew she was getting something.

once she was on bottles there was no stopping her and was happy to dual feed until i stopped bf'ing at 14m. now she will happily run around the house with a bottle firmly stuck in her mouth. she's happy with bottles and cups but really loves that bottle she battled against for months (silly girl!)

i know that it is hard/demoralising/upsetting/frustrating but they do get it in the end (god how many times did i hear that, sorry). just try to stop worrying (impossible i know) and keep at it.

cat me if you want to talk

DS absolutely refused a bottle too. I ended up going in in my lunch hour to feed him for a few weeks. By then he was eating enough solids to see him through, and made up for it by feeding a lot at night andin the morning.

I now have DD, who has taken a bottle no problem, and I think this is probably because we have used a dummy with her-don't know how you feel about that but I know a few people whose babies refused bottles, and then were persuaded to take a dummy and followed on to a bottle from that.

Good luck.

Sorry-just read back and saw that you've already tried the dummy option!

tried everything mentioned
just going to have to persist and see what happens

yes I do mean that!
Good luck - I'm sure my DS didn't drink anything for a few days at least when I stopped feeding him but it doesn't seem to have done him any harm!

Popsycal, you may already have tried this but have you got this bottle Just that I have one( which ds3 didn't take to, by the way!) and they are expensive to buy. Its shaped like a boob so maybe it might give your ds the idea? I could send you mine if you like.

Sorry, this bottle

popsy - this may be a really daft idea and it would obviously be quite slow, but it nothing else works, how about putting the milk in one of those syringes that you use for medicine and squirting it gently bit by bit into his mouth?

bonym - that is my last resort - have thought of that already lol

chipmonkey - have never seen them before and they look great!!!

got afew more teats to try yet but i may get back to you
many thanks for your kind offer

No problem popsy, just let me know if you want it. tbh if you have others to try I would try those first. The breastbottle is a bit awkward to fill and heat but when we tried it he looked like he was sucking on a breast. He was still stubborn though, when he caught himself complying with us he would throw a fit!

steriliser on, breast pump ready
first stop - chicco bottle

Good luck, popsy!

i will need it

As a maternity nurse i have found the MAM ULTIvent teats with the MAM bottle or with avent/boots/wide neck bottles to be the best, they are the softest on the market i have found and the babies have been able to latch on easier then avent teats, i use these to do EBM at night/ during mum's day rests.

thanks
I am popping out to get some of these tomorrow