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Original poster

Pls help-10wk old will NOT take bottle

19 replies

williwonti · 03/06/2014 15:06

Hmy nearly 11wk old ds will not take a bottle. I've been ebf and trying to give him a bottle of breast milk for over a week. I've now started putting formula in because it was heartbreaking pouring breast milk away every day. The thing is, not only will he not suck on the bottle hut he gets absolutely hysterical. No exaggeration. He barely cries and is a very placid child so it must be really upsetting him. I've done all the general tips of doing it when not too hungry and very hungry. Others have tried and done it so i am not around as an option but each time he gets into a terrible state. He's a big baby and feeds a lot so i need him to take a bottle......help!!!!! I don't really want to ho down route of new teats as i think could go on forever and spend a fortune.

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Littlef00t · 03/06/2014 15:51

I presume you've tried at night?

I managed it first at the dreamfeed I do as not too hungry and quite dopey.

There's a breast and bottle feeding section under feed the world that might offer more expert advice.

Original poster

williwonti · 03/06/2014 17:27

Actually no I haven't, that's tonight's task! And I've been looking for that section, thanks.

OP posts:

Melonbreath · 04/06/2014 07:50

Give up. Some babies just won't take a bottle no matter WHAT you do. Different bottles, latex teats, different approaches, different times of day and night, different people.
Wait until they're bigger and they may take a tippy cup or a doidy.
Yes dd, I am looking at you.

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dannydyerismydad · 04/06/2014 07:56

Have you tried wrapping a nursing bra round the bottle? Babies have strong smell associations.

I didn't try it with mine. He never took a bottle either. After 6 months though he would eat yogurt if I left him with DH and went out for a break. You're half way there.

lifesavingnoodles · 04/06/2014 08:05

I CM for a little on who wont have anything in her mouth.

So i put her in a recliner (bouncy chair) and spoon feed it to her. i put the spoon to her lips and she opens her mouth and i tip it in. Its like eating soup. It takes ages.......BUT seeing her weight come up is thrilling....just knowing i helped her to thrive.

good luck

Seeline · 04/06/2014 08:19

My Dd never took a bottle, would never drink formula or cows milk, or expressed milk out of a cup/spoon or any other implement. I started dropping feeds as I started weaning. She would drink water out of a bottle with spout/sucking top by about 9 months but that was as close as we ever got. finally dropped bed time feed at 15 months.
She is nearly 10yo now and still doesn't drink milk - never has. Even has her breakfast cereal dry....

mycatlikestwiglets · 04/06/2014 09:59

DD wouldn't take a bottle as a tiny baby but once I'd started weaning at 6mo I thought she might be more accepting so I tried again, using a Nuk bottle as I'd read the teats more closely approximate a nipple. It worked for her - she accepted it straight away and now at 7mo is fully bottle fed (and I've switched to different bottles as I had a load in the cupboard from when DS was small).

harverina · 04/06/2014 12:13

We had this same problem and I posted about it too. It took us 7 weeks of trying before dd finally trip a bottle. We are still bf but I had a couple of things on that involved me being away and I really didn't want to miss them. (Justin Timberlake concert!!)

Anyway we tried lots of different bottles and different teats based on different advice from different people. The issue is some babies just won't take a bottle and move on to sippy cups when they are a bit older.

Eventually dd took a mam bottle of very warm expressed milk. But as I say it was 7 weeks after we first tried. I even left her for the day in the hope that me being away would help but it didn't

She only has a bottle of ebm occasionally but I like to know that she will if I am not with her.

Sorry that wasn't very helpful but I just think that you could easily spend a fortune on loads of bottles only for it to be a waste. There are a few brands that bf'ers think are best for bottle refusers - mam and mom are two that we tried on this basis.

PurplePidjin · 04/06/2014 12:26

I had a small baby who fed a lot, and never really took to a bottle. He would reluctantly take some if dp fed him and I was out of the room.

If you think he's not getting enough (and you're due a growth spurt) then actually, the best thing to do is have a nice peacful couple of days of sitting on the sofa feeding him. Feeding tells your body to make more milk and, unlike expressing, suckling produces milk direct from sourch - expressing just takes what's already there which is why some people can't express even though they feed successfully for months or years!

www.kellymom.com is brilliant for properly sensible, fact based articles if you want to check up on what I've said here :)

fledermaus · 04/06/2014 12:28

My 8 week old first took a bottle asleep (dreamfeed) but will now take one in the day from dad too.

alusnitcher · 04/06/2014 12:43

I can't really offer any advice but read with interest as having same problem. 10 week old dd won't have bottle. We have tried a range of teats and the mam one is the only one we've had any sporadic and limited success with. She has drunk a reasonable amount 3 or 4 times in a month of trying every day. Seems to work when she's just woken up and not ravenous and mid morning when in generally better mood than evening. Good luck with it, I'm going to keep trying but am tempering my expectations!

Nocomet · 04/06/2014 12:46

I've seen DD2 drink from a bottle once.
She was 5years old and had poured her own squash into one she was feeding her doll with

As a baby she would rather lose weight than take a bottle.

Original poster

williwonti · 04/06/2014 21:44

Just wanted to update. A friend gave me the tiny Nuk teat and he only bloody had it! Done two separate feeds now (3 each feed as so small). I pray this continues. I'm off to mbuy Nuk bottle tomorrow and hope he takes it from a normal size bottle.

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mycatlikestwiglets · 05/06/2014 15:36

Brilliant news williwonti, I swear by those bottles for bottle refusers after my experience with DD!

SunnyUpNorth · 05/06/2014 21:10

Well done, I was just going to add that I had success with breastflow bottles after trying loads. I think I had to get them from eBay as hardly anywhere sold them. Once dd was successfully taking that I was able to switch to tommee tippee ones no problem.

Apart from all the other usual tips and tricks, one thing that eventually worked for my sister and I with our DDs was to warm the milk really quite hot. Hotter than you might expect, although obviously not boiling. But breastmilk must feel hot to them as it will be at body temperature. So I would say make it warmer than just like warm.

alusnitcher · 06/06/2014 03:21

How did you heat the milk sunnyupnorth? I wanted to try this but find putting bottle in warm water doesn't really make it very warm.

alusnitcher · 06/06/2014 03:21

How did you heat the milk sunnyupnorth? I wanted to try this but find putting bottle in warm water doesn't really make it very warm.

SunnyUpNorth · 06/06/2014 07:56

I've always microwaved it. I give it a really thorough swirl or gently turn it upside down and back again a few times to ensure no hot spots. Don't shake it vigorously as that can cause alot of bubbles which could cause wind.

mycatlikestwiglets · 06/06/2014 10:48

I do the same as Sunny. I find about 30 secs is enough for a 7oz/200ml bottle.

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