Top tips for bottle refusers!

[SassyPants87]

mums/dads please help! We have a bottle refuser on our hands!

DS is 11 weeks old and initially took a bottle fine first few weeks but I stopped for a bit as he got poorly and then we were away over Xmas so didn’t express and give bottle.

now that his suck reflex has become voluntary he will not suck anything that isn’t my nipple!! Not even my finger anymore!

I’ve tried 4 different bottles, dad has tried to feed him, I’ve given the milk warm, cool, cold. I’ve tried to slip the bottle in once he starts sucking on my nipple but he instantly knows and screams!
move also tried feeding him completely flat, upright, close to breast. NOTHING!!

keeping up just breast isn’t an option, he has faltering growth so I need to give him milk from bottle as top ups/formula (which he hates). Although I’m not sure how I feel about faltering growth as he is clearly content and thriving but that’s another topic!

please can you let me know how you cracked it and how long it took! Started to really stress me out now :(

Has your husband tried the bottle when you have left the house?

@Youcancallmeirrelevant yes we have but DS was going hysterical so DH had to call me back! But perhaps we need to give it another go

Hello 👋 I had this problem with my DD - she would not take a bottle at all, which was a real shock after DS combi fed a like a dream. My best advice would be perseverance, every feed, every day. It took several weeks and lots of tears (from both of us) but she finally cracked it and now is exclusively bottle fed. She is now 5 months. I too tried so many bottles, MAM were the winner in the end. I also switched formula to SMA. I held (and still do) in the rugbyball hold as this is how she breastfed. She is still so fussy about the temperature, has to be warm (warmer than how the perfect prep makes it). Good luck - it is so stressful and I hope you get there eventually ❤️

@PeppermintTeaThenBed thank you for your response! It’s always reassuring to hear other parents going through similar things!
Did you offer formula every time you tried to give bottle? I’ve been expressing but honestly I hate pumping and hate even more that I’m always pouring breast milk down the drain when he doesn’t take it!

We always did formula in bottles, get them liking that then easier if you do stop BF before 12 months

@SassyPants87 yes that's right I did formula everytime in bottles, like you I didn't enjoy pumping in the slightest and hardly ever got enough out - we have enough on our plates without having to stress / make time for that! Once she got used to bottles, she eventually preferred them over boob! So breast feeding was phased out a nice rate (if that's what you want to do of course!). But honestly took well over a month to even accept one full bottle but I'm so glad we kept going 😌 xx

@PeppermintTeaThenBed yes definitely want to move over to formula, when he first tried it his response was as if I was trying to poison him! Haha! So I thought if I give breast milk first and get him used to bottle and then move over to formula but at this rate god knows when that will happen!
I will just keep going! X

Also @PeppermintTeaThenBed when you tried to put DD on bottle did she just forget how to suck all of a sudden!? DS has never had a strong suck but any bottle or dummy in his mouth he just pushes around and bites down on it! I would have thought at least a suck here or there but nope!

@SassyPants87 oh my goodness yes, she still does that with dummy now! Will just roll it either side of her mouth and uses her tongue to push it out. If her formula isn't her exact preferred temperature (🙄🙊) she will just bite on the teat and spit all the milk out (even now). When we first kept trying, if we were mid feed from nip to bottle she might suck on the bottle once or twice then the penny would drop that it wasn't my boob and a meltdown would ensue 😮‍💨 and she would just move her head side to side to get away from it. Just be prepared to waste alot of formula initially ☹️. I just knew I didn't want to keep BF so I had to grit my teeth and keep trying! After that 1st bottle I was elated! I also found that she then decided to accept day time bottles, but would only take boob for the night feeds - which I didn't mind coz is easier then trudging downstairs to make a bottle! But now she is purely bottle (even during her 1 night feed she still has now) xx

Sorry I don't know why the above is all in bold font!

@PeppermintTeaThenBed thank you! You’ve given me hope to keep trying!

OP how did you get on? I'm in a similar situation and @PeppermintTeaThenBed has given me so much hope.

Lansihno momma bottle with natural wave teat. Someone advised this on mumsnet it was the only bottle my son would ever take. He bottle refused for 10 months before I tried this.

@TolkienLover he eventually took Lansinoh bottles! He was on them for a while and he now uses mam bottles

@SassyPants87 amazing! So glad it worked out for you :) Did it just click one day?

@TolkienLover he took to the bottle as soon as we switched to Lansinoh as it was really easy for him to latch onto that style teat. There would be some times where he still refused so I would put him on breast let him have a quick feed and the unlatch him and put him straight onto bottle whilst he was in the same position

@SassyPants87 thanks! I've ordered the Lansinoh bottles and crossing my fingers that she takes it.

Yay so pleased you had success 🙌 ☺️