Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Flip

Original poster

baby refusing bottles

12 replies

mumandson23 · 25/10/2023 22:16

hello
my son (10mnths) has been mixed fed all of his life. However, i have recently been breastfeeding him more often and it has become a comfort for him, and to be honest, much easier for me. I haven’t minded this, but as a single mother with no help, it has recently got exhausting constantly watching what i eat and drink, with my family unable to help me.
I have been trying to give him more bottles, however he is having absolutely none of it. he will cry hysterically, without even getting a mouthful of milk from the bottle and instantly wants my breast. I have tried waiting until i know he will be hungry, when he’s going to sleep, changing the temp of the milk- literally everything i can possibly think of and i get the same reaction each time. he would rather go to bed with no milk than milk from the bottle!! Then i end up just giving in and giving him my breast because i panic he’s going to starve!!
He was on Tommee Tippee bottles at first, then started to dislike. I am now on MAM bottles and have been the majority of his life.
Just wanted some tricks to help him wean off of breast milk and if anyone else has had these same issues?
Thank you!! :)

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Userrht12 · 14/12/2023 19:13

I also am having the same issues with my 4month old just now, but still have no solution ☹️. We also use MAM bottles.. she refuses expressed breast milk from the bottle too. Perhaps you can try pumping expressed milk into a bottle to see if he would be keen to take a bottle again?

cbbo · 14/12/2023 19:25

Instead of trying to get baby to take a bottle have you thought about slowly weaning off breast and more into solids? It was at about 10 months I slowly started dropping a feed, and swapping it to a snack. Slowly slowly. And now at 12 months she's on 3 meals, 2 snacks and only 1 breastfeed. No bottle.

mambojambodothetango · 14/12/2023 19:29

Try another family member giving the bottle while you're out. Baby will be able to smell you and will hold out for the boob.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Babies & sleep Families General parenting

Mummymummy89 · 14/12/2023 19:29

Just a side point but you don't really have to watch what you eat and drink, as you did when you were pregnant, unless your dc has severe allergies. Even things like alcohol get diluted very significantly into the breastmilk.

I'm on the postnatal ward and I'm being given all sorts of strong pain relief like liquid morphine etc and all the doctors are extremely relaxed about me breastfeeding with it, telling me how extremely diluted it is in the BM.

So, if you can even take liquid morphine, a vodka tonic or two is nothing iyswim!

Mummymummy89 · 14/12/2023 19:30

Ps and that's with a delicate newborn. A 10mo is much more robust in comparison. When I was BF my toddler dd I didn't watch what I ate or drank at all

InTheRainOnATrain · 14/12/2023 19:34

He’s 10 months so I would just up the solids, give vitamin drops and/or sneak the formula into food e.g. use to make porridge and don’t worry if he doesn’t take much from his bottles.

Tiredbehyondbelief · 14/12/2023 19:38

Your breast milk has antibodies to protect against all sorts of infections and it's only early December. I would persevere with breastfeeding till spring and then try the cup

NoCloudsAllowed · 14/12/2023 19:43

If it's only about watching what you eat and drink - unless you're taking lots of medications or drinking very heavily, or allergies are involved, I don't think you need to worry.

Breast milk tastes like warm vanilla ice cream and is delivered from a warm squishy boob belonging to the person the baby loves most in the world. It's flavour varies and the fat/liquid content varies. Formula is always the same and a bottle is - well, not a boob. Can't blame your baby for the preference.

As pp said, I'd be looking to solids more than formula.

Superscientist · 14/12/2023 20:06

We started bottles of expressed breastmilk at 2 weeks but she developed several bottle aversions.

On two occasions I got her threw it by offering her 1oz of milk in a bottle after every feed. It took 3 days for her to start drinking from the bottle. On day 1 she couldn't look at the bottle.

Her bottle aversion at 10 months meant that I couldn't hold her and the bottle without her trying to backflip out of my arms. Unfortunately I had to start medication that I couldn't breastfeed with so we had to stop breastfeeding cold turkey. It was brutal but she accepted the bottle and was on formula until 2. We had her diet assessed to see if her intake from food could sustain her but she barely ate a few mouthfuls a day so it wasn't plan option for us

Userrht12 · 15/12/2023 17:25

When you went cold Turkey, how long did it take your little one to accept the bottle?

Whentwobecomesthree · 16/12/2023 06:27

At 10 months I wouldn't even bother trying to bring the bottle back. Move onto a straw cup. My 9 month old was a bottle refuser but happily took milk from a cup when we introduced that.

Also reiterating what a previous poster said, unless there is a medical reason to, you don't really need to limit what you eat and drink

Superscientist · 16/12/2023 17:43

Userrht12 · 15/12/2023 17:25

When you went cold Turkey, how long did it take your little one to accept the bottle?

She went 26h without a drink. She had to be sent home to dad whilst I stayed in hospital.
He got some wet food into her.
She went to nursery on the second day and drank two 5oz bottle and we haven't looked back. The only people who could get her to drink from a bottle before was nursery but only 0-4oz a day over 2 bottles

Flip