BOTTLE REFUSER HELP

[mrssunshinexxx]

hello I have an almost 6 month old who is breast fed which is relevant, when she was small but over 6 weeks my dh very occasionally gave her a bottle but she never took loads and it was quite a battle so I just gave up on it as the time spent pumping for most to get poured away did my head in.
She has just started having a little bit of solids but still wakes 2 hourly or less so my husband offered to feed her expressed bottle last night so I could get abit of slee well she was not happy but he managed to get an ounce down her. Que me in the morning feeling a crap mum when I realised she was drinking from size 1 teat !! Went out and bought size 3 today and dh tried again tonight but she wouldn't even put it in her mouth just screamed so I caved and came in and breast fed.

Any tips ?
It tried pulling my top up and as she was going to latch on put the bottle in but she cried.
Should I try through the day when she's not tired / mega hungry with the bottle ?
To be honest I can cope with the 2 hourly waking but I am planning to join the gym in January and at this rate there's no way I would feel like I could happily leave for an hour or 2 it's not fair to leave either of them when she won't happily take a bottle

Advise appreciated

@Twizbe I have a 360 cup but haven't tried her with it yet I feel like she wouldn't have a clue how to get it out as they have to suck pretty hard with them ?

@Blackcoffeewithmilkplease I know what you mean, I have offered her bottle twice today and she's started actually holding it herself which is a major change but she's just mainly chewing on the teat she is teething at the moment she's just cut her first tooth

@MrsDeadlock thanks that's really helpful I feel like she can't be so hungry she needs to feed 2 hourly or more frequently overnight it is as you say habit and comfort I think it's a great idea what you suggest and I have mentioned this to dh a couple times but not acted on it like you say feed at the first wake up then next time send him in. She will scream the house down even if in his arms . How many nights did it take you? X

@JingleJohnsJulie if we are at home just me and her she has good feeds it out and about then she is nosy which is understandable but you have raised a good point, thank you

@bluebluezoo she is 2 weeks off 6 months so isn't having dairy yet apart from a littler yoghurt. I want to go to the gym when I've put her to bed and last night for example she woke 50 minutes later I don't want her having solid food once she's been out to bed that's not a habit I want to get into. Filling her up with high calorie and nutritional food throigh the day once she hits 6months is a plan though x

Well tonight I put baby to bed at 7.40pm she woke 45 mins later I said to dh you go in try rock her off.. he did and managed to get her back to sleep under 5 mins, an hour later she's up again we did the same he got her to sleep again less than 5 mins
She then woke at 10.40pm which is 3 hours since last fed so I fed her she did a 4 hour stint which is pretty unusual to be honest. She has now been wide awake 3-4.15am bht just dropped off and I'm pretty confident she will sleep til 7am ish. So that's gone from a usual night of 4/5 wakings to 2! Haven't bothered with the bottle. It would be preferable if I go to the gym that she just sleeps for 3/4 hours since being put down rather than needing feeding again. And now I know he can re settle her when she's not starving 😀

That's good news mrssun

I would suggest just persevering with the bottle little and often (put formula in it at least for this transition period so you don’t care about chucking It and then you can feed her if and when she refuses).
I found the best way often used to be in the bouncy chair for some reason ! And having other people doing it is better than you but appreciate that’s not always possible .
Also wait until she’s hungry but not starving / distressed.
And warm it up nicely.
These were the the things that ultimately helped us with our bottle refuser but it took time and patience

@JingleJohnsJulie isn't it :)
I'm not as fussed about the bottle now we probably should just carry on with some gentle sleep training at the start of the night I.e not me going in and feeding her when she isn't hungry
If dh keeps going in for the first couple wake ups hopefully she will realise she isn't getting me and stop

Thank you @MostlyAmbridgeandcoffee I don't want to use formula I have a good supply so it's no problem to pump

Hi

I’ve skimmed the thread so sorry if this has been covered already. I have recently got my baby to take a bottle but only if she’s lying on a cushion or in her carrycot away from me (won’t take it being held my me or DH). She only took tiny amounts at the start, maybe 20-30ml but will now take a full 150-180ml bottle.

It took time and lots of crying but we kept trying and quite a lot of the time I would end up BF-img her if she got distressed.

I tried leaving her for an hour with DH but she wouldn’t take it from him either until we worked out the cushion trick.

Now that she’s taking 1-2 bottles a day I’m working on starting her off on the cushion/carrycot, then picking her up to burp then continuing the bottle on my lap. We did the first attempt of this last night and it worked. It’s just slow progress.

I’m the same as you, I’m afraid that I’ll never be able to pop to the shop, dr appt, gym etc without taking her with me.

Hi just reading, I have a similar issue. But for us my DD who is 5.5mths will only take a bottle from me, I’m attempting to up the bottle feeds to give me some time to myself (!) she’s a frequent feeder as has been refluxy all along.
But my issue is she will only take the bottle from me ! She screams the house down and tbh I’m the only one who can settle her !
She won’t go to sleep without either feeding or rocking. So I will try some of the suggestions mentioned.

@mrssunshinexxx keep us posted with how the sleep training goes, I’m going to try that myself