From Breastfeeding to Bottle Feeding

I breast fed both of my sons. One for 23 months and the other for a year. Nether dranked from bottles. Like you none of the bottles or nipples I tried they liked. In addition, they would only drink breast milk. I started teaching my oldest son at two months how to drink from a cup ( He's 12 now). That's how he started drinking other liquids and eventually breast milk when I couldn't feed him. It took his focus off the breast. In addition, once you start spoon feeding him cereal and other products that will help even more. Then he can continue to have his special mommy and me bonding times before, maybe lunch time(if that works)and after work.

Hi L.,
First, are you giving him the bottle yourself? If so, get dad, a grandparent, a sitter, a friend to do the bottle training. Baby often won't take a bottle if he can see you, hear you, smell you - even if you're not the one offering, so don't sit across the couch watching. Leave.
Most people will warm a bottle of pumped milk, but if its' been in the fridge, remember that the nipple will be cold too, something baby is not used to! So be sure the person doing the bottle training warms the nipple, and smears it with some pumped milk so that your baby can immediately smell and taste that he's getting what he knows.
Finally, you are going back to work in a few MONTHS. That is a long time away and this isn't a panic situation! You have lots of time. Good luck!

L.,
I went through a similar experience when my daughter was an infant (she is now 10 years old). When we tried to give her a bottle at about 4 months, she arched her back and cried. She would not accept a bottle. My husband and I came up with the bright idea of trying to give her a bottle when she woke up in the morning. We agreed that I would not nurse her until she took a bottle from my husband. Big mistake. She screamed and cried for over 1/2 hour. I sat in the other room until I could not take it any more and then I nursed her. We decided to go to a lactation consultant, because, I too, was desperate.
Her advice...
Do not wait until the baby is hungry to try to force the bottle on her.
After the baby has nursed, but before she is due for the next feeding, have someone place her on the floor (you should leave the house or at least leave the room). Place her on her back and give her a bottle w/ breastmilk. Do not expect her to drink. She told us that babies will naturally put objects up to there mouths. After "playing" with the bottle for a while, a few drops fell out and she figured out it was the same stuff that mommy was feeding her, only it was in a different container.

Again, when she isn't absolutely starving, have someone else give her a bottle. Face the baby away from that person (so that she is not facing the person's chest). The baby should be "seated" on the person's lap, facing away from him/her.

I believe my daughter took the bottle w/in a day or two.

Try looking up some info. on the internet(e.g., search for baby refuses to take bottle). If they offer these suggestions and others, I am sure your baby will be taking a bottle in no time. Good luck

L. B.

I nursed my son for 11 mos. In that time he never took a botle from me. He would only take the bottle if I wasn't home for a few hours, from his grandmothers. He went right to a sippy cup when I stopped nursing.
With my daughter, I nursed her for 4 mos. and my husband took her for a whole day and " bottle trained" her. She basically had no choice because she got hungry.
Your baby will take the bottle when he needs to, so don't worry!

At four months you can try and give it too him in a sippy cup. Because there is no nipple he may be interested in eating in this whole new way. And if you have a few months you may find that you are able to nurse him on a schedule that suits work and feed him solids and a cup when you are gone. Good luck.. you will get this figured out.

L.,
Good Luck! My son didn't take a pacifier, and so I didn't try a bottle with him. Then later, when I needed him to get some water, the bottles I have are all too small (too little liquid) for him, and he just gave up after a few tries.

You might (if you haven't tried already) wait until he's very hungry, then leave him with your partner to try the bottle with him. This way he's with someone, but you aren't losing milk listening to his crying. If not your partner a close friend or the person(s) who will be sitting for you when you go back to work.

It's about the only thing I can think of.
Good Luck,
M.

i would say stick with the same bottle and dont keep switching. thats a common mistake mommies make. he will eventually get used to the bottle but if you keep switching them, he will get confused. it might take a while, took me 2 months to get my son to take a bottle as i went back to work part time. babies sometimes wont take a bottle if they can smell mommy so if you can, have someone else (hubby/your mom/a friend) give your baby a bottle while you step outside. good luck!

I went through about 6 different types of bottles and nipples also. My son finally took to the Playtex Drop-In style bottles with the silicone nipples. You can try those and start with the slow nipple. I love these bottles... easy cleaning b/c you buy the (drop-ins) and they are disposable. Wal-mart carries the generic brand (parents-choice) for them and you get much more at a cheaper price. I too had to return to work when my son was 16 weeks old. We started by having my husband give him one evening bottle everyday. I would pump at this time. He really didn't want it but with a lot of patience and perseverance we got him used to the bottle. Sometimes it would take almost an hour of him refusing and crying until he would finally eat. It only took about a week of this and he would then take the bottle from anyone. I continued to nurse him when we were together and if he needed a bottle I tried to have someone else give it to him. They usually do not want to take the bottle from mom. Hope this helps - Don't worry he will catch on.

Hi L., My son was exactly the same way. He breastfed till he was 15 months old and never took a bottle. I did not have to return to work but when someone did have to keep him for me he would go hours without milk. Finally my only solution was to try the sippy cup. I believe you can start this at 4 months if you are careful. Or you may find it easier to spoon feed him the milk in small amounts every day, anything to get him used to the idea of getting nutrition from another source. Hope that this helps in some way.