Hi - I am working mom planning to return to work in the new year. My two month old daughter who took an occasional bottle when she was first born right up until about 6 weeks old is now refusing the bottle completely. We have tried all types of nipples and bottles and with various people trying to feed her. I was hoping to continue to feed her pumped breast milk using a bottle after I returned to work. I have been told that you can feed a young infant with a straw or through a sippy cup. Does anyone have any experience with feeding a 3 month old with straws or sippy cups?
Thank you everybody who have responded. Thanks to our nanny's persistence and finding the right nipple, she now accepts the bottle - sometimes still with little complaints. We ended up using the infant nipple that the hospital gave us when she was first born. It is softer and thinner than the nipples available in stores. May be it is familiar to her...
My baby refused the bottle at 4 months old and I was successful giving her a sippy cup. I would hold her in my arms with her facing forward (so she would not see me) and as I walked around the room with her in my arms (distraction) she would drink from the sippy cup. From then on, we never went back to bottles. I know it can be very frustrating but you are not alone!
The one post about the taste of the nipples because of certain soaps can hold true. My son didn't like them once I put in dishwasher so i went back to hand washing and I dip them very briefly in boiling water after washing and let them air dry. Of course a baby is going to not want to use a bottle when mom is available. My son fought against the bottle versus breast for about a couple of weeks before he finally gave in and I didn't give in (the important part). You have to be strong. Eventually I'd try to feed him when I knew he was hungry. If he wouldn't take the bottle I'd put it away and try again in about 15 minutes, but didn't give him the breast. I continued the process. If you use breast milk there is less likelihood of rejection. When she gets a little older you could try slipping in a small bottle a day of formula to see how she does with that. Good luck.
I just went through this at the end of last week with my 2 month old. A book I have said to only give her bottles for 24-72 hours - whatever it takes for her to start to willingly accept it. She might "hold out" on feedings much longer for the first 24 hours, but she will not starve to death by any means. One time my daughter went 5.5 hours during the day! The first 24 hours were the hardest, but now she is totally trained on the both the bottle and breast again. Whew! Good luck!
Hi H., I have a 3 onth old nephew that did the same thing. My niece tried the sippy cup and it worked!
H.
oral syringes work well too,.
A.
First of all, this is soooo common. Not sure if you still want to try the bottle, if so here is a previous post from me about my experience with bottle rejection. Good luck! She is still very young, so there is still a chance she will accept the bottle! :)
I feel for you. I went through the same thing , 2 weeks before day care. Ugh. Make sure there is no smell on the nipples. Seriously, I couldn't figure out why my baby was all of a sudden rejecting bottles that she used to take no problem. I was trying to figure out "What changed?!?". Then I realized I switched dishwashing detergent. I went to smell the nipples and yep, totally lemony fresh due to Cascade gel packs. The cascade detergent had leached into the silicone nipples! I was using Electrosol before. I tried to handwash them, boil them- nothing got the smell out. So I threw them away, bought new nipples, and then she started taking them again. Now I ONLY handwash all supplies. This might not be your problem, but just a reminder to definitely look at anything that might have changed. I was practically forcing her to take the bottle and thinking if she got hungry enough she would eventually eat. Now I feel awful because she was refusing because of the nipple. . . glad I figured it out though.
Other things that kind of helped us while we were figuring it out
-set baby in boppy pillow or bouncer
- sit behind baby and only put arm in front of baby with bottle so he can't see you
- distract baby with tv (i know. . .but it did work sometimes)
-warm the nipple of the bottle by putting finger over bottle and holding upside down in the warm water for a few seconds
-put the nipples in your bra for a few minutes (before attaching to bottle) to make them smell like you
-check to make sure your milk tastes ok, perhaps you have higher levels of lipase and its effecting some batches of milk (soapy or metallic taste)- my milk only tastes good for the first 2 days. My baby was much more likely to drink if the milk was fresh
-take baby outside to eat
-let baby play with bottle by himself, they are starting to use their hands at this point and sometimes just want to play with it before helping to put it in their mouth
Good luck!!! And remember the folks at the daycare often have NO problem giving your baby a bottle even if you and everyone else you know does. They sometimes have the magic touch and down to business attitude that the babies respond to.
When I went back to work our baby would not take a bottle either. I had to drive home to nurse her! We also tried different bottles, but what finally worked for us was putting her in her bouncy seat (laying down almost) and taking whatever shirt I wore to bed the night before and placing it around her face/neck area like a blanket, while also using it to prop her bottle up. Apparently the smell of me on my shirt was all she needed. Eventually our nanny could hold her and feed her, but still had to have one of my shirts near my daughter's face. Around a month later, we were able to wean her off the shirt entirely. She took the bottle for the nanny and nursed for me at night! Strange but true!
Just keep trying. My son did the very same thing right before I went back to work and I freaked! We bought every different nipple and bottle combo on the market thinking that was the problem. He and Daddy just had it out one day. Daddy kept at it - offering the bottle and nothing else for like 2 hours and he eventually gave up, drank the whole bottle (the some bottles we'd started with - Avent) and never had another problem. I think they are just starting to get a mind of their own at that age and would really prefer to nurse. I went on to nurse him until he was 9 months old and he drank bottles during the day at daycare. Good luck!
I had the same problem with my son. He absolutely refused the bottle at first. I came up with a creative technique: While breastfeeding, I would slide the bottle nipple into the side of his mouth at the same time. That way, he could associate the two textures. Might sound strange, but over time, it worked. I also kept a bottle by the bed at night, and would give him the bottle instead of the boob sometimes when he woke up to eat. It also worked for other people to give him the bottle, rather than me. (I was told babies can smell the breast milk on your body, and of course prefer it from the source.) Now he takes the bottle from various people who watch him while I'm at work, with no problem. It really took some time and patience, but it eventually happened.
