Baby Won't Take the Bottle

Hi L.!

I know that you said you don't think it's the brand, but the few things I would recommend are as follow:
1. Use a bottle similar to your breast shape.
2. Warm the bottle to about the same temp as your breast milk.
3. You and your 3 ½ years old should LEAVE THE HOUSE, and let dad feed. Maybe take him for a walk around the block. This way you are spending special time with him, and the baby can’t hear or see you to “rescue” her from that “mean old bottle”, so to say.

My son took a LONG time to except a bottle from me, but from my husband, it took about a, week if I recall. It WILL be stressful to you, Daddy, AND the baby, but in the end, it will be helpful to all of you as well. Besides, even a baby won’t starve for missing one meal. Even if she won’t take it the first time, she will eventually. I know it’s hard, but sometimes the best thing you can do is just not give in. (Trust me, I know this is hard! I still have trouble standing firm on what I’ve said, and our son is a little over 2 now.)

Hope this helps! :-)

Janell

P.S. Don't let others tell you what's best for your child. I breastfed for 17 months, but my sister-in-law only did it for 3 months. Both of us have happy, healthy, well balanced children. If your ready to ween, you do it. YOU are the mom. Trust your instincts and do what YOU know is best for YOUR child!

Good morning L.,
Hi there, I had the same problem but I could not get my daughter to take anything else either. I ended up breast feeding her for a year and a half. So I feel for you. It was very frustrating. I could not go back to work. I had to use lemons to get her off then. I would pump and use formula and she was pretty subborn. She still is pretty stubborn. We have a two hour a night ritual getting her to sleep. My daughter is 4 and will turn 5 on July 3rd. It is a hit and miss on what to do. Hang in there and I wish I could help, but mine did the same thing and my heart goes out to you.
R. H.

I agree with the previous mom. Just relax at bedtime. The baby is tired and wants your comforting and soothing before bed. It's not that she doesn't want the bottle. It's that she wants YOU! She's growing up so fast, so please slow down and enjoy the fact that she WANTS you. Because before you know it, she'll be a pre-teen and not want you to butt in on her life. So just enjoy her and slow down. I'm sure you can organize your time a little better so that you're not so busy at night.
P.S. You might want to read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. You may be putting her in bed too late as well, which would add to her neediness at night. He says the optimal bedtime for that age is 6-8 pm. My daughter is now 8 mos. and the earlier bedtime has made bedtime 1000 times easier.

I have a 3 1/2 year old son, too. I try to spend my time with him while the baby is sleeping. But you can't resent her for breastfeeding. It sounds like you're channeling your guilt onto the baby. You're doing your best for both the baby and your son. IT's only temporary and she won't be needing your breast to feed so much now that she's going on 6 mos. Before you know it, she'll be walking and too busy to want to breastfeed. Try to BE IN THE MOMENT and enjoy your feeding for your daughter. And you should be spending daylight hours with your son. I try to go to the park for 2 days/wk for my son. And my husband and I have date nights with our son. One day a month, I get my son for the whole day. While my husband watches the baby. And another day of the month for my husband's date with our son. You can't give your son the time you had when he was the only one. Everyone is going through changes. So don't feel bad about breastfeeding. Bottle feeding would take more time out of your schedule with all the cleaning of bottles and mixing and heating up of formula. So you're actually feeding the most efficient way possible.

I hope that helps. You can emial me if you really want to go into solutions for spending time with your children. Ours are the same age, so I'm right there wiht you.

So what's the problem? If she wants the breast at night, give it to her. I breastfed two of my five children for at least a year each. It was the most rewarding thing I did as a mother. Those two children are healthier than the other 3 because of the breast milk. You are a stay at home mom so you do not need to wean baby off to return to work. Enjoy it while you can. They grow up too soon.

try a different type of bottle, i forgot the name but playtex has bottles that are not straight they curve at an angle so it goes down easier....

I'm sorry I wish I could have breastfeed my son longer but I ran dry in my opinion way to early. I did my daughter till she was 1 and by the 6th month is was only at night. You can play with you son during the day and when your hubby comes home that is his time to bond with your son while you bond with you daughter. Breastfeeding is an amazing gift. But isn't 9:30 a little late for your son to be up. Ask your hubby for help in this area instead of sending you son away. Hubby (that what I call husbands) should see it ahead of time and jump in. I know easier said than done. Trust me I really do know its hard. I hope you aren't offended by my response. I just missed out breastfeeding my middle son and was cut short with my baby boy (not really a baby anymore but to me he is). Good Luck!!!
M.

Hey L....
What types of bottles have you tried??? Sometimes you need to experiment until you find the right one =) My son (who I also breast fed---I just weened him last week, he's 10 1/2 mos old) hasn't taken a bottle at all. He like the nuby controlled straw sipper:
http://www.nuby.be/en/frameset.htm
but I also saw this interesting one, if I had bottle fed,I would've tried this one:
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...
The only advise I can give is, keep patient and try not to give in, if you really want to stop nursing. Good luck!

<3 J.

L.,
Stop doing too much at 9:30 in the evening. Sit down relax and comfort in the fact that you're a wonderful mother and enjoy breastfeeding your daughter. It's your time together.
It's actually suggested that you start an infant on the bottle at 6 weeks (I know that's not exactly helpful). By 6 months they know better and it's much more difficult. My Mom got my daughter to tke the bottle at 6 weeks and when she left my husband quit trying (someone other then you have to do it as it just confuses the baby bottle vs. breast). So now my daughter does not take the bottle and it's too much of a hassle to my husband (unless I leave him then he has no choic and a crying baby, which I do on ocassion for church or just to go to the gym, which us moms need to do), so I've started her on solids and a cup. She loves her solids and I still have to breast feed her afterwards in the evenings. She also is just starting to get the cup. She won't drink breastmilk from the cup (again it's confussing) but she loves applejuice! Hopefully this helps, I understnad wanting to bresfed but also wanting to not be attachted to the baby at all times.
Good luck,
Chrisitna