Breast to Bottle - Saint Augustine,FL

We went through the same thing. We decided to pick one feeding a day that we offered the bottle. After a couple of tries he took the bottle. And then it was easy to change over. Don't be afraid to let him cry a little. If he's hungry enough he will take it.

Babies are amazing and believe it or not that first day when you leave him and he does not have you around he will take the bottle for whoever has him !! Hunger will always rule! Now when you get home he will immediately forget that bottle and only want you!
I exclusively breastfed 3 girls and with each one had a time when either I went back to work or was tied up caring for one in the hospital and each time they adapted with that first feed!

Don't push him to take a bottle. Enjoy him! And enjoy the fact that he only wants your breast. All four of mine were exclusively breastfed and all 4 REFUSED the bottle too. But before you know it, he's old enough that you can leave him for longer periods of time. Take your time don't rush it. My husband and I never go anywhere without our children. They're little for such a short time. Just enjoy him! Take care!
V.

to go out with your husband, what I would do is to nurse right before leaving and dash out the door for the maximum of four hours. leave a bottle w/ the sitter. if baby does not take bottle, don't worry! he'll make up for it when you get home! sounds mean, but eventually he'll take the bottle. my second son was like this (actually my first one was, too, for a period of time)- we'd come home & the sitter would say he didn't drink anything! but then I'd nurse him and he was fine. I hate the saying "baby won't starve himself" or "baby will eat when hungry" because unfortunately there are SOME babies who WILL starve themselves! however, this is HIGHLY UNUSUAL.
so: just go out & know that if it comes to the worst case scenario, you'll 'just' nurse when you get home...
w/ both my boys the sitter got them to take the bottle...

After four months of exclusive breastfeeding and the number of pounds that your son has gained, it may be necessary to add more solid foods to his diet, especially if he is nursing almost constantly. You may have an easier time getting him to take a bottle AFTER he has been fed. Feeding your child solids will also allow him to eat less frequently and it will free up your time so that you can get more done and be able to leave him with a sitter.

Hi G.,

Hope you are making some progress by the time this gets to you. But in case you haven't...I didn't have this problem, but my friend did. Her daughter wouldn't take a bottle and she had to go to an all day class to renew a certification for work (although she hadn't gone back to work quite yet). The pediatrican told her not to worry about leaving her daughter...if she was hungry enough, she would take the bottle. Maybe it sounds cruel, but if you think about it, its true. Your son has taken a bottle in the past, so he knows how it works. If you leave him with a sitter, he will take the bottle when he gets hungry enough. Also, I read some of the responses where people told you to maybe start solids. My son is four months as well, and I just started him on solids. I was hesitant because I read that it was better to wait until 6 months, but my pediatrician (who is very good...rated one of the top in Central Florida) told me that it was fine. He was actually encouraging me to due to how much he eats, his head control, etc. Anyway, hope this information helps some. Good luck with everything!

My first child never would take a bottle, eventually we got her to take a sippy cup (at four or five months) with breast milk. I only worked part-time so the five hours or so I was gone were not dangerous but also not fun. She was born a bit early and not ready to eat until about seven months.

My second baby would take a bottle, but didn't like it, either. The third had to be weaned (medical reasons), but at eleven months -- with those two, persistence was the key. Be persistent, and maybe try a sippy cup.

L. D.
mom of three

Hi G.. I have a suggestion although it might seem a little strange but have someone else try to feed him the bottle while he is sitting in his infant car seat. I was a nanny many years ago for an exclusively breast fed little guy and his mom would run home every few hours to feed him. They started propping up his car seat and had the dad feed him his bottle that way at first and it worked. He can still see whomever is feeding him but perhaps it is the body contact that is throwing it off. After a few days he would take the bottle easily from anyone while being held. Hope this is a viable solution for you. Good luck with this issue. I was never successful myself at nursing my children for more than a few weeks so I can't imagine how hard this must be for you. Hang in there!

Well congrats! I can't believe it has already been 3 years since my son was that age!
First of all, you say you are BFing a lot, so he is do it not just for nutrition but for comfort. At 4 months, he can go 3-4 hours between feedings--yes, my son was on about 4 hour routine starting at that age taking about 6oz or more per feeding--and this is not uncommon.

So my suggestion is to -keep at it, he may be refusing the bottle because he is not hungry and just wants the comfort of suckling, which the bottle does not give him.

Check out the Babywise book and the Babywhisper books--both show you how to get a baby on a feeding and sleeping routine, I like the babywhisperer since she shows some different techniques other than simply letting them cry. But the Babywise book still has A LOT of good information in it.

Once you get him on a routine, he will be sleeping through the night (yes 10-12 hours), and you will know without much doubt when he is tired or hungry. It also makes it so much easy to have someone else take care of him because he will expect to get fed and sleep and certain times which you can relay to your caregiver.

Have you tried having your husband feed him the bottle? If the baby sees you, he will automatically want boob, but if you are not around (hang out in another room or go run a quick errand) he may take to it more. Also, sometimes it is helpful if you try to feed him when he is not starving. If he is really hungry, he may be too upset to want to deal with trying a new skill. (If you didn't know how to use chopsticks and you were extremely hungry and yet chopsticks was the only way you could eat the meal, you would not be a very happy camper, you just want to get the food in your mouth the way you know how and fast). Your child is no different. So try the bottle as "snack" by your husband in between feedings. If he doesn't take, that's okay, but keep trying, he will eventually take it.

Try to start having your husband or any sitter/caretaker feed him with a bottle so that he can begin to associate the bottle with others. In the beginning he might protest but you have to let him know it's the same milk just in different packaging. You need to back away and let them try to feed him...even if it is in spurts of ounces every 15 minutes. If you step in too soon, he will know that crying gets me breastfed.
I've found that you need to create a set routine in order for the bottle idea to stick. Whatever your part-time hours are going to be, start him and the sitter on that schedule now with the bottle. It may take 2-3 weeks before he will get into it. The more on and off you are about it, the harder it is to stick.
My 2.5 month old now knows that day time is bottle and night is breast and once 5:30pm-6pm approaches she knows she will get to breastfeed. The weekends are kind of precarious 'cause your routine changes but I figure once they get older, it gets better.
Good luck.

About me: First time mom to 2.5 mo. baby girl and married for 4.5 years.

I used the Avent bottles/nipples with both of my babies... and breastfed too, until 8 months. We didn't really have a problem with going back and forth or training. I NEVER did bottle feedings while nursing... I guess that's my only "secret". Hubby did it... even if it meant that I was in another room pumping to maintain supply (we were bottlefeeding only to train the infant in that case.) You need to stop trying to train your son and let someone else do it... it will give you a bit of a break, too.
BTW, my son was a few oz lighter at birth, but also gained quite rapidly! He's 10 months old tomorrow and almost 23 lbs!
And I waited to introduce solids until he was 6+months old.
Good luck.
T.

Hi! My littleman is almost 4 1/2 months so I know what you are going through. Unfortunately I had to come back to work after 6 weeks. My sister and law and I have found that the Playtex Drop In system with the slow nipples at first are the best to switch them over. The nipples look just like the breast and the slow nipple makes him work like he is on the breast trying to get the milk out. They have them at Babies R us, Target, and most grocery stores. Never once did my littleman or my niece flinch at the start of the bottle once we used those. I tried the Nuk and the Vent-Aire to no avail. He still won't take them, but I have advanced him to the fast nipple now. Please try the Drop In system I think you will definitely get some relief. Let me know.

C.

I was in the same boat with my little one. She was exclusively breastfed and I attempted bottle feeding at four months as well for the same reasons. After trying 9 different brands of bottles her pediatrician suggested a sippy cup. She took very well to the Avent sippy cups and simply never used a bottle. She looked pretty funny drinking from a sippy cup being so tiny. Hope this helps.

I have a 5 month old daughter that was the exact same way 2 months ago when I returned to work. We researched on Internet forums and someone suggested the MAM bottles. We also tried Nuk, Dr. Brown's, and Playtex but MAM seems to work best. It also helped to have our daughter swaddled in the beginning as she was adjusting and we had to ensure the milk was warm enough(slightly warmer that my newly pumped breast milk). She also would not even consider drinking from a bottle if I was even in the room. I would have to go upstairs b/c they say the babies can smell your milk. My husband or our nanny would have to give the bottle. Hope that helps.

Hi G.,
Try the book "Babywise," by Ezzo and Bucknam. It helps you get your baby on a feeding schedule. Everyone will be happier and you won't have to worry about bottles since he'll transition to sleeping through the night and you can have some much-needed time with your husband.
Love,
S.

I exclusively breastfed my first two children. Neither of them took a bottle so in those times when I had to leave them, my hubby would use this little sippy cup we haVE that has two teeny tiny holes in the spout and my breastmilk was fed to them that way. With baby #3, I had to supplement with formula because my son had a weak suck even then, he wouldn't take to the bottle very well. I've heard that it's always better for someone other than mommy to offer the bottles. Have your husband help you...but in order for this to work, you need to leave the room. It will only confuse youR baby. He will wonder why you are in the room while someone other than you is trying to feed. Babies can smell their mothers, so you need to leave the room. It's always helpful to have the person who is offering the bottle to hold the baby as close to his (or her) body to give the baby the feeling of closeness that he would expect if he was nursing. It's a trying time, I know and it can be an emotional time for both you and your baby. Keep practicing and sooner or later, he will adapt to the new changes.

Our son is almost 4 months old and was BF for the first 3 months as well. I always knew we would be moving to a bottle (due to my health issues) at some point so I started him on a paci asap. It worked out well because he was happy to accept a different nipple to eat from. What I found tho was that he absolutely DID not like the nipples that were supposed to be more shaped like a breast. The wide flat bottle nipples never worked, and I tried several brands. He seemd to like the regular nipples the best. Also, I found that because my milk let down fast and poured out like crazy he was used to a faster flow. So after a few tries I started using a faster flowing nipple and that helped a lot too. If that does not work you can try sneaking it in. Try starting on the breast, then taking him off in full feed moving him to the bottled breast milk. I started off with freshly pumped milk, straight from my breast, to bottle to baby. Also, and this may sound harsh, but the feeding on demand could be part of the problem. Let him get hungrier, not to the point of total freak out, but enough that he is ready to take the milk however he can get it.

I dont know if you are using a pacifier, but if you are using the soothies that they give the babies in the hospital there is a new soothie bottle with a nipple that is just like the paci.

HTH

T.

I know how hard it is to feel like your role as mom is to solve all of the baby's problems and that you should have all of the answers. My son had a difficult time with any transition. From boob to bottle, bottle to no bottle when it was time to stop taking the bottle and switch to a sippy cup, and our most difficult switch - sleeping alone. My story for you is a little off subject but might shed some light.

When my son Kai was born the nurse in the hospital somehow talked me into holding my son while he slept and didn't encourage me to lay him down in the bassinet. I being so exhausted would of course fall asleep with him on my chest and we napped/slept like this the whole time we were in the hospital. So naturally when we got home my son would not sleep alone. He would honestly cry for an hour straight if we tried to lay him down so we would hold him during his naps and he slept on my chest (me propped up with pillows) during the night. I think when most people think about co-sleeping, this is not what they are referring to. It was insane but I somehow did this for six weeks all because my husband and I were so exhausted, we all just needed sleep at all costs.

Eventually my husband had to go out of town for a week when Kai was about 7 weeks old. My friend graciously came to stay with me while he was gone. After a day or so she watched this behavior and expressed her concern that I was not getting enough rest sleeping with him like that. She was right! She and I talked about ways to get him to sleep alone and kept trying different things but as he cried and cried she quickly realized what I was up against. So one evening she watched him while I went to teach a dance class and when I came home two hours later he was sound asleep IN HIS CRIB. I couldn't believe it. She said that she got him to fall asleep rocking him and then laid him down and he fussed but she kept comforting him till he fell asleep. Sounds simple but my husband and I had tried this over and over to no avail. I think the difference was that my friend was pretty determined to make this happen and he sensed this and complied. It was then that I realized that although he was used to things happening one way it was going to be up to me, dad, whoever to teach/guide him towards something new. And usually the way to do it was going to be through firm guidance.

I now have no problem dealing with his resistance to something he thinks he doesn't want especially if I know that it is something he needs to learn or something that is healthier for him or whatever. This might be one of the most important lessons I learned early on -- which I have to still remind myself of all the time. They need us to show them the way even when they are still as young as your son. Be consistent, be compassionate but know that you are in charge. He will follow your lead as soon as you take command of the ship.

By the way we are potty training right now.... reminding myself of this story is exactly the ammo I needed!

Best of luck to you -- you absolutely deserve an afternoon to indulge in whatever you desire...

D.

I had a similar problem when my daughter was the same age. She used to take a bottle once in a while, but at 4 months after I had to leave her for several hours a day over a weekend to complete my continuing education credits for my license, she abruptly started refusing ALL bottles. She never took another bottle again and it was pretty sucky until I found a sippy cup she would drink out of around 5-6 months.

Anyway, I don't have any advice, but I did want to suggest smelling and tasting your milk to make sure you don't have a lipase problem. In some people, lipase in the BM is very active in breaking things down. The BM is completely safe to drink, but it has a pretty musty or soapy smell and taste. Some babies refuse to drink it. For me, the lipase turned my pumped milk stinky in about 12-24 hours. The time it takes for lipase to change the taste varies by the person. There is something you can do if you have this problem though. I don't know if this might be part of the problem, so I thought I'd throw it out there in case the taste of the milk was why he won't drink it. If you need additional info, feel free to message me.

G., I went through the same thing with my daughter. We struggled with her taking the bottle. Like you I tried them all and she rejected all of them but the Avent but just for about 1-month and then she rejected that. I had to move her to a sippy cup - I used the Gerber/Nuk Learner Cup. She immediately took this cup (which hold 5 oz) and I never had any problems since then; she was around the same age as your son is when I did this.

Like other moms have also stated, I would suggest getting your son on a feeding schedule of every 2-3 hours to start with. He doesn't have any weight issues so he certainly can eat in longer stretches.

I had the same fears as you do when I went back to work and it all worked out, I just had to keep trying different bottles until I found one that worked - you will have to do the same.

Good luck to you, and your son will be just fine!

GET BOTTLE THAT HAS AMOST LIKE HUMAN NIPPLE
hE'LL EAT WHEN HE'S HUNGRY

All of the babies in my group that loved boobs and hated bottles eventually accepted the Playtex drop-ins NaturalLatch bottle. It's the drop-in bottle that is NOT the vent-aire; it's straight. Also, you might try different nipples to see if your baby has a preference. Go with silicone first though; those are the clear ones. You can also try nipples with different flow rates. My daughter would not take the bottle either, and my husband really wanted to feed her. She would NEVER take a bottle from me, and that is certainly part of your problem. I had to leave the room because that way it was easier for my husband and my baby couldn't smell the milk. Really, try leaving the house and running an errand. The worst that happens is that your baby is hungry for an hour and cries in the arms of a loving parent who isn't you.
Oh, and my daughter liked her milk (it was always pumped breast milk) unusually hot. Try seriously warming it, and if she won't take it, warm it a little more. Obviously don't burn her, but play with the temp a bit too.

My youngest son - 8 months now, gave us a run for the money when we were trying to find a bottle he liked too. We ended up using a Playtex Nurser with Latex nipple. I really think it was the latex nipple that was the key. It is very thin and feels very much like real skin. You may want to give it a try. I wish you the best of luck. Kids can be picky!!
Jen
Mom of 3 boys - 4.5 yrs, 2 yrs, 8 months.

Hi,

Every child is different, but my son took to the Born Free bottle right away--it has a nipple that seems to be more like the breast and it a safe bottle, to boot!

He still nurses fine and has no nipple confusion. Here is a suggestion. The next time or two that you nurse, wear one of your husband's shirts so your son will start to associate that smell with feeding then ask your husband to feed him when he gets home. Putting baby down on dad's legs with feet to dad's tummy is a good way to get baby to take bottle, too.

If worse comes to worse, he'll have to take the bottle when you go back to work. My pediatrician reminds me that no child has ever voluntarily starved herself or himself...

good luck!

If he hasn't been exposed to a bottle before now you may be too late. My son was also exclusively breast fed (I was home with him and didn't mind feeding on demand so there was never a reason to introduce a bottle). Right around 4 months we, too, tried to get him to take a bottle of pumped breast milk and tried many varieties of bottles/nipples with no luck. One day we decided that I would not breast-feed at all and only offer him the bottle and eventually he would have to accept the bottle. Well, he only ate 6 ounces in a 24 hour period and fought it the whole time! Our doctor said he would get dehydrated if we did that a second day so I just started breast-feeding again. He was exclusively breast-fed from birth to 6 months at which time we introduced baby foods and cereals.
It was tough but I made peace with the fact that I was his source of food and could not be away from him for more than a couple hours. I was not working outside the home but it was hard to not be able to go anywhere for very long without him. It's only a couple more months until you can introduce other foods. If he simply will not take a bottle then I suggest that you just make peace with it and the two months will go by faster than you think.

Lesson learned here is that with baby #2 I will breast-feed but introduce a bottle early on and use it for at least one feeding a day. This way the baby can be fed by hubby and anyone else besides just you!

Good Luck!

I remember the same stress. Mine refused every type of bottle I tried also. However, I did not allow him to nurse on demand. I used "On Becoming Babywise" to stretch the time in between his feedings. At 4 months, I think they were about 3 hours or so, maybe close to 3 1/2 from the start of one to the start of the next. He completed a feeding in about 20 minutes usually, so I ended up with about 2 hours to actually be out of the house to run errands or whatever. Long enough to run to the grocery store, but not long enough to go see a movie with your husband. :(
We just gave up on it until he was 6 months and my supply started to dwindle (went back on oral contraceptives) . Even though he was hungry b/c I suddenly stopped producing even CLOSE to what he was used to, he refused to take a bottle from me or my husband. We were blessed to be visiting my parents at the time. My mom said, "Just go. Go see a movie. I'll get him to take it. We'll be fine. Just go."
We did. They were. For the next feeding that day, I let my mother give it to him (just in case). That one, I took over (using the bottle) AFTER he had already been feeding for a couple of minutes. And he used a bottle thereafter with no problems.
You didn't mention whether YOU left the house when your "helpers" were trying to get him to take the bottle, but if you didn't, that might help.

If you have a family member who is an old "pro" around and who is patient enough and willing, then try it out. Don't feed him before you go. Just have the bottle prepared and then leave. Go see an afternoon movie with your husband. Turn off the cell phone too. When you get home.. you might be surprised.

Personally, I think I wasted a lot of effort worrying about what kind of bottle he would like. The bottom line was he didn't want ANY bottle. Once he accepted a bottle, he didn't care which kind we used. You might try changing the nipples, not the bottles if you really feel like you need to give him "options".
Good luck. This is a hard thing. But it will work out eventually.

LOTS & LOTS of different nipples & at first have anyone but you try the bottle & he has to be hungry. My babies were babies a few years ago -- but we waited too long to introduce the bottle....and only managed to get the last baby on to the bottle and the above is what we had to do. I was ill, so we had to change him over quickly from the breast to the bottle. He survived -- but the key is hunger + trying lots of different nipple types + the favorite mommy nipples need to be gone (daddy feed) = success:)
good luck