Having Trouble Getting My Son to Take a Bottle

A. I too breastfeed my daughter and she is now 10 1/2 mths old. She wouldn't take a bottle either so what I did when she was 4 mths old was I gave her a sippy cup. I got her the nuby kind with a straw because whe was able to grasp that concept better and it didn't have to be tipped up and it had handles for her to hold on to. They sell they at Wal-Mart and they are only about $3. That really helped and than I didn't have to worry about weening her from me and the bottle. Hopefully that helps!

I used the gerber ones with the big nipples with my daughter and they were the only ones she would take till she was older.

When I took my daughter off the breast at six months I had to leave her with my mom. If she could smell me and the breast milk then that was all she wanted. Get your husband or someone else you love and trust to do it when you aren't in the room. That might help.

My daughter never did take a bottle. I had to have surgery and i was breastfeeding. My mother was taking care of her. she was about 4 months old. she never accepted any bottle or pacifier. I tried everything. she nursed until she weaned to a cup. she was and still is an extremely sensitive child. good luck!

We used Avent and loved them and never had any trouble, however there is a bottle out called Adiri you can find them at www.babysupermall.com it is actually shaped like a breast and is round, with the bottle being made of the soft material. It is most like breastfeeding that you can get from a bottle. I think they have a sample pack so you can see if they work before investing a lot of money into them, but they are suppose to be the best.

I had this problem too when I went back to work. I ended up having to come home at lunchtime and feed her (I only lived 5mins from work). No one ever could get her my stubborn little daughter to take a bottle! We tried all of the different shapes and sizes and brands - nothing worked. I'm just thankful that I had time to feed her at lunchtime.
Good luck!

If the bottle's that others have mentioned don't work, you can try to use a nipple shield. I tried this with my 4 month old and she transitioned well to a bottle. You can buy one at babies are us, it's just a soft plastic shield you put over your nipple. That may get your baby used to a plastic nipple, then try the bottles after a few days. Good luck to you!

I can't remeber the name of the bottle, but they sell them at the "Milky Way" syore on east Blvd. in Charlotte, NC (they have a web site). They look like a breast and allow the child to latch on. I have the Soothy bottles and they work wonderfully!. One ting my husband and I discovered was that when we put the bottle in his mount he thought it was a pacifier, and he wanted milk, so that would really get him angry. Put the bottle in his mouth, and then press the nipple to the roof of his mouth so that he gets that there is milk in there, not just pacifier. Also, you should not be giving him the bottle. He knows that you ahve the "real deal" and he wants that.

Good Luck. My 6 month old daughter still will not take a bottle. I have tried every single bottle and nipple on the market. I had to go back to work when she was 13 weeks old. I made arrangements with my managers to allow me to breastfeed during the day: The daycare is only 4 miles away from work. Can you bring your son with you to work?

I tried almost every brand with my daughter and struggled for weeks and eventually I was told to put some sugar water on the nipple of the bottle until she got used to it, and that did the trick. I had to make sure she couldn't smell breat milk though, i usually put a blanket over my chest whilst i fed her for a couple of days, just to avoid confusion.

Good luck!

good luck! I tried every bottle on the market, and my daughter never took one. At 9.5 months old she STILL doesnt take one! I am still nursing, and she uses a cup.

My advice is to keep on trying- and let someone else try the bottle. Your son is more likely to take it when he cannot hear or smell you.

If he really doesnt like it, then I would consider staying home. Do you really have to work part time? I kind of like that my baby didnt like the bottle.

My daughter had a hard time taking a bottle too at this age. We tried every bottle and nipple that we could find. She finally took the brown colored Playtex nipple..with the flat top. I could only find them at Target and they didn't have them in stock all the time. Good luck and hopefully he will get the hang of it soon!

have you tried Avent? that is what we used. Are you switching solely to bottle feeding or doing both? my son would not take a bottle from me at first, so maybe try having someone else feed him?

My lactation consultant suggested avent and my baby won't take anything but that...

There is a bottle called Breastflow and it's made by the first years. It has 2 nipples, so it actually has letdown and everything and is shaped more like a breast. I got mine at Babies 'R Us, but they may be available more places than that. I just know I couldn't find them at Wal-Mart.

My son used the Playtex bottle with the drop-in liners. He started on slow-flow nipples and then we switched him to fast-flow because he was such a fast nurser. I actually had to start him on a bottle before my milk came in (because he was losing too much weight) and then was able to get him to nurse, so he never had bottle issues like your son is having. But maybe this type of bottle will work for you - I hope!

I breastfed my daughter and pumped when I went back to work as well and we used the Avent bottles and they were great, my daughter would only use the Nuk brand of pacifers so she was kind of pickey about the nipple shape and we tried the others you listed but it seemed the Avent bottles were the ones for her. If you do try the Avent bottles don't over tighten the tops they tend to leak, the only drawback. hope that was helpful

I too am a nursing mother who had issues intially switching to a bottle. My daughter took best to the platex nursers. I use the plastic liners (which i buy in bulk at a warehouse store) and the flat nipple which is sold seperately. I also found that she was getting too tired using the slow flow nipple so went right to the fast flow and she did great. Good luck.

Have you tried leaving the room when the bottle is fed? Although we started mine on the occassional bottle at 2 weeks just to make sure he would take it because I knew I was going back to work, he would not ever take a bottle from me. He would gladly take it from anyone else as long as I was nowhere around. Maybe you've tried this, but if not it's worth a shot. If he's 4 months, maybe have his sitter start trying cereal as well, he might be more receptive to that. Good luck!

MY DAUGHTER HAD TROUBLE WITH TAKING A BOTTLE THE ONLY ONE I GOT TO WORK WAS THE NUK NIPPLES BY GERBER. SHE TOOK THOSE RIGHT OFF THE BAT . YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRY THOSE.

Hello A.,
I had the same problem with my youngest. I tried everything possible to feed her from a bottle just to give me a break from breast feeding but she wanted nothing to do with it at all from me. Try having he father or even your oldest give him the bootle. I finally got her to take the bottle only if I was not feeding her or around her at all. I had to go in the other room and be totally out of her sight. Children will eventually eat if they are hungry. It might take some time but she will give in and take the bottle. You can still breast feed her but realize they are smarter than we think even at a young age. Maintain giving her one type of bottle, something that is closer to what the nipple is shaped liked. If you try to many she will get confused. Remeber you are the parent and not her, just don't give in because it will be like starting all over everytime. I hope this helped :-)

A....there is a bottle that is shaped and looks like a breast...i think it's in the ONE STEP AHEAD catalog/on line store....we've never tried it, although it has great reviews.

Keep trying....good luck.

Pam

A.,

I had the same problem. My daugher also used a soothie pacifier. I could not feed her a bottle b/c she could smell my milk and would go crazy, but my husband put the bottle in her mouth and squeezed the nipple so that milk would come. After a couple days she started to take it. It also helps if you are not in the room. My daughter also likes advent bottles. I hope this helps:~)