Help! 2 Month Old Will Not Take a Bottle!

There is a boob bottle...yes I said it, it's shaped like and looks like you are holding a breast...the whole bottle is soft and the size of a breast...and it works...I used it to transition my son...(I borrowed it from a friend) but I believe it's made by one step ahead...look online...and goodluck! (oh you should be out of the room when baby is being fed)

Has she been breastfed up to this point? Are you planning to continue nursing? If so, you can feed her the breastmilk from a cup. My youngest never took a bottle so on the days that I had to work my Mom gave him the breastmilk in a small cup. He was too young initially for a sippy cup so she would just hold the cup for him and he would drink from a regular small cup. Funny thing is it wasn't a nipple problem as in addition to nursing until nearly 3 he hung onto the binky that long too! Both were hard to wean him from - glad I didn't have to worry about weaning from a bottle too!

L.,

This might seem a little strange but if nothing else works, you can cup feed her. I didn't like bottles because I was nursing so I would have my nursing babies fed from a sippy cup, not the kind you have to suck but the Tupperware kind with the spout. I know it is a little unconventional, but the point is the nourishment, and this can work. Not that you would let anyone prop her up with it or anything, but you might want to give it a try.

Hey L.,

I had a very similar problem with my son. He had had a bottle a week for the first 6 weeks, I had to go back to work at week 7 and he started just refusing the bottle.
My first day at work he didn't eat for 4 hours, I had to come back from work to nurse him. The second day he ate after 6 hours of no food. That whole week he wouldnt take a bottle from my husband. By the second week, he started eating. I felt terrible, but had to go to work. He is eating with no problem now. ALthough now when he nurses, he keeps smiling at me.

Hope this helps.

H.

I have a 7 month old daughter who didn't take the bottle for the longest time. I bought about 5 different bottles and than discovered "Breastflow" bottle by The First Years - they have it at Babies 'R' Us. She finally took that one and is still using it - and just be persistant - even if she doesn't like it the first time, she will may take it after a few tries. Good luck!

try using whats called a breast shield when you nurse. its a small plastic cover that goes over the nipple. It made moving from breast to bottle easier. It may sound funny but get the cheapest gerber bottles you can find. Those are the ONLY ones my daughter would use.

Hi,

We used Dr. Brown Bottle and they were great, they may help. We still use the 1 and 2 size nipples, even though she's 7 months. I still warm her bottle as well. She maybe teething mine was and still sometimes does the samething. She likes to gum the nipples, drives us crazy. Try to do something for a few minutes and then try again, or wait 10-15 minutes after you think she's hungry, that worked for us. Take care and good luck. Alison

hello L.-
I dont know if I have a cure for you but I had the same issue with my son. I was told by my pediatrician that breastfeeding and bottle feeding actually use different muscles to eat. With breastfeeding, the baby uses their tongue to massage the nipple to feed. For bottle feeding, they are using mainly the muscles in the cheeks to suck out the milk. So it just takes practice. He told me that sometimes it can take up to 12 or 14 times to figure it out. So just keep introducing the bottle and eventually your little one should figure out that they need to change their technique in order to eat! Good Luck!

She won't starve - if you're at work all day and all she is offered is the bottle, she *will* eventually take it. You're doing the right thing, so try to relax (easier said than done), as she probably picks up on the stress when being given the bottle. My son wouldn't take a bottle for a long time, then all of a sudden he would - who knows why they change their minds? A friend of mine, her daughter refuses to take milk from a bottle but will drink water and tea by bottle. Their solution? Mom nurses before she's off to work, baby drinks water and tea all day as needed, then nurses like a wee fiend when mom gets home. Strange set up, but baby is doing just fine. Try the bottle when Olivia has already nursed a bit (isn't starving), try sippy cups, straws, or regular drinking cups, or try bottles with water or a very weak chamomile tea. Have you called your local La Leche League? They might have some good advice, too. Good luck!

I am a mother of 4 ages 6 and under. I breastfed all and did a combination of breast/bottle for work and sanity. I never had a problem with the first 3...they took any bottle from anyone in any position being held either having breastmilk or any kind of formula in it. Then Emma came along! She refused all types of bottles from anyone. The only way we got her to take a bottle was to hold her facing out (like when a baby is in a Bjorn carrier) with left arm over her left shoulder, hand holding crotch. This made her left arm immobile and her left cheek pressed into our left arm. Our right arm over her right shoulder, right hand pressed into her cheek, and holding bottle in her mouth. We had to stand, sway left to right, and bounce a little. To top it all off...she would only take formula this way and from one particular bottle. I know it sounds confusing. I am available to discuss it further ____@____.com.

Have you tried the first years breastflow bottle? I have found that the latch on is most similar to the breast and my 7 week old son is not having a problem switching between that bottle and my breast. Good luck!

Have you tried Born Free bottles?

Hi L.. My daughter had similar problems when we were actually trying to transition her to formula. I ended up having her cry through a feeding (ultimately skipping that meal/bottle). The next feeding/bottle feeding session she was so hungry that she ended up submitting and taking the bottle. It sounds cruel but it worked. There is no harm done either if your child skips a meal at that stage. If they are hungry, they will drink. You can run this theory by your pediatrician if you want but it worked for me (and ultimately my sister in-law who also had issues with her daughter taking a bottle when she switched formulas). Good luck.

L.
The first thing you should do is find out if she is alergic to the formula. Then the best advise I can give you is what my pediatrician gave me: She will not starve! She will eat when she is hungry. Babies are very self-serviving. They will eat. She is missing mommy and is letting you know it! Just keep trying, it is probably more stressful for you then for her. I had to quit bf my 2 month old daughter for medical reasons and she cried like the dickens1 but eventually she came around and it didn't take as long as I thought it would. Good luck.
G. L.

I had the same problem. As soon as my daughter could sit up well or even hold her head steady I started to give her a sippy cup with formula in it and I nursed her at night (before bedtime). She never had a bottle - but I needed to stop nursing during the day time hours - she did well with the cup - a little messy but she survived.

try a nipple that matches the pacifier,usually LATEX is softest, and easiest

AND DO NOT BREASTFEED even if she cries,
even if she won't eat, Continue to pump and pump, and in one or 2 days she will be hungry enough to eat with the bottle,

Make sucky sounds while breastfeeding to tell her its time,
and the same sucky sounds when bottle feeding,

My son, would not drink JUICE or water and was very ill, and I could not give him MILK

in one day and one evening, he finally gave in.

Good luck because its heart wrenching.

M
http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/offerbottle.html

http://www.mambabyusa.com/sassy/go?d=bottles

I would contact an early intervention program in your county so that a speech therapist can give her a feeding evaluation. good luck