I recently posted that I had problems with my milk drying up and thanks to all the advice, I am starting to produce more. One of the advice was to feed more often at the breast. My daugher (10 wks) started to prefer the breast about 2 wks ago prior to me trying to increase my milk supply. Now she won't take from the bottle at ALL. It makes it hard for my husband when I'm away. What can I do to make her feed from both without jeopardizing decreasing my milk again???
Any advice would be appreciated.
pump pump pump
Also, she will most likely only take a bottle if you are not around at all. If they know mommy is nearby, they'll wait for you to BF. Great job breastfeeding, KEEP IT UP!!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations on sticking with the breast feeding! If you are going to stay at home for a while, I wouldn't worry about it too much! Try the suggestions offered by the other moms (different nipples, dad feeds the bottle, etc.) If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. My little girl (now 4) refused the bottle, period. I was working part time when she was tiny and was gone for about 3 hours daily. I pumped every day and left a fresh bottle. When she was really hungry, she would eat enough not to starve and wait for me to return. We survived. I did plan my hours around her nap schedule so that it wasn't too traumatic for whomever was with her that day. If you can do that, the hours are not quite so much torture for the poor soul without the boobies! :) Again, I wouldn't worry too much. Everything will be fine!
Hi there, first of all that is so awesome that your baby is back to the breast full-time and although frustrating it is quite the compliment that she prefers breast over bottle.
Here is a link to some information I thought might help with getting your baby to take a bottle. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/alternative-feeding.html
Also, have you tried the BreastFlow bottles? They are great ... they have a double nipple and simulate breastfeeding.
Good Luck,
J.
B.,
Just keep introducing the bottle. Try giving it to her when she's really hungry. And keep pumping your milk. It will all work out, your will has to be stronger than hers, because you're the boss, not her.
Hang in there!
I was told to have someone (other than mom) give the bottle at first and you can always pump and bottle breastmilk so your baby will have breastmilk and be more likely to take from a bottle. Try different nipples too, you never know what your little one will take to. Good Luck!
i had the same problem with my daughter (now 4.5 months). she would act like i was terrorizing her with a bottle, it was so sad. i needed her to learn the bottle as i went back to work part time. my doctor advised me to spend 2 or 3 days giving her the bottle all day long while i pumped all day. it was a bit tough because i was worried that she would be starving or so sad, but by the end of the first day she was taking the bottle. i still did it for 3 days, it was a lot of work, but worth it. i now give her two bottles of breast milk per day just to keep up the habit. sometimes giving a bottle the first of the day will help because the baby is really hungry. i also tried the adiri bottle and my baby took it and now she will take any bottle. i don't think its the bottle, i think its getting used to not the breast. the adiri was good in that to me i thought it was the slowest flow and the shortest nipple. good luck and hang in there. this is very common.
I had to deal with this when I had to go back to work. First, congrats for not giving up breastfeeding! I had to try many different bottles before my baby took it. I eventually wound up using the Adiri Breast Bottle, I found it on ebay. It similates the shape of a breast, so my daughter took to it. But babies are smart and if they have a choice between a boobie and a bottle, a bottle will always lose. My advice would be to just find a bottle that she will take and have your hubby try and offer it to her when you're not there. Believe me, my dd wouldn't take a bottle from me at all. But eventually she will get hungry enough to take a bottle from daddy when she knows that you are not there. And she won't starve. I plan on introducing the bottle to my newest little one when he's 4 weeks old just so I can avoid this sitaution again. Good luck and keep us posted.
Your baby is only ten weeks old - are you sure you HAVE to leave her? Can only leave for an hour? I don't think you want the only baby - daddy time to be awful and stressful. They need to bond and it needs to be a relaxing time together. If you are trying to sneak away whenever dad is home your baby will not look forward to her dad coming home - and that is not what you want. This time goes by so quickly. Soon she will be older and guess what she won't even notice when you go and she might even prefer her dad (my 2 1/2 year old right now!) I would suggest you take a few more weeks and just stay with that baby. Let her nurse often and feel secure about where her food is coming from - I promise it will pay off later when you have a happy, confident little girl who loves her dad to death.
Have your husband continue to try the bottle. She will eat if she gets hungry enough even from a bottle.
Hello, my 16 week old daughter won't take a bottle either. I nurse her on both breasts before I leave her with her Dad. I know your baby will take a bottle if she is hungry enough, in the meantime your poor hubby will have to endure some crying until she gets the hang of it. I have 2 other children (12 and 6) and they both took the bottle when they were left with their Dad... Good Luck, and don't give up!!
Hi, sorry to respond so much later! Hope you still get this... Neither of my boys wanted a bottle either. The advice I received on getting baby to take the bottle worked eventually....Have Dad (or someone other than you) give a bottle at least once a day (even if you don't need him to) and try it at the same time each day if possible. When baby is alert and happy. DO NOT wait until baby is super hungry. (When they are feeling desperate just for food, they don't want to mess around with this new BOTTLE thing and they will protest.)Pump for the missed feeding. And yes, you might have to try a few different nipple styles. I hope this helps and I hope you can make it thru this little rough patch with nursing! It really does get so much easier as you go and is SO WORTH IT!! You are doing a great job!!!!
