Help She Will Not Take a Bottle !!!

I could never get my sons to take a bottle either. I tried every bottle on the market. They went straight to sippy cups at 9 months old. My nieghbor breast fed though and had to go back to work. She said after two days of screaming at the sitter and getting no food he finally took the bottle. She said the kid won't starve himself. I personally couldn't do it...but it worked for her.

There are many ways of getting food into baby... dip a clean cotton cloth into the milk and let her suck that, a short, small cup works even for very, very small babies, a dental syringe, a sippy cup, 'finger-feeding' using a small surgical tube taped to a finger leading from a bottle...

6 rounds of mastitis!!! OMG! Do you have any sense of what is causing it? That should completely not be happening! Have you spoken to a lactation consultant or La Leche League Leader about avoiding mastitis, rather than just treating it?

I had the same issue with my third child. I had mastitis a number of times and she flat out refused to take a bottle. I tried every bottle (even with pumped milk) and no success. When I went back to work after my leave at 3 months she still refused a bottle all day from her sitter. She would eat before I left at 6:30 and not again until 3:00pm (as she got older she added food during hte day). Than she would eat all night every few hours (on her own she decided to go all day without food like she should have at night) and eat all night. It was a long year until she was ready for a sippy cup and milk and I finally weaned her to that at age one. I think some children even at a young age know what they need and want and you can't always change their mind. To help with the mastitis I still pumped every few hour, even though she would not drink it, and just threw it away. That way it kept by breasts drained. At the time it was hard but looking back I am so glad I had that very close connection to her. I think it helped build the wonderful bond we have today. Good Luck.

I have responded to other mom's on the board about this topic. I had the same problem with my daughter at found that the MAM Sassy bottle works. It is an awesome bottle and is the closest to breastfeeding in my opinion. It is worth checking out.

Try different bottles and nipples... Fast, medium, and slow nipples...
Some just won't take a bottle... I am guessing that she's about 5 months or so old? You could start her right on a sippy cup... (I am a big avoid the bottle advocate. Nurse then cup. :-) Makes it easier for us too... Darn bottle brushes. lol)
It is true, she will not starve herself... But, if she's screaming and yelling when your trying to feed her thats not helpful either... Do NOT try to calm her with a pacifier while trying to feed her. Maybe putting some of the milk on the nipple will help her get the idea of whats in it...
Just as with all parenting it trial and error.
I do wish they'd send us instruction manuals for our specific model, The closest thing we have is our mommy sense. Listen to yours and try try try again.

Good luck!!!

Hi A.,
I used Avent bottles. I'm not sure about other brands of bottles but Avent has different flow nipples. I used the one hole nipple for awile. Babies have to work harder to get milk out from the breast. When we had to give my son a bottle, if the nipple was to fast he wouldn't drink it would just spill out the sides of his mouth. Plus he would spit up whatever he had ate. I don't know if you have tried that yet but I would if you haven't. Good luck.
Chris

To help the Mastitis I found a solution my second time around. You need to pump after each feeding. This gets the milk out and make sure you are masseging while she is eating and you are pumping to make sure it all comes out. Are you also changing the positions that you are feeding her in? Make sure you are on a schedule.

I could type for ever on the above. To solve the bottle problem.

I had to go through a few different bottles until my daughter and son would take a bottle. Platex is the answer. My son likes the drop in ones and my daughter liked the airvent. Make sure the nipple on the ones you are using are big enough because she might not be getting anything out. (this happened to my mom and husband when they tried feeding them.)

good luck
K.

I had the same exactly problem with my son. It actually didn't matter weather it was formula or breastmilk in the bottle he always cried! But fortunately my mom stepped up and got me a Playtex Nurser -slow flow- and it helped! and what worked along with it was that she sang a soft song while she rocked him putting the bottle in his mouth. He fussed for a couple of times but don't give up IT WORKS!! Put that bottle and she'll gab it just be patient and sing to her while you feed her.

i had the same issue with my son( he's 8 months now) we tried several diffrent types of bottles, we found the avent ones worked pretty well, is the milk your giving her warm enough? also i realized that when he was hungry enough he would finally drink from the bottle. I know it can be Veryyyy frustrating, but don't worry, she'll eventually drink from a bottle.

hi A.-
I am sorry you are having this problem, I did also with my 1st. and 4th. child, the problem was I was not breastfeeding her enough every 2-4 hours as a newborn then every 4 hours until she was almost 6 months old. but as you, i did the same thing i put them on the bottle and they would not take it did't matter what kind of bottle i put them on , it did'nt work!!!! until finally i found out!!! she was confused extremely confused, you see you can't change nipples on a baby too fast ( it's like try to learn how to ride a different bike day at the age of 5) you need to put her on a playtex natural mothers breast kind of nipple and keep her on it even if she won't take it the first couple of days , when she gets hungry enough!!!believe me she will latch on and will not take any other kind of nipple!!!!
just keep her on the same one so she can get used to it.
It's going to be tough on you!!!! and every one around, but sit down and hold her!!! don't be nervous,she will sense it ,,, try try to be very calm , lay back close your eyes and theink of something very calming to YOU so she will sense your calming effect rock her , let her know she is safe secure and she will calm down enough to take on that different nipple, keep doing it , might take a few days but once she gets used to it you will be so relieved!!!!!!!!! gently move the bottle around, that nipple has to feel comfortable in her mouth and only YOU can do it ,,, but you can just keep it up wiggle the nipple around in her mouth very slowly untilshe gets that sucking inclination or instinct!!!
hope this helps
mother of 5 all grown with 9 grandchildren
S. R

I only give my daughter an occasional bottle and my MIL said that she was starting to refuse the bottle so I tried the NUK bottle, we use nuk pacies, and she seemed to accept that. So if you do use a pacie try to find a bottle with a similar nipple.
I also wanted to tell you that you have a done a wonderful thing by breastfeeding your daughter. I know that it can be difficult to decide to switch to the bottle. Remember that we are called to Mothers not Marters.
Many blessings, K.