She Wont Take a Bottle from Me or Her Dad!!

My son was the same way, but I used to have my mother give it to him so he wouldn't just want me all the time. I would have to be out of site because when he saw me he would just want me. He seemed to really like the playtex bottles w/the liners. The nipples are really soft. He didn't like the advent nipples at all. I think because they are kind of hard. Don't worry if she is hungry enough she will eat. Good Luck!!

I don't really have any advice for your situation but wanted to let you know of this for the future if you have other kids. I breastfed my son for 10 weeks and than went back to work and had a really hard time leaving my son and my milk dried up. Anyways, when we took our son for his 1-week check-up his doctor said the best thing we could do was give him one bottle a day of pumped breastmilk. He said otherwise sometimes babies have a hard time taking a bottle. My son never had a problem going back and forth. Just a suggestion for the future...

I recently went through this with my second daughter too and it has a happy outcome. I called the lactation people at the hospital where I had her and they had some good suggestions but mostly it was just trial and error and time that worked. Our babysitter eventually got her to take it (in her home--not ours) but it took a couple of weeks--some days she only ate 3 oz while I was at work but she was fine. Now she takes 16 ounces and holds the bottle herself. One thing that worked for my daughter was not to try to re-create the breastfeeding experience--so she liked to face out, hold onto the bottle herself and fool around with it for a while. I only tried one other type of bottle thinking it wasn't really the bottle just her overall stuborness about taking anything but the breast. She's using the Playtex drop-ins but I think she would also take the Avent. Day care people have lots of experience so try not to worry too much. Eventually she will come around and unless she is considerably underweight, a few days of not eating much isn't going to hurt her. Hang in there. It's not easy but it will be ok. Good luck.

I was told with my second child that its easier for a baby to take a bottle if you are not in the same room because the baby can actually smell you and will want you over the bottle. When your husbands tried are you always there? If so, then its possible she will be just fine in daycare.....as my doctor told me they wont go hungry for long(i was fortunate not to have bottle issues but my oldest was and still is a picky eater).

good luck!

You might have an excess lipase problem...
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/lipase-expressedmilk.html

I have that, and never knew about it until I posted to another online group. It's VERY common, but easily solved. I scald my milk in the microwave when I'm working, and that has done the trick.

Hi J.,

I had a hard time with my son because I just breast fed him for a year, I was able to get him to use the evenflo comfi nipples. You can get them at Target, Kmart & Baby depot ( I got the first pair whith the evenflo breast pump. They will fit a standard narrow bottle but the nipple is much wider at the base and they can be a pain to put through the ring. My son would almost put the whole nipple to the ring in his mouth but he would take that bottle. My daughter who is 4 months old and picky like he was will take that nipple and the Gerber comfort latch, that one is for a wide mouth bottle. Hope this will help. I know what your going throu.

Are you continuing with breastfeeding? Or trying to cut it out all together? I breastfed my daughter for 4 1/2 months and finally just had to cut her out completely from the breast because she too wouldnt take the bottle and breast. I have been using the playtex nursers and they have worked great. Plus it took almost an entire day from eatting bm in the morning till about 3 p.m. when she would finally take the bottle, half bm/half formula. I don't know what you are planning on doing formula or bm but try whatever works. I hope this helps!

Well, for the time being, feed her with a spoon or a dropper. Or syringe.
Good luck.

Hi J.,

I actually posted about this same problem a couple of weeks ago. I was going on vacation to Florida and my daughter who is 4 months old would not take a bottle. I didn't know what to do since I didn't want to be breastfeeding at Disney!! Anyways the girls here gave me great advice!! After trying different nipples I went with the Avent bottle and nipples because they are very similar to the breast. What I did was I would breastfeed her and then I would give her the bottle. I tried that for about 2 weeks and now she takes the bottle. She only takes about 5 ounces in a bottle at a time but with time she will progress!! I still breastfeed her during the week, I only bottle feed her weekend nights when I am not around because of work. Anyways, Good luck, I know how hard it is!!

If she absolutely won't take a bottle, try a Nuby Sippy cup or have her drink from a normal cup. That may be successful. Many babies won't take a bottle for their mothers at all, however they will for their fathers. We struggled a bit to get my son to take a bottle for his father - he would take a long time over the bottle that sometimes once he had eventually finished the bottle, it was time for him to eat again and he would nurse like a champ.

When he went to daycare, he had no issues with the bottle - there were days here and there that he didn't want it, but those were few and far between.

Some babies reverse-cycle where they nurse most of the night in their sleep and then eat very little at daycare.

Hopefully the nuby helps!

Good luck!

Hi, I totally understand. I have a 5 mo. old who hates the bottle and only wants to breastfeed. However, I have found that if my son gets hungry enough he WILL take a bottle from my husband. You may have to endure some crying, which I know is hard, but once your baby realizes that's the only way the milk will "flow," she'll most likely relent and accept the bottle. One other thing I did was find a bottle nipple that most resembled the pacifier nipple he was used to. That definitely helped. Good luck!

I know this is such a tough issue. My first son would not take a bottle when was little and he started going to daycare (at five months) and literally would go the entire day just eating an ounce or so. It was very stressful and made me feel incredibly guilty. I tried going to the daycare to breastfeed him at lunch for awhile, but this was impractical and he was not focussed since he was excited to see me, etc. then. I discussed this problem with my pediatrician at the time (who was the best I have ever known) and he suggested giving yo-baby yogurt as an alternative to formula. They will receive protein they need with that (and iron and DHA in some of the varieties) and might be more willing to eat off a spoon than suck from a bottle. Also, we tried about 10 different types of bottle nipples before finding one that he would tolerate enough to eat a couple of ounces. He never ate from a bottle well though...it was very concerning at the time but he is now a healthy three-year-old. I have a one-year-old who had a much easier time taking a bottle even though he was also breastfed. I guess some babies just have an issue with this (my mom said I was like this to the extreme when I was a baby...)
Good luck!

My son was the same way. I can only say that when she is hungry enough she will eat. Have you tried different nipples as well?

I had the same problem with my son right at the same age. I used one of the Playtex drop-in nursers, which I'm sure you've tried, and eventually he took it. It will get to the point where she will get hungry and take the bottle, I know it it really hard to deal with, but it will definitely happen.