Very Stuck..

Hello T.,

I too had this issue with my oldest who is now 7. I tried every kind of bottle, nipple and formula there was to no avail. I had my husband, mom, mother in law and various friends try to feed her as well. It was not until she was 8 months old that I had truelly had enough and decided that I would not breastfeed anymore. For myself it was enough. This may sound mean and realy felt very mean but I just would not breast feed her one day. I just kept offering her a bottle and she was eating babyfood so I knew that she was not starving. It was a battle of wills. By 4p.m she had given in and took the bottle and that was it. That is not to say that it wasn't so hard for the both of us, and that many a tear was shed by her and I both. I wish you lots of luck!

L.

Yes, I remember...My daughter breastfed exclusively for a few months and rejected the bottle for weeks. We eventually got her on an Avent bottle. Their airflex nipple was shaped similarly to my own. HA! Sounds funny saying that but I think that's key. You can't expect them to want to suck on something that doesn't remotely feel like you, right? Anyway, a more expensive bottle that we bought and ended up returning (unused of course is the Adiri Breast Shaped Baby Bottle). We had it ready to use, but after a few intros to the Avent bottle, we didn't need to use it. It's $15+ for one! We bought it online, so I'm not sure if it's sold in stores. Good luck.

T.,
I was able to use playtex nursers(the ugly brown ones with the plastic bags)and still breatfed at the same time. You might want to just use breast milk in the bottle until he accepts the nipple and then slowly introduce the formula. You can also have her husband, mother ect. put a blanket or article of clothing with your scent on it over them so he still smells mommy and it might make it more smoother.I hope this helps somewhat! Good luck!
Deb W.

Hi T., my friend actually had the same problem with her son he's turning one in a about a month. She tried the whole nipple thing also, she spent so much money he wouldn't take any of them and she tried taking him the breast when he was like 5 or 6mths. Well finally the only thing that worked was she had to leave the room anytime he was hungry and myself and our other friend fed him that's the only way he started to take the bottle. The thing is once he smells her or heard her voice he wouldn't take it. Try this and see what happens I hope it works for you, I didn't breastfeed my two girls so I don't have any personal stories on how to get them off.

My son won't take a bottle either and I really don't mind. I know that doesn't help you, but I just wanted you to know that you're not alone! Owen is 8 months old and has never taken a bottle very well. Our sitter was able to get him to drink a couple of ounces from the Breastflow bottles by First Years (you can get these at Babies R Us), but never a full meal. Nuby makes a sippy cup that has a really soft spout that they actually have to bite down on to get the liquid out. It's worked well for us, but he still won't take breast milk from it. I've just been giving him a little bit of water in it so that he can practice. I just think of it this way...at least I won't have to wean him off of a bottle in the future! Good luck to you and kudos for breastfeeding!

Try the Playtex Drop In bottles, but make sure you have the yellow nipple. I had the same problem and this was the only bottle my daughter would take. I literally tried 10 different bottles before trying this one.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Hi,

Have you tried the ventaire wide bottles by playtex ?? My daughter has been using them since birth and its supposed to be the perfect nipple shape for transition from breast to bottle. Its shaped as a breast nipple. If you have and it hasint worked, also try soothie. My daughter uses thier pacifiers and thats the only typ she will use. Hope this helps!

I used the playtex nurser bottles with the drop in liners. I think the nipples on the bottles are very "booby nipple" shaped. My son liked them very much.

hi T.. I don't want to discourage you. But the same exact thing happened with my daughter at around 3 .5 months , before that she took bottle without a problem, i have tried everything, no one was able to feed her/ she didnot take breastmilk from any bottle, sippy cup or reg. cup no matter how hungry she was. I though if she was hungry enough - she'll take it, well once she did not eat for over 6-7 hrs, and still refused the bottle. I did not find any cure for this, but thankfully i decided to stay at home with her at about the same time, so i breasfed her exclusively and still do. it is not as bad as i though it will be at the moment, yes i lost my freedom , but it did not matter to me, as i gained so much more and ofcourse she's gaining even more by me not givin up. If you don't find solution, don't be discouraged, breasfeeding is one of the most precious times and most beneficial to your son. i hope you find the right solution for yourself. Good Luck and please let me know if anything worked, for my future reference :) thx, Y.

Hi T.,

First of all, good for you for breastfeeding! It can be so difficult in the beginning, and you stuck with it. For me, I had such trouble in the beginning that I was pumping the milk and bottle-feeding it to my son. My lactation consultant advised me to stop doing that, because he needed to learn to get it from the breast. Eventually it worked, until a few months later when I had to back to work and was desperately trying to get him to go back on the bottle. We really struggled, but then we found one bottle that worked: the Breastbottle Nurser. Its shape and feel are more like the breast and my son took to it after just a few tries. (He was more receptive to my husband and mother-in-law than he was to me giving it to him.) These bottles are not cheap, I will admit, but I bought 3 of them and never used a standard bottle again. They also have a money-back guarantee (even if you already opened one!) They can be found at: http://www.adiristore.com/main/index.php
Best of luck with this! If you do try out this product, let me know how it went!

~P. :-)

(P.S. I don't work for the company or anything, I just happened to find something that worked for my own son.)

This happened to me, and my pediatrician told me to let him cry for up to 1-2 hours. It worked after 45 minutes of hard crying, and then he was fine ever since, regardless of nipply type etc (and I had tried them all). I was amazed and never wanted to let him cry that long & hard, but when the pedi said to do it I did and it worked. Well, my husband did it. You are supposed to leave the house, which I did. Good luck.

What flow are you using? If he's gagging you may want to keep it at a slow flow, but I'm sure you have already tried that. Another thing is that some breastfed babies just won't take a bottle. As a breastfed baby I never took a bottle, I went from breast to cup. My daughter was and still is breastfed, she would take a bottle of breastmilk until about 7 months and now she won't, I'm not upset at all, its just one thing I don't have to fight with to get rid of later. Good luck.

I have now a 27 month old, but I did breastfeed him for the 1st 10 months.
All I can tell you is don't give up. He's still very, very little, and knows he likes his milk from you!
Good luck.

Hi T.: I was a breastfeeding Mom that needed bottles when I returned to work. Avent bottles were recommended to me by a wonderful pediatrician/lactation specialist, who said that the nipple shape better matched the breast so your baby can maintain a more natural sucking action. I also found that the wider bottle openings were easier to fill and clean, and the tops locked on better for less air. The bottles also grow with your child because you can replace the nipples with sippy tops and add handles later on. I would recommend trying a bottle feeding again with your milk given by Dad. Avent bottles with the 0-3/0-6 mos nipple will keep the milk from rushing out and causing choking and spitting like a lot of other bottles do. Good Luck!