Babies: 0 - 3 Months
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Any tips on getting BF baby to accept a bottle?

My 3 week old does not like drinking from a bottle. He gets very upset and cries whenever I or my husband introduce it to him. He prefers the breast. We've tried various bottles and nipples but he has yet to master it or even try very long without getting frustrated. I have to return to work n less than 6 weeks so I really need him to get it. Any tips? I'm worried & getting desperate. Thanks in advance.

Re: Any tips on getting BF baby to accept a bottle?

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    My daughter took a bottle without any problems until about 2 weeks before I went back to work and just... refused. I went to work that day with the thought that she would not starve in 8 hours and that nursing all night would suck, but that's life. Luckily, they got her to drink from the bottle by putting the nipple in her mouth and kind of gently mushing her face and the nipple so that milk came out while it was in her mouth, after about 5 minutes of that, she took to it and never had a problem. 

    3 weeks is young yet for using a bottle, my LC recommended waiting to introduce the bottle until 4 weeks and that's even if you plan to go back to work at 6 weeks. And, learning from my experience, taking the bottle just fine at 8 weeks is no guarantee that the baby will take it at 12. A friend of mine's daughter started refusing the bottle when she was 4 or 5 months old, so she'd go to the DC on her lunchbreak and nurse. Kids are weird sometimes. 
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    I talked to my pedi about this today and she recommended I leave the house and have someone else feed her when I start giving a bottle. She said if baby can smell or sense mommys presence he/she is unlikely to take a bottle in the beginning.
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    I talked to my pedi about this today and she recommended I leave the house and have someone else feed her when I start giving a bottle. She said if baby can smell or sense mommys presence he/she is unlikely to take a bottle in the beginning.

    This. I made sure I was out of sight/smell when we first tried it. We use the avent natural nipples and she has no problem.
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