Back to work and need to bottle feed

beanie401

LO is seven months old and has been exclusively breastfed. He has had expressed milk in a bottle as recent as two weeks ago. I have to go back to work soon so I wanted to start giving him more bottles. He all of fab sudden won't take it. Even if my husband tries and I'm not in the room. Has anyone experienced this? Can I sneak him one at night maybe??? To think he had a latch problem to begin with and now I'm having the reverse!!! Thanks ladies

IrisApricity

Sometimes mom needs to leave the house, not just the room. You could also try a bottle made to mimic the breast like the Mimijumi. That's where I'd start warm it to body temperature at least the first few times or use fresh expressed milk.

Expect him to fuss and fuss, but he will take the bottle eventually if he is hungry.

beanie401

Thanks!

erniebernie1

I've heard sometimes they take it from a sippy cup instead

tyke29

We used Breastflow bottles and warmed the milk up with warm water. 

MWoodside

This stuff can be so hard.

So, different things worked for my children.  With DD1 we had to have the feeder mimic the BFing experience as much as possible. Same chair we used most for BFing, same boppy, she laid on her side and the person placed the bottle where my nipple would be.  Once she was in a groove they would gently roll her more on her back to finish the bottle.

With DD2, she was the opposite!  She wanted no part of anything that wasn't real BFing.  So the only way DH could get her to drink from a bottle was sitting her on his lap facing away from him and wrapping his arm around to feed her the bottle. LOL.  We joked that she was thinking, "if you aren't my mom I don't even want to look at you while I drink this".  She is a true mama's girl through & through.

Anyway, have the person try various things. I've heard of people putting baby in a carrier or wrap and offering the bottle there.  Patience is an absolute must as this may already be stressful for baby to have this change and they feed off our energy.  I always encouraged the feeder to stop trying if baby began to cry or get upset & calm baby by getting up, going outside in the fresh air if it was nice out, etc.  Then when baby was calm to try again.

The good thing is that since he is older he may take a straw cup.  We like Playtex straw cups and DD2 was using them round 5-6 months (for water, but babies that young sometimes click well with the straw as opposed to a sippy).  Does he eat food yet?  If so, hopefully that can ease your mind that even if he flat out refuses a bottle he can still get nutrition while you are gone.  Good luck!

kemayer

I'm having the same issue. We have been trying to introduce the bottle since week 4. She is now 10 weeks old and still not taking one and I go back to work in 2 weeks. We have tried everything! I know people say that they'll eventually get it but it's not very comforting especially since I work 10 hour shifts in the medical field and can't exactly leave work to nurse. The thought of her going that long without eating is a huge stressor!

beanie401

Thanks for the tips. He actually loves his solids. I'm sure he will be fine and healthy, I just get stressed and feel that I can be doing something better.