Bottle Issues Hindering My Return to Work

onnie46

for the last month and a half we have been trying to get our daughter to take a bottle. she can't latch right on any of the MANY nipples we have tried. she is 10 weeks old now and i was supposed to return to full time work in a week and a half. i made the decision yeserday that this is just not going to happen. she is still feeding every 2.5 to 3 hrs during the day and will go a little longer at night. obviously i have to feed her. she has no problems breastfeeding at all and has been perfect with breastfeeding since day 1. she doesn't latch in the exact 'correct' way and did initially have blisters on her lips from feeding but does not have tongue tie.
has anyone else dealt with a baby simply not able to take a bottle? she tries and tries and gags (on every nipple, not the milk). we have tried all shapes and flows. we have even tried feeders specially made for babies with mouth deformities which she did take better to but not good enough for me to leave her. just looking for advice from other moms who may have gone thru similar issue. she is a healthy, happy, easy going baby who rarely cries for any reason. she is the opposite of fussy. her pediatrician, my mom and other parents cant believe how calm and 'perfect' she is which makes it worse when she is absolutely beside herself attempting to use bottle. its like i can see her confidence shattering each time we do bottle practice, she becomes unsure of herself and much more clingy. that is of course upsetting for me. so it isnt that she is a difficult baby... her pediatrician thinks i am making the right choice not to push forward with returning to work full time. he says although it is uncommon, some babies just cannot make the transition from breast to bottle. she doesnt have any clear cut misformation or deformity of her mouth but does have a narrow pallet and a very intense gag reflex. imsorry for rambling and thanks for any advice or experience you can offer.

bunnya

When did you first introduce the bottle? In my baby care class I took before giving birth the instructor told us to introduce a bottle between 4 and 6 weeks, any later and you risk rejection.

onnie46

it was 6 weeks when we started. and i could kick myself now bc we wait til then on recommendation of lactation consultant but looking back she had zero issues breastfeeding she probably would have been fine introducing earlier...

beatlesgal4

You probably have already, but have you tried premie sized nipples? I don't even know if every bottle brand makes them, but I know Dr. Browns does. They have an even slower flow than newborn nipples. We are using them with our LO because she seemed to gag on the flow of the newborn nipples (my BM flow is super slow... I hope that's not TMI).

onnie46

we did...i thought for sure that would work. i even tried practicing with her by using nipple guards to get her more used to sensation. no luck

beatlesgal4

onnie46

thanks for listening and the advice. we are continuing to practice daily...not much (if any improvement)

efrank1020

Still working on the introduction of bottles, she does good but its been a work in progress. I've tried about 5 different bottles and she only likes the evenflo bottle. But I do know that as long as mom is around she is always going to prefer my breasts. I did a couple days of work and the first day she did great (Daddy watched her) but second day was hard, she wanted mom and gave dad such a hard time..Just keep trying and even get dad to feed her while you run errands or go for a walk. Just like anything learned, just be persistent. Good luck!

ssrennie

Hey little guy had surgery and was it allowed to eat so we had to teach him to suck.
The speech therapist had us start with the doctor brown ultra preemie. We would hold one cheek close to the nipple and give his chin support. It was super awkward to do that and hold the bottle. If he tried to stop feeding we tickle his cheek.
Another thing they told us is to only try to feed him for about s half hour. After that they are expending too much energy. We would then try again about an hour later. Eventually he got it. Now we use tommy tippee. Number one nipple. It is supposed to be closest to breast. We still have to give him support at times but he is doing much better.

onnie46

thank you for the advice!

babyh310

It may be possible baby has a lip tie. Have you looked into the Kiinde Twist system? It is designed to be more like breastfeeding (kind of a workout for them). It's pretty awesome. I haven't tried it yet but I do have a starter set ordered! It may be beneficial to try for you. Bonus is the extra convenience of pumping into the bags and then they attach to the bottle, no air and less waste! Best wishes! We work so hard to breastfeed and it's tough to have more troubles arise. I'm happy for you that you're able to prolong your return to work! You guys will figure it out!

onnie46

her dr said no tongue or lip tie even tho she has some of the markers for it. ive heard of that system but that is one thing we havent tried - i will do more research thank you so much!

cmcintos

I started mine on the bottle at around 2 weeks and she was totally fine switching between Breast and bottle. I work as a wedding photographer and have contracts with brides for like 12 hour stretches, so I couldn't risk get not taking from a bottle. So far so good..... I feel like those lactation consultants put breastfeeding as the top priority, not your life and how you'll deal when the baby rejects the bottle. Id rather have to pump and feed baby by bottle then have her reject it altogether! Ugh. Can you spoon feed her? I know it would take forever but at least then you could work?

jrose5366

I also had issues and we since have found what works for us. First of all she rarely takes a bottle from me, only on occasion so have some one else give the bottle while you are there but not right next to her. Second I found 1 type of bottle she will take.. We tried several and my daughter also gagged on the nipples.. It's the lansinoh brand.. It has a very wide base that flows right to the nipple.. I also switched to a med flow instead of slow and I found she preferred that because that's what I think she's getting with the breast. Well that's what worked for us!

onnie46

thank you everyone for all the advice! still little to no improvement with various nipples. i never try bottle with her only my mother or my husband have tried. we work on it everyday. we haven't tried spoon feeding but have tried pretty much everything else! my mother was able to get her to take 1oz while she watched her on my 1st day back at work. i'm used to 10-12 hr work days so only working 3 hrs a day is really tough BUT looking on bright side - more quality time with my sweet little girlie! thanks again all for the responses