Introducing the bottle

melissa11015

My DD is 8 weeks today and for the last week we have been trying to introduce the bottle. I go back to work at the end of August and we were going to have her start day care about a week or two earlier than that so I can go get my classroom set up. It's not going so well. She will only take anywhere from a 1/2oz-1oz. I've tried giving it to her and I've had DH do it (more often than me) but she fights it and just cries. How long does it take, on average, for babies to get used to breast milk from a bottle and do you have any suggestions to help her get used to it?? Thanks for your help!!

mcvgal

You may need to try different bottles. DD had to have 2 bottles a day at 6weeks in the NICU in order for her to get released. For the most part she spilled so much milk. When she came home we switched to Tommie Tippee bottles once per day and she spilled less and less each day. She got used to the bottle at around 9 weeks.

Yiggle09

I agree with pp. My dd will gag cry at Dr browns but medela and we just bought comotomo she's does much better. It helps to not try in the area you normally nurse and to have someone else do it. Also distracting the baby helps when they get fussy

mamatowildones

Try different bottles for sure. We love tommee tippee

melissa11015

We tried dr brown first because she's has reflux but it wasn't going well so we switched to Tommy tippee (ds loved those so we have tons of them), and those aren't working for her either. I have a couple others I can try that we already have. Right now DH is giving her the bottle but it's the 6:30ish bottle and he thinks it might be the time of day-witching hour. But with him working, there really isn't any other time of day. And he's the only consistent person who is here.

tammynixx

My LC said to try bottles similar in nipple size to your own. My DD1 gave us such a hard time with bottles. We finally got her to use the latch bottle. It was the only one she would take. DD2 so far has had success with tommee tippee but only if I'm not around. 

psherman42wwsa

My ds is very picky and will only take a bottle if its the perfect temperature. He likes them warm, will not drink a freshly pumped bottle . I kept switching bottles until I realized he hates formula and likes his breastmilk nice and warm. I use lansinoh momma bottles.

nda_roxybabe

Henry is not picky (the boy loves to eat!), but our favorite is Joovy Boob. What nipple are you doing? Even though Henry is technically old enough for a #2 he is so not ready so we still do the newborn slow flow.

melissa11015

How long did you try each bottle before you knew your LO's would prefer or reject it. We have tried Tommy Tippee, Dr Brown, Avent, and Playtex, all slow flow or #1's. She is rejecting them all. 

mcvgal

@melissa11015 we tried the same bottle for 1.5 weeks since it was only one bottle per day.

@nda_roxybabe we never switched DS2 from the slow flow. He stayed slow flow until we stopped the bottle all together at around 14 months.

melissa11015

Ok, so we have been doing this for over a month. She's still not taking the bottle. Everything I've read says to try about 2 weeks before returning to work. I'm really happy I started way earlier than that! She has one more week before she starts day care...I'm worried. She was supposed to start this week, while I'm still home in case anything goes wrong but I decided to keep her home - 1.I'M not ready and 2. She's still not taking the bottle....from anyone! Whenever we've had visitors, I ask them to feed her, I've had a couple of job interviews so I had to leave her with family a couple of times and at most, she's drank a 1/2oz! If and when she is tolerating it, she's mostly chewing on it or pushing around in her mouth. We are now trying Nuk Natural. I also have Mimbie...tried that once but she got really mad at that one. She is tolerating the Nuk the best so we keep trying that bottle. 

Any other suggestions???? Please!!!

mamaelle27

Lurking from June @melissa11015  

Is the flow of the nipple comparable to the breast? Breastfed babies usually do best on slow flow nipples but maybe you have a fast letdown and she needs a faster flow nipple? (I don't know what flow they recommend for what age). My breastfed baby did well with Medela bottles and nipples.

Is the temperature of the breastmilk comparable to the breast? Have you tried freshly pumped (boob temperature) milk vs. refrigerated or heated up milk?

Have you left her for more than one feeding's worth of time? If you're just gone for an hour she probably won't take the bottle but if you're gone for 6 hours I'd imagine she'll get hungry and eat.

Can you give the caregiver a shirt you wore earlier in the day to throw over their arm while they hold the baby? Maybe your smell will stimulate the baby to drink?

Also look up Reverse Cycling some breastfed babies take little when away from mom and the nurse a lot when reunited with mom. Obviously 1/2 an ounce over a day is too little, but slightly less than normal would be okay.

If all else fails, I'd say a visit to lactation consultant or the pediatrician is called for, there's gotta be something you can do. Hang in there, mama, I know this must be incredible stressful on top of the stress of going back to work.

mrsrep123

Great suggestions @mamaelle27. Good luck @melissa11015. I was an exclusive pumper and didn't have much input in this arena.

Kateriee

My LO loves the mam bottles. The nipple is flat instead of oval and she gets a great latch on it.

ShadeofGreen816

@kateriee do you have issues with them leaking? I'm thinking I'm putting the bottoms together wrong bc I feel like it leaks around that bottom piece. 

Kateriee

ShadeofGreen816 I have had them leak a couple of times, but I didn't make sure the bottom was screwed together right. I blame it on being super tired. I just set the white piece in and with my fingers I make sure it's set in all the way around and screw the bottom tight.

rkstro2

I was gonna say some of the same things as @mamaelle27. Wear a shirt to make it smell like you and let caregiver attempting bottle to either put it on or put it over their shoulder.  One lady I work with put the bottle nipple in her bra to make it smell like her before having caregiver give a bottle.  Also, some suggest only letting caregiver try bottle when you aren't around.  I.e. You go away and let the caregiver try to give the bottle.  For us, we tried several times with either DH or MIL giving bottle but baby struggled.  She eventually got the milk down but it wasn't easy for anyone.  Once our nanny started she tried warming the bottle for different amounts of time until she found the temp baby wanted. Trial and error is all you can do. 

It's also possible that baby won't eat much while you are away and then will cluster once you return. I think they call that reverse cycling.  Good luck @melissa11015

eta: spelling error

melissa11015

Thanks for all the advice. We tried different bottles and she's finally taking the Nuk Naturals newborn nipple. Right now she will only drink about 1-2oz, when I give her the bottle, and it's not her favorite. She starts daycare on Wednesday, so here's to hoping she'll eat for them!!

mcvgal

@melissa11015 How has daycare been? Have they had better luck getting her to take the bottle?

melissa11015

Yes! She's doing great there! They have told me, ususally with the first bottle bottle, she's a little reluctant but then deals with it and eats the whole thing! We are still trying to figure out how much she is drinking...we are figuring around 3oz each bottle. Thanks for asking!!

redheeler

@melissa11015 the rule of thumb is 1oz per hour, so 3oz would be right if she's going 3hrd between feeds