Help! LO won't take a bottle at daycare!!

MNBrownie

My 10 week old just started daycare on Monday and she is having a rough time   She only takes a few ounces of breastmilk the whole day that she is at daycare.  Up until now, she has been almost EBF...we tried to introduce a bottle around 4 weeks, but she just refuses to take it.  We have kept trying 1 bottle/day to get her ready for me going back to work...but, she has never really taken to it.  We have tried lots of different bottles/nipples, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I am going out this weekend to get the Tommee Tippee bottles...I heard those work well for breastfed babies...

Our daycare provider thinks that she has colic because she cries all the time and is really gassy, but when she is home with me and nursing she doesn't cry like that.  She LOVES to nurse, so I knew that it would take a while, but I just kept telling myself that "she'll eat when she's hungry", but this is CRAZY!!  She barely took 2 oz. during the 6 hours that she was at daycare today.  I just don't know what to do...I just feel so bad for her and our daycare provider.  

 Has anyone else's LO taking a long time to take a bottle??  What do you do in the mean time??  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  

 Thanks!

wpowell

Have you tried the NUK bottles? Here's the one I use when feeding my baby. https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3987654 . The Nipple is meant to be just like your nipple. They actually have to put almost the whole thing in their mouth to get anything (just like she have to with your nipple). They have an air vent in them so it should help with the gas and colic. My baby likes these bottles a lot. Dont worry to much about it. She will take a bottle when she's hungry enough.

LaNegrita

my DD has been using playtex ventaire advanced with the wide nipple slow flow. try that.

also...the 1st time DD used a bottle i think she wanted the flow to be like me and when my mom (who was babysitting) poked an additional hole for faster flow she drank it and was happy after fussing at the bottle. so consider a different flow as well as bottle. good luck!!

bhawk0527

This may not be what you want to hear so choose to move right past my comment no hurt feelings

My Lo won't take a bottle period and I go back to work next week so at her 2 month checkup I asked my Pedi about it and he said....

feel free to leave now  because its not what you will want to hear

some kids won't take the bottle and nurse only at night 

 

barnwife

Lurking...I can only tell you how I was as a baby, since I'm pregnant with our first LO.

I didn't eat solid foods until 1 year and 10 days old. And I didn't use a bottle until 16 months old. (Of course, by then I didn't need it. My mom just wanted to see when I'd take it for the principle of the thing!) To be fair, my mom was a SAHM, so maybe if I'd had to go longer between being offered BFing, I would have taken a bottle.

GL!

trish051003

I would try DH giving bottles all weekend and you pumping.  We had the best luck w/ the first years breast flow bottles.  Maybe also buy a nipple shield so your nipples seem like bottles?  From what I've found (I'm on my 2nd baby - so I'm no expert) it takes kids 2 weeks for a transition. 

 If she isn't taking the bottle this weekend - maybe try latching her, nursing, then slipping the bottle in there in the middle of the feeding - an old switcheroo. 

In the meantime - can you leave work a little early next week so you can nurse her sooner?  Your daycare should be used to BFing mom's leaving their little ones.  I know mine has experts that know how to deal w/ transitions. 

 Good Luck and stick w/ it.  Maybe take her to the pedi this week to make sure she doesn't lose too much weight.  

 We had a lot of issues getting DS1 to take a bottle - it took a lot of work.