- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Breastfeeding
Baby refuses to take a bottle... Tips?
Our 11 week old refuses to take a bottle. I pump every day and we've been trying to introduce a bottle since she was 2 weeks old... We've tried everything! DH and I have bought/tried every kind of bottle and nipple I can think of. Anyone have any tips? I'm freaking out!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Baby refuses to take a bottle... Tips?
Try when your baby isn't very hungry
leave the room so your not an option
try different temperatures
don't hold baby in cradle position, try sitting baby in the boppy pillow
have you tried playtex drop ins?
latex vs. silicone nipples?
I've been going through this with my DS. He used to accept a bottle just fine and then we didn't bottle feed him for about a month and when we tried it again he absolutely refused. I have bought so many different bottles and tonight we had our first success with the MAM bottle. It could be worth a try, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked!
GL!
btw I was the one giving him the bottle and it was while he was hungry.
I went through this as well. We changed bottles and got bottle warmers. For a while, he still fought with the bottle, but now he takes it just fine. From what I've read, babies will not allow themselves to starve. I was making 2oz bottles for LO because he wouldn't take them. It took about a month before he would take a bottle, but now he's a champ at it. Heck, the other day he took a bottle from ME.
The best thing is give it time...I know it's frustrating and you feel like she'll starve, but she'll be fine.
Are you going back to work? My LO wouldn't take a bottle either right up until daycare. We found a daycare that has had a lot of EBF babies who won't take a bottle and had ideas on how to get her to. I don't know if it was their experience, a stranger offering a bottle, hungry enough, etc. but she was taking a bottle consistently after a week.
The first week when she wasn't eating much during the day, she cluster fed when I got her home. She still nurses a lot in the evening -- I think she misses the closeness of BF and is getting "caught up" even though she's getting enough milk during the day.
Anyway, good luck. I've read a bunch of other posts on this subject and it always seems to work out where the LO will take a bottle after all.
Re: bottles: We'd bought every type of bottle we heard of (Adiri that we had to special order online, some kind from Switzerland, etc.) and she ended up liking plain old Drop Ins. We sent her to daycare with an assortment of bottles and that's the one she settled on.
My little guy has been going to daycare/grandma's for 3 weeks now since I have been back to work. He doesn't take a bottle very well either, but it depends on the day. I usually cluster feed him after I pick him up. We have done weight checks at the pedi's office and he is doing fine. I guess like some PP said, he might just be waiting for mom. This has been a source of frustration for me as well, he had been fine with a bottle since he was 6 weeks old, but began refusing 4 weeks ago.
I am just hanging in there, you should too. Babies won't starve themselves, just think of it as flattering, that LO prefers mommy right now.
This sounds like my LO, she never took the bottle and we started at 4 weeks. Does she scream at the bottle, or play with it and not eat? Are you going back to work soon?
This is my LO's third week in daycare and she has gradually increased her intake from the bottle but she will only eat if she is really hungry and it is still not what it should be for the 9 hours I am at work. As long as her weight is fine, she may just make up for it when you get home. I just decided after the first week that I wouldn't worry about it because she will make up the calories one way or another. And different bottles didn't make any difference for us since my LO was just being stubborn. GL!