December 2014 Moms

BF baby refusing bottles of Expressed Milk

I am a STM and I have had luck with my babies taking a bottle. DS#1 would only take a bottle from me. Made for a very long year without being able to leave him very much. I really want my DD to take expressed milk but she completely refuses the bottle. She is 5 1/2 weeks old and we have been trying a bottle every night for the last week and a half. My DH gets really frustrated.
We have tried at different times, right after a feeding so she isn't starving, and when she is half asleep. As soon as the bottle touches her lips he starts screaming.
Anyone have any advice on things we could try? Maybe a type of bottle/nipple that works really well. Any positions DH could try we might not have thought of.

Re: BF baby refusing bottles of Expressed Milk

  • FTM here, but one trick they say is for YH to have some of your clothes that smell like you when he feeds her. Maybe also try teasing her with a couple drops of milk on her lips to get her excited. Good luck and let me know if anything works!
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  • DD1 would take the bottle just fine, but this LO hasn't been too keen on them and I don't know why. I haven't tried it yet, but one thing I've seen is to switch between the boob and the bottle in a single feed.

    GL!
  • I tried for the first time tonight and she wanted nothing to do with it at first. I nursed her until she was half asleep and tried again, with success.
  • We use the Dr Brown bottles with the newborn nipples and LO took to it like a champ.
    He may be a little piggy though. Boob or bottle, he seems happy

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  • My ds wouldn't take on initially, yesterday I tried with the playtex drop in liner bottles and he took it right away. These bottles seem to have a much softer nipple
  • We use the munchkin latch bottle. We have had zero problems. The nipple is wider like a boob and moves in all directions. We have tried the Dr Browns, he took it but not as well.
  • First I would ask if you have a really good supply as introducing a bottle before your supply is truly established can cause problems. If your supply is really good then here are my suggestions.

    1. Don't try to give the bottle at an important feed. I.e. First one of the day, last now of the day. These are when baby needs the comfort of mama. So pick a time when you know he is just looking for a quick feed.

    2. Be as far away as possible. If your husband is giving the bottle have him warm it up and give it and while he is warming it you get out of the house. Better yet if you think a feed is coming then step out to run an errand. Baby won't want a bottle if he knows you are there.

    3. Make sure they are in a quiet darkish environment. Make it very calming and inviting for baby, and make sure your DH is calm too. Baby will sense the stress.

    Good luck!
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  • What type of bottles are you trying? You should make sure to use a NB nipple as they are slow flow and what baby is used to with nursing. Anything faster may be too much for your LO. Also, Tommee Tippee are said to be the best for babies who are both Breast and bottle fed. "Closer to Nature". I have had no issue with them when I was doing both, now I mostly pump and bottle feed for other reasons. The bottle is very wide making the nipple shaped more like a Breast, LO likes to put his hand on it for comfort the same way he would while nursing. Now I tried a Medela bottle and he was gagging on it and wanted nothing to do with it. So it may come down to just finding a good bottle/nipple.
  • I agree with @OhBaby+2013‌ about being as far away as possible. Babies can smell their moms from as far as 20 ft away. We had no luck with bottle feeding until I completely left the room and husband sat with her until she finally took it. Good luck!
  • Thanks for all the advice. I am going to look at the store for some different nipples. Our Wal-Mart doesn't have a very good baby section so I might have to buy online.
    I also wasn't thinking about the fact I am around when he is trying. Duh! I think I will try leaving the house tonight to see if that helps.
    Maybe sitting in her room with just the lamp on will help too. I nurse her a lot in there. Might be more comfortable for her (and him) than the table.
    At this point I am not trying to actually replace an entire feeding, just by me a little time.
    Thanks again. Hopefully we can find something that works.
  • From a lurker but we tried the Calma nipple from Medela and so far have had luck. They are pretty pricey but screw right on to the Medela bottles. They are wider like Mom's nipple and in order for milk to come out the baby has to have the right suction similarly to when they nurse. As soon as they stop sucking the milk stops flowing. They control the flow again like during a nursing session. Good luck!
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  • @kelsire how's it going? Any luck so far?
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  • I first introduced baby to a bottle using the Mandela nipples that came w the pump and expressed milk and he took it fine. Now I use dr browns newborn nipples with formula and he also takes that with no problem. I mostly breastfeed though and there have been a few times that his latch isn't as good after a bottle.
  • We had similar issues then tried the comotomo bottles and he took that one. Expensive but supposed to be most similar to breastfeeding.
  • We have been dealing with this too. Last night my husband was able to get the baby to take a bottle. He started giving it to her when she was asleep when she woke up and realized what was happening she started fussing a bit but he was able to get her to finish it. Later that night he was able to get her to take another bottle while she was wide awake! Hopefully we are on the right track!
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