Baby not taking bottle anymore! Need advice!

MommyMoru · February 2015

So we do mostly breastfeeding but I work part time a couple days a week. LO was fine supplementing with formula and pumped milk but in just three days he has stopped taking any bottle; pushes it away with hands and mouth and cries so hard!

This week he will be 3 months so maybe it's that? But we've never had problems before this. What can I do to get him to take the bottle again? He went over 5 hours today not eating for my husband while I was out working. It's bothersome and I need to remedy this.

Any suggestions?

Peanutz21 · February 2015

perhaps LO isn't hungry? do you follow LO's cues or do you feed every X hours. if LO is hungry LO will let you know. when LO refuses the bottle is LO still fussy/crying or content? i wouldn't focus too much on the hours so much just as long as there are adequate wet diapers and weight gain, etc

Aliki · February 2015

Maybe he wasn't hungry! 5 hours is an acceptable amount of time to not be hungry, so please don't force him to eat if he doesn't have to. I agree with @Peanutz21 that it sounds like LO simply wasn't hungry. Don't fix what isn't broke!

MommyMoru · February 2015

I usually BF on demand and my husband knows to feed when he cues for it. He told me he was sucking his hand and that's always been a cue but maybe it's changing now?

But last night I pumped when I got home because LO was sleeping and I was engorged. I pumped maybe 40ml between both breasts and that's very rare for me. After he woke up I offered it in a bottle and he still wouldn't take it. As soon as I offered the breast he was chomping away. So I don't think it was a not hungry thing

jamieandwill · February 2015

oh boy, my son became a bottle refuser right around 2 1/2 months, and refused any bottle until around 8 months. I had to go back to work, so he didn't eat all day at daycare and then nursed every 2 hours at night. Needless to say, I was a very tired momma. People will tell you that he'll get hungry and give in, and I can attest that that is not true.

What worked for me was nursing him first, and then finishing with a bottle of pumped milk (i still had to pump at work since he was only eating at night). He trusted me, and I would start off nursing and then slip the bottle in. If he resisted I would reassure him and tell him it was okay. Back and forth, nipple, bottle, etc.

At daycare, they were finally able to give him a bottle if he was really distracted. They would put him in a bouncer with a bunch of toys and then slip the bottle in and he would kind of not notice, and take an ounce or two.

What is interesting is now that he is 3, I asked him the other day why he didn't like bottles when he was a baby. His answer? "I wanted Mommy".

MommyMoru · February 2015

jamieandwill said:
oh boy, my son became a bottle refuser right around 2 1/2 months, and refused any bottle until around 8 months. I had to go back to work, so he didn't eat all day at daycare and then nursed every 2 hours at night. Needless to say, I was a very tired momma. People will tell you that he'll get hungry and give in, and I can attest that that is not true.

What worked for me was nursing him first, and then finishing with a bottle of pumped milk (i still had to pump at work since he was only eating at night). He trusted me, and I would start off nursing and then slip the bottle in. If he resisted I would reassure him and tell him it was okay. Back and forth, nipple, bottle, etc.

At daycare, they were finally able to give him a bottle if he was really distracted. They would put him in a bouncer with a bunch of toys and then slip the bottle in and he would kind of not notice, and take an ounce or two.

What is interesting is now that he is 3, I asked him the other day why he didn't like bottles when he was a baby. His answer? "I wanted Mommy".

Aww that's so endearing! I'll try the back and forth and see if that helps or works

ajlmom · February 2015

Hello I'm new to the board. I came here because the same thing happened to my LO who is 10 weeks old. We introduced the bottle (pumped breast milk) around 5 weeks and she would take one almost daily from DH. She was doing fine for a few weeks. We stopped giving her bottles for maybe a week because of all the snow and DH is tired from working and shoveling outside. She used to take 3-4 oz from the bottle but over the past few days she would only take 1.5 to 2 oz from DH and then cried for me. I have to go back to work in less than 2 weeks and I'm afraid she would not eat while I'm at work. I guess she is now old enough to tell the difference between me and a bottle while she didn't before?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

topaz7777 · February 2015

Could also be teething.

Aliki · February 2015

MommyMoru said:
After he woke up I offered it in a bottle and he still wouldn't take it. As soon as I offered the breast he was chomping away. So I don't think it was a not hungry thing

Curious, I came to a different conclusion. I read that and thought that *IS* a not hungry thing!!!

Isn't that funnny.

If he was hungry, he would take the bottle.

Because he didn't want that and wanted you instead, sounds like he wanted his momma.

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