Not taking a bottle.

kp90 · July 2016

So today I took my LO to daycare today for 2 hours and she will go back tomorrow and Wednesday as well just for a test and trying to break her in before long days start on Monday when I return to work. My LO has only used a bottle a few times when she was only a few weeks old. She is 11 weeks now & She is breastfed. Today at daycare when they tried feeding her she would not take the bottle and refused to eat. Also when my SO and I have tried giving her bottles of breast milk over the past month she will refuse. This was not a huge issue today as she was only there two hours but when I brought her home and tried again today with a bottle she refused and screamed her lungs out. I gave up after a few minutes and she BF without a problem and immediately stopped crying. I am very concerned she will not eat while at daycare and I am going to get a phone call. Has anyone been through this and have tips on what I can do to help her accept a bottle? I can't stand the thought of her screaming like that and stressing herself out and not eating when not in my care. Please help.

missnc77 · July 2016

I've had several of my IRL mom friends tell me their baby did the same thing and warned me to offer a bottle regularly while on ML. One friend actually went to daycare on her lunch breaks to BF. Her pedi finally told her that eventually the baby will be hungry enough to take the bottle, so she quit going during her lunch breaks, and it didn't take long for the baby to start drinking.

lalala2004 · July 2016

Have you tried different types of bottles? Have you tried leaving the room or even the house when your SO tries?

kp90 · July 2016

@lalala2004 there have been a few times I was not around while he gave her the bottle but he is going to try again tonight. I tried with two different bottles today and have a 4th brand I may try for tonight's feeding. I am just so stressed out. She hates every bottle so far.

artteacher19 · July 2016

I came on this afternoon to start the exact same thread!! We started trying to get LO to take one bottle a day to get him ready before going to daycare next month. We were doing ok for a couple days. He took a Dr Brown, MAM and medela bottle. Then we tried the medela Calma nipple and everything went south, fast! Now today he won't take anything! We'd get him to take the MAM for a few seconds but then he'd start screaming again. If I offer him my boob he acts like a starving monster and grabs it furiously with his mouth. I'm not sure what to do now. He wouldn't take the Tommy Tippee bottle either. I have Avent to try and a Como something or other. Beyond that I'm not sure what else to do.

kitandcat · July 2016

Trying different bottles is definitely a good place to start... But I think the most important thing is to give your LO a bottle at home, probably best if your SO does it without you in the room, and just don't give in. It will be a really rough few minutes but eventually your LO will take it. If you give up and give the breast then they will know they can refuse and will still get fed. I haven't dealt with this myself but it's a big topic at my breastfeeding support group and that's the advice from moms who have dealt with this!! one mom was concerned that her baby wouldn't get fed if they did this at daycare, but your daycare provider will also have a rough few minutes but they obviously won't give in either because they can't NOT feed your baby. If your daycare provider does give in and your baby doesn't get fed then you should probably be concerned about your provider. One mom strongly suggests "breastflow" bottles but sounds like a lot the bottles that are successful range from baby to baby!

ETA... I basically had the opposite problem with my LO his first two weeks - he wouldn't latch and every feeding I spent 45 minutes with a crying newborn trying to force him to breastfeed. It was emotionally difficult and a lot to go through and handle, so I just wanted to say that i know it's tough to get through your LO screaming at you, but it's helpful to remember that you'll both get through it and soon enough they'll be taking the bottle and you'll be through this tough spot!!

bkjade · July 2016

Check out the last five posts in the Breastfeeding thread! I just discovered last night that I have excess lipase in my breastmilk that causes off flavors when it's not straight out of the boob.

I think @LadySamLady had some luck in getting her LO to take a bottle after trying one filled with fresh expressed milk.

Bellodomani · July 2016

When I worked in an infant room at a center this was a pretty common problem. I would say 95% of the babies who initially refused would be fine within a week of full days. I never had to do this but I remember hearing that there had been a few babies that were cup fed for a time as they adjusted to being away from mom, and eventually they took the bottle too.

kp90 · July 2016

So here's another question.. I tried my milk that was frozen and it tasted awful. Not metallic.. Just gross. And she took fresh milk from SO last night. If she has to drink fresh milk how am I going to be able to keep up with her demand while I go back to work? Any ideas? @LadySamLady have you come up with anything?

kp90 · July 2016

@kbrands7

LadySamLady · July 2016

@kp90 the only success we have had has been with fresh pumped or refrigerated breast milk vs frozen/thawed. I haven't tasted any of it but when @bkjade mentioned that frozen tastes different/bad a lightbulb went off for me. Its only been two days but so far so good. We use tommee tippee bottles. I am
still very worried about it being an issue when I go back to work, I wouldn't say we've definitely solved it just yet but I am very hopeful.

LadySamLady · July 2016

As long as you pump every time you would feed LO, you should be able to pump for the next day every day at work. It will be a challenge the first few days but theoretically things should sync up, right @kbrands7? Also, @Kennedy0830 helped me figure out my manual pump and it is so easy and way more efficient than the electric. I only just figured it out and I'd already recommend it if you don't have one yet. I got 5oz in 10 mins with it no problem.

kbrands7 · July 2016

Hi! Yep, you should be able to work off of fresh if you need to. So, you pump Monday for Tuesday, etc...then Friday for Monday. You'll need a day 1 stash though. If you have excess lipase and need to freeze, it can help to freeze immediately-- or as close to immediately as possible, or to scald the milk before you freeze it. I read too that increasing antioxidants in your diet (berries work well for this) helps, but I'm not sure how much of an improvement is typical.

kbrands7 · July 2016

So, as far a tasting goes, breastmilk will take on some flavoring of what you eat, so different days cab be different. Generally, it's slightly sweet and more mineral or nutty tasting than cows milk. Almost closer to sweeter, creamier coconut water. Milk that has too much lipase can taste pretty sour or metallic among other weird flavors. Some of the bags of mine that had it looked sort of gritty once defrosted, even when swirled rather than having the strands and blobs of thicker cream. If you want to or need to taste test, you only need a very tiny bit-- I used to just screw a storage lid on the bottle and tip it to get milk on the lid, then unscrew it and taste it from the lid before getting the nipple on the bottle. No accidental over-pours that way!

kp90 · July 2016

Thanks ladies @LadySamLady @kbrands7 the best way I could describe mine was like dirty dish water with a horrible after taste. I refuse to try anymore and I have a bad gag reflex, lol. So yeah! And I did freeze my milk immediately. I will stick with the fresh option and just pump for the next day's stock. Hopefully I can keep up!

kbrands7 · July 2016

@kp90 lots and lots of water especially once you're running around at work!

lalala2004 · July 2016

I'm not sure it helps with the taste, but I try to mix fresh with frozen when I can. I also try to freeze immediately if I have the right amount. (2 or 4oz increments is what I do).

bkjade · July 2016

@kp90 - this thread might be helpful too!

https://forums.llli.org/showthread.php?100058-Question-for-moms-who-scald-milk

businessmama · July 2016

Is excess lipase something that changes each pump, daily, or something you likely do or do not have? Im now super curious about my stash

missnc77 · July 2016

I was repulsed by the idea of tasting my own breastmilk, but after reading this last week (and a couple of glasses of wine), I got curious. I've tasted fresh and frozen, and it reminds me of the milk left after you eat cereal that has taken on more sugar. The fresh tastes much sweeter. I'm wondering the answer to @AliciaD39 too. And now I'm curious about my July stash since I started waiting a little longer to freeze from being lazy.

Pascal86 · July 2016

AliciaD39 said:

Is excess lipase something that changes each pump, daily, or something you likely do or do not have? Im now super curious about my stash

Yeah I have to be honest, this thread freaked me out because I have 80+ oz of frozen milk that I haven't used or checked yet! Took a tiny nibble of a frozen bit of milk this morning and it seemed okay so I'm just going to hope it's all good.

LadySamLady · July 2016

missnc77 said:

I was repulsed by the idea of tasting my own breastmilk, but after reading this last week (and a couple of glasses of wine), I got curious. I've tasted fresh and frozen, and it reminds me of the milk left after you eat cereal that has taken on more sugar. The fresh tastes much sweeter. I'm wondering the answer to @AliciaD39 too. And now I'm curious about my July stash since I started waiting a little longer to freeze from being lazy.

I'm still too skeeved out to try it...

wamam027 · July 2016

LadySamLady said:

missnc77 said:

I was repulsed by the idea of tasting my own breastmilk, but after reading this last week (and a couple of glasses of wine), I got curious. I've tasted fresh and frozen, and it reminds me of the milk left after you eat cereal that has taken on more sugar. The fresh tastes much sweeter. I'm wondering the answer to @AliciaD39 too. And now I'm curious about my July stash since I started waiting a little longer to freeze from being lazy.

I'm still too skeeved out to try it...

Yep, me too. I'll leave the deciphering up to my nose.

missnc77 · July 2016

Liquid courage! That's the only reason my curiousity got the best of me. My first thought was, "no wonder she wants to eat all the time." It really just tasted like sweetened cows milk. That said, once I tasted a drop from the fresh and a drop from the frozen, that was enough sampling for me. It still creeps me out.

businessmama · July 2016

The way I read this is unless something drastic changes, your lipase stays about the same.

ETA it posted before pic uploaded. I'm referencing next post

businessmama · July 2016

tgortney · July 2016

Re: tasting milk

I actually got to taste the mature milk with colostrum in it. It was very rich and buttery sweet. The mature milk tastes more watery to me than anything. But I wouldn't drink a whole glass of it lol.

This girl I know said she doesn't have cow's milk in her house. But when a muffin recipe called for milk, she used her breast milk to bake with. Her son, husband and her all ate the muffins.

Umm let's just say, I probably won't ever be eating her baked goods!!!

Also, this convo reminded me of this video: Adults try human breast milk

https://youtu.be/Z6HIoXoCcOs

baby-2-due · July 2016

My LO won't take a bottle from me 90% of the time. She knows I can breastfeed her so she holds out until I give in, so I have my SO feed her a bottle occasionally to get used to it. She was supplemented formula off and on but recently has been refusing the bottle and screams when I try to give it to her. Maybe have someone she knows and is comfortable with, like dad, to feed her the bottle? It has seemed to work for me.

Not taking a bottle.

Re: Not taking a bottle.

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