Won't take a bottle

[hmh]

I have a 3 month old and the breastfeeding is going really well. The trouble is she's not getting the hang of bottlefeeding. Both my husband and I have tried. We've used playtex drop ins and avent bottles and different nipples (flow rates). Out of all the times we've tried, maybe 15 in all, only once has she really got the sucking action going, every other time the milk just dripped and eventually she started to fuss until she was at the breast. Every time except once we were using expressed milk. Any ideas?

[ladyc]

Hi. Sorry to say but it may take some time before your child gets the hang of it. With my 1st child I gave breast and breastmilk in the bottle from birth but then when I had mastitis my doctor advised to give the breast as much as possible. The result after 2 months without the bottle was a 5 month old who couldn't figure out how to suck the bottle. We tried all the methods, different nipples, starving the baby, sneaking it at night and nothing worked. It wasn't that she didn't want it, it was that she had lost her technique. I tried every few days and she eventually got it but she was almost 7 months old. So when I had a second child I should have given the bottle from the start but I didn't and I had the same problem. I just kept offering every few days from about 4 months when I needed to start work. She figured it out by about 6 months. In the meantime for both children my husband or their nanny fed them milk/diluted juice with a spoon which is very tedious and messy but works. Just keep trying and keep calm. Good luck.

[lismom2]

Hello :)
here's a really great site for alternatives to a bottle.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/index.html

FWIW my son still hates the bottle. He holds out until I get home (I go home at lunch and feed him).

[hmh]

Thanks, ladyc and lismom2, for your helpful information and advice!

[kallagreen]

Oh I totally understand. My daughter is 6 months old and STILL refuses the bottle. She will scream like you said until she gets the breast. Its very frustrating because you can't go any where with out taking her or being back within a couple hours. You can't sleep at night because you are the only one that can feed her. I have tried to give her bottles and so has my husband but I try not to do it because she knows I have the good stuff. And dad has gotten her once but I think she just past out of exhaustion. You just have to keep trying. TRY TRY TRY!

[MaternalOne_]

My daughter never took a bottle she was a die hard boob girl. She went right from me to a straw and big girl cup. She never liked those hard plastic sippy cups either. I tried to give her a bottle but she just never accepted it. I guess I never enforced it too much because we never went anywhere she couldn't be or she was always with me.

[MamaTLC]

Hey girl. My little girl has never taken a bottle either. And we tried- she was just too smart for us... she only wanted the real thing- the boob! So I asked the pediatrician and she told me to try a sippy cup. The kind that is soft like a bottle nipple at the spout but the baby doesn't have to use sucking action to get the milk out. It really worked for us- I'm a stay at home mom but when I go out my fiance or my mom can give her a sippy cup of milk and she will actually drink it. It gets messy, and my baby sometimes would gulp too much at a time, so you just have to pull it out to give her time to swallow. Also you may want to give this job to someone else- my little girl won't take it from me b/c she knows I got the goods!
This has been a real help for me because I can actually go out and do things w/out the little one! I hope this helps- let me know if you have any questions!
Lauren

[Bec caV]

Does she take a pacifier? I have a little trouble with my son on a bottle, he's particular though, he's at the point where the only bottle nipple he takes is a Soothie. But if she doesn't take a pacifier, maybe try one of those to give her practice. Some babies never like bottle nipples, some just need practice learning. My son will chew on the bottle nipple at first, but we keep at it until he realizes he can get his yummy tummies from the bottle too. :) (which reminds me I haven't had him on a bottle in a long time.... I gotta give him one before he forgets how to use it)