Hi all,
I'm really eager to have a break from my 9 week old. Just a few hours - maybe a haircut, facial, massage, shopping.... leave some expressed milk and off I go :biggrin: BUT, she won't take a bottle :mad: We've tried a few times but she just doesn't seem to know how to suck the teat and becomes really distressed. We've tried expressed milk and formula. She's also a non-dummy baby. Am I destined to have absolutely no life for another 4+ months? Every time we try, I end up feeling quite depressed afterwards at the thought of not being able to have a bit of my life back. I don't really want to go down the road of forcing her to take the bottle or leaving her screaming with hubby or mum to cope with if I have an appointment to attend.

Please help!!

mama-mia

I am probably not going to be much help as my DS1 took a bottle and started refusing at 4 months so I had been completely spoilt with my freedom at the beginning and then had to get used to not having it.

My suggestion to you is to think the worst, think she will never take it and if one day she does it is a bonus! I haven't even tried a bottle with DS2 now 16 weeks as I couldn't bear to go through what happened the last time.

I don't feel trapped though. Now he is settled into a routine I know I can go out for 3 or 4 hours between feeds depending what time of the day it is. A few more weeks and you will be able to do the same. Then when they start solids you can get away with leaving them a bit longer so it just gets easier.

I got used to the same with the first boy. Just feed and hand him over and leave immediately.

Try not to feel down about it. Think how lovely it is that she prefers you to an artificial teat

I know how you feel, I'm just getting around to storing some milk so I can do the same.

With my older son, you had to place the teat into his mouth very deeply before he would accept it and suck properly. I guess it feels more like a breast that way.

Good luck, Justine

My DD is almost 7 months, and still won't take a bottle! It won't be long, and you'll be able to shoot out for a few hours between feeds.

Have you tried giving EBM with a cup?

I'm having the same problem with DD2 at the moment. I really need her to take the bottle as we are going to a wedding in a couple of weeks and no kids are allowed, so mum will have to look after her and bottle feed. I have been expressing milk and giving her a bottle every 2 days. Every time I give her a bottle, she cries and cries but she's so hungry that after about 5 or so minutes she eventually gulps it down.
A few things that helped me:
- I use expressed milk no more than about 48 hours old. She absolutely refused frozen expressed milk. Musn't have tasted as fresh.
- I was told to support her jaw with 2 fingers as I put the teat in as the bottle is a different weight and feel to the nipple, this made a difference for me but I don't know if it's true for all babies.
- Have you tried getting DH to do the feed as he doesn't smell like your breastmilk?

Good luck, it was really distressing for me when I first started but DD is getting much better at it now.

has your dp tried to give the bottle without you being around? I had no luck trying to give my dd a bottle at 9 weeks either. She just had no interest. At 12 weeks after getting some advice from a friend I just left a bottle with my dh and went to get my hair done. As it turned out he didn't need it when I was out but when I came home dd woke up and we decided to try. I was across the room where she couldn't see me and she took it without any fuss whatsoever. This weekend (week 13) she took a dreamfeed from him which at first made me feel great (more sleep!) but I woke up at 2pm with exploding boobs!

good luck and don't let it get you down.

mama-mia- I know exactly how you feel. My DD is 3 months and will not take a bottle either, we've tried different teats, my partner giving it, we tried when she was hungry and when she wasn't so hungry, when she was sleepy, nothing worked she just ends up screaming and getting so upset and then I end up in tears also. So we gave up. Its hard because all I get is a couple hours break between feeds.

One thing we have done if we are desperate, is just pour little sips of expressed breast milk from a little medicine cup. That way if you want to have a facial or something at least that is there just to give her a little snack before you get back for a feed. I rarely do it cause i don't want her to get lazy with the sucking.
Another thing that i haven't tried yet but a lady from BFing association said was to try a sippy cup, but make sure its not a non-spill one or it'll be too hard for them to suck.

Good luck! When all else fails I just try to tell myself that its a few months out of my whole life of not being able to do anything.

Mama-Mia, I had the same problem with DD who is now 2. When she was 4 months my milk started drying up so I had to wean her onto the bottle out of necessity. DD was not interested in the bottle and started losing weight over a period of weeks. It was a very stressful time as she refused the bottle and I came close to having a break down. The only thing that worked for me was starting her in childcare 2 days a week and by day two, she was fully weaned onto the bottle. I'm not saying that this is the best approach, but it certainly worked for me. I was anxious about leaving DD at care when I knew she would refuse the bottle, however the child care workers gave her the milk on the first day by spoon, then kept offering the bottle - by day two it was not a problem. The advice I received from the MACH clinic was to get someone else to feed her while I was out of the room as they can smell your milk. Good luck and keep your chin up - I know exactly how you feel.

HI

I had the same problem with both my kids
Reading everyone posts brings back so many memories

DD is taking the bottle much better than DS - I firstly tried water and let her chew and play with the bottle
She like the PUR teat (the funny shapped)

Found a picture


Here is the site http://www.tommeetippee.com.au/p-pur.asp?pk=2


I think the shape of the teat is much better (she seems to take the bottle okay)

Good Luck

Yep, I've got one of these as well. My DD is nearly 4 months old and I haven't had any freedom now for months. We've tried everything and have just given up for now. I was hoping to wean by 6 months, so will try again then. For now, I just have to be on hand. Unfortunately she's a frequent feeder in the day which I don't complain about 'cause she sleeps through the night.

Keep on trying!!

Hi ya

I feel your pain! Zac was the same except that he went from taking a bottle of ebm to not having a bar of it overnight!

I tried heaps of teats and finally found one that he liked. I always make sure that someone else gives it to him. Also make sure that it is nice and warm... looking back I think I wasn't warming it enough (fussy bub!).... sometimes I also need to rewarm a little mid bottle.

As the pp said keep trying - it is frustrating but I found that he got there in the end. Hope this helps.

Leesa