Breastfeeder not taking the bottle - help!

[dotterz]

My baby is now 6 months and I really want to stop breastfeeding now but she won't take the bottle and starts to cry as soon as she spies it coming!! Has anyone got any ideas on how to do this - I didn't have this problem with my first who didn't seem to be bothered at all by the bottle!

[Ruth_Baldock]

My son is only 3 months old, but we did have to push for him to take a bottle of EBM for my own sanity at around 4 weeks. We just had to keep pushing through with it, refusing to give him the breast (Yes, am terribley cruel) until he gave in :/ It soon worked. Also, turning it into a game helped somewhat- lots of idiotic 'OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH WHATS THIIIS FLYING THIIING??? OOOH SEBASTIAN! ITS FOR SUPER SEBASTIAN! OM NOM NOM NOM' helped too.

[dotterz]

Ha ha - thing is a 6 month old gets wise to these things pretty quickly - I tried her on the cup with some water for the first time today with some success so I may have a go with milk in that tomorrow fingers crossed!!

[bumpy]

I also need some help on this, my 4 month old to be (Friday) has been taking a bottle since about 7 weeks but as we only need to do this as and when he's decided that he'll only take enough to satisfy a hunger pang and not a full feed. We've been giving him a bottle a day but as he'll only take a maximum of 3ozs (and that's on a good day) I end up topping up with breast after about 30 minutes or so. My hubby looks after him once a week when all he gets is the bottle but of course it's a stressful day for both as he never drinks enough to nap well and of course the night after being on the bottle all day is usually terrible - any tips to get him to take more from the bottle would be most apreciated. Cheers

[BellendenBear]

There are lots of threads on this if you do a search. It's very common, the little buggers. They know what they want. I had lots of stress trying to get my baby to take a bottle, not because I wanted to stop BF, but I was desperate to leave her for a few hours! Eventually with help from another forumite in the form of her huge collection of bottles I cracked it with a playtex drop-in bottle. I still have it if you want to try. It has a very soft latex teat which my baby took immediately having rejected several other types. After a few weeks she would happily take any bottle. At 14 months, I now have the opposite problem of trying to get her off the bottle especially after seeing a TV programme last night with lots of kids having their teeth ripped out. I wasn't going to fight her again but now think I might have to, oh the stress.

[bumpy]

Cheers, will search now. He will take the one we have just won't drink more than enough to satisfy his immediate hunger. However willing to try anything at the mo so be great to borrow the bottle from you. Much appreciated.

[Princess]

I was one of the other forumites who started a thread similar to this one just before Easter. A few days on, we have had amazing success with a NUK bottle and latex teat. We also sit the little man in his chair facing us to feed him, so there's no boob in the vicinity and it's a totally different experience to his 'special cuddles' that he gets 3 times a day. The other tip is if the little one does kick off leave it at least 20 mins before you crack and offer breast so they don't get too crafty!

Good luck and if you need a selection of bottles cups and teats, I have pretty much one of everything Lloyds stock!

Princess x

[bumpy]

Does anyone have a Mam I could try my little one on or if not which teat size should I be getting for my 4 month old. Thanks

[Princess]

That's the one brand I don't have I'm afraid. My little one was 4 months yesterday and is on the 0-6 month NUK teats. In Avent teats number 1 was fine for water but too small for formula so he briefly took milk through a number 2 before deciding silicone just wasn't his bag!

[bumpy]

Hi Princess, don't suppose you've got a spare NUK I could try?

[Princess]

Sure, I've a 150ml you can try for a few days but will need back. PM me and we can arrange getting it to you.

[Fuschia]

nuk bottle and latex teat newborn flow has suited all 3 of mine. less slippy than silicone

But TBH, 3-4oz was all they ever took, even at 17m old.

[bumpy]

Well so far the NUK seems to be the best one, so thanks for the tips and thanks for the loan of the bottle Princess. We're not home and dry but he's taken his usual 2 to 3ozs and then this afternoon took 6ozs over an hour period without fussing and with lots of smiles while I played silly buggers to encourage him...! :-) Anyway the main point of my post is where do I get NUK bottles locally? Cheers

[Princess]

Fantastic news! I'm pleased it's working. You can stock up on NUKs in Lloyds. The 240ml glass bottles are ?5.49 each.